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THE WITNESS AT THE WEDDING is a different sort of mystery than perhaps I was expecting from Simon Brett, a little less cosy than usual, but every bit as enjoyable. The sixth in the Fethering series, but not dependent on its predecessors, the book as usual centres on two amateur sleuths, Carole Seddon and to a slightly lesser extent in this volume, her next door neighbour Jude. Carole's son Stephen is about to marry his girlfriend Gaby and they have decided to do so near Fethering, rather than in London, or where Gaby's parents now live, in Harlow. On a church reconnaissance trip, Stephen lets slip that there is a history of murder in Gaby's family, a line of conversation she soon stops, to Carole's disappointment. It is prospective murders that she should be worried about however, as a killer soon emerges with several of Gaby's circle in their sight, and both Gaby and Carole ultimately find themselves in danger. Intrigued by the possibility of a link to the old murder, Carole and Jude start researching the past, with help from a houseguest of Jude's, a reporter suffering from depression. An interesting history emerges but it is patchy. This is a family with a lot of skeletons in the cupboard and they aren't going to offer them up easily. The plot is excellent, and even though I spotted a few supposed twists fairly early, there were surprises throughout that made it a very hard book to put down. As usual, the writing style was very fluent and light, with touches of humour. But what sets this apart from being too cosy is the depth of characterisation -- there is a much greater psychological insight to the main characters than usual. Much of this centres on Carole and her reactions to having to face up to seeing her ex-husband ahead of the wedding, in order to satisfy her son that all will be well on the big day. But other characters, such as Gaby's unnaturally quiet parents, are also wonderfully delineated. Some of the Fethering novels are very neatly tied up at the end, with nothing left unexplained. THE WITNESS AT THE WEDDING differed here too; whilst nothing was ambiguous about the dramatic ending, I was still left with a few things to ponder afterwards making this an interesting read for anyone looking for a good British mystery.
Reviewed by Bridget Bolton, February 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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