“I want you all out—gone—dead—exterminated!” Alex Household had cried when, after a lifetime of struggle, he lost the starring role in a new play to an actor who couldn’t remember his lines. But did that mean that it was Alex who had shot the leading man dead during his climactic speech? Charles Paris, for one, could see many logical suspects, from the devious producer, to the gullible playwright, to the young starlet’s overprotective mother.
But before Charles Paris, our middle-aged actor-drinker-detective, could begin his investigation, he was in for a shock: the powers-that-be chose him as the new leading man. Finally, Charles would discover stardom—and what a dead man saw in the last moments of his life!
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"I found myself taking time getting to my destination so I had more time to listen. The narration was good and the story was easy to follow. Not so many characters I couldn't keep them straight but enough that the murderer wasn't obvious. It kept me guessing until the end." — Jennifer (4 out of 5 stars)
"I found myself taking time getting to my destination so I had more time to listen. The narration was good and the story was easy to follow. Not so many characters I couldn't keep them straight but enough that the murderer wasn't obvious. It kept me guessing until the end."
“Brett knows the British stage inside out, and backgrounds are unusually authentic.”
“Solid Entertainment…It is Brett’s insider’s knowledge of high-intensity show business…that makes his witty mysteries go.”
“Brett is a fiendishly clever plot artist…It would be a crime not to read Murder Unprompted.”
“[An] irresistible roguish actor-sleuth…wicked, biting satire on the show-biz world.”
“[Geoffrey Howard] captures the personality and style of the characters…A satisfying listening experience!”
“A mystery that astounds and delights.”
" sad alcoholic Charles Paris gets near sobriety "
" bbc 7 premiere "
" I loved the theatre workings and characters. The main character Charles Paris is perfectly and even charmingly fallible. But the psychology of the murderer was so unconvincing that it drug the whole thing down. "
" Fun book and well written. I love Brett's handling of character relationships. "
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.
Geoffrey Howard (a.k.a. Ralph Cosham) was a stage actor and an award-winning narrator. He recorded more than 100 audiobooks in his lifetime and won the prestigious Audio Award for Best Narration and several AudioFile Earphones Awards.
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