On the night of the final performance of The Seagull, in which Charlotte had taken a leading part, her husband Hugo jealously watched her dancing with younger men at the backstage party. He started drinking heavily and continuously. Two days passed in an alcoholic daze. Charlotte disappeared, presumably with her lover, and, when her body was found in the coal shed, strangled with her own scarf, every sign pointed to Hugo as the murderer. He could remember nothing and admitted to the police that he could have killed his wife. Charles Paris, actor and amateur detective, was an old friend of Hugo's who had been present at the last night of The Seagull and the following party. He had stayed with Hugo through part of the drinking spree, and it was he who discovered Charlotte's body. Charles was convinced of Hugo's innocence, but to prove it seemed impossible. The only thing to do was to find someone else guilty. It had to be one of the Backstagers, but who and why?
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" I really didn't care for the main character in this series. One of my frequent comments about books is "there was no one to like". This is one of those books - no one to root for. "
" Simon Brett's Charles Paris novels are always fun to read because of the way Paris sees the world and especially the world of acting -- radio, television, and stage. In this one, he is quite open about amateur theater. "
" This was my second Charles Paris book. So far, I like the depiction of a working actor's not so glamorous life. "
" Simon Brett's becoming a better phrase-maker as the series progresses: I liked the reference at one point to a "one-frame smile" that passes across the face of one of the characters. "
Simon Brett is the creator of four series of detective novels, the Charles Paris, Mrs Pargeter, Fethering, and Blotto & Twinks series. His 1984 stand-alone novel A Shock to the System was adapted as a film starring Michael Caine. He was awarded an OBE in 2016 for his services to literature and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Before turning to writing full time, he worked with BBC radio and London Weekend Television Other radio work includes several one-off plays for Radio 4 and a number of episodes of the Baldi detective series. A former president of Britain’s Crime Writers Association, he is president of the Detection Club, as well as being involved with various writers’ organizations.
Frederick Davidson (1932–2005), also known as David Case, was one of the most prolific readers in the audiobook industry, recording more than eight hundred audiobooks in his lifetime, including over two hundred for Blackstone Audio. Born in London, he trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and performed for many years in radio plays for the British Broadcasting Company before coming to America in 1976. He received AudioFile’s Golden Voice Award and numerous Earphones Awards and was nominated for a Grammy for his readings.
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