Books by Simon Brett

Bill Nighy stars as the suave thespian sleuth in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisationLife is good for Charles Paris. He's moved back in with his estranged wife, and has landed a plum stage role as Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night. But it can't last. First his attempts to woo Frances fall flat, then the play's director is taken ill with gastric trouble. His replacement, Romanian wunderkind Alex Radelescu, is determined to take the play in a radical new direction - with or without Charles. When a second member of the company falls sick, Charles begins to suspect a poisoner is on the loose - and the next victim could be him. Can he unmask the culprit before this comedy turns into a tragedy?Adapted by Jeremy Front, this engaging dramatisation stars Bill Nighy as Charles Paris, with Suzanne Burden as Frances, Jon Glover as Maurice and Julian Rhind-Tutt as Alex Radelescu. 'Always a treat' Gillian Reynolds, Sunday TimesProduction creditsWritten by Simon BrettAdapted by Jeremy FrontProduced and directed by Sally AvensFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 30 August-20 September 2006CastCharles Paris - Bill NighyFrances - Suzanne BurdenMaurice - Jon GloverKen Carter - Peter WightAlex Radelescu - Julian Rhind-TuttVivienne Marlin - Elizabeth BellGavin Scholes - Thomas WheatleyJack Bradley - John CumminsSally Luther - Tracy WilesBen Ritson - Tom LawrenceVasile Bogdan/Scott - Ryan McCluskeyTalya Northcott - Alex TregearInspector Dewar - Kim Wall© 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. ? 2022 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

The latest hair-raising adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo!

Carole Seddon treasures her trusty Renault, and when it is vandalised, there's only one person she will entrust with its repair: Bill Shefford. But then a note is shoved under Carole's kitchen door: Watch out. The car window was just the start. And matters take an even more disturbing turn when a body is discovered at Shefford's Garage . . .

Bill Nighy returns as the loveably louche actor-cum-amateur detective Charles Paris Charles Paris is in Oxford, appearing in a re-imagining of Hamlet by a high-concept drama company. No fan of immersive theatre, he’s unimpressed with the director’s vision and less than thrilled to be rehearsing alongside puppeteers and mime artists.But he soon finds himself back on familiar territory when the actress playing Ophelia goes missing, only to turn up dead. Did she take her own life, or was there foul play? As he amasses a list of suspects who might have wished her harm, Charles takes on the mantle of detective once more to decide if this is to be or not to be a murder case…Scripted for radio by Jeremy Front from a story by Simon Brett, A Doubtful Death stars Bill Nighy (Emma, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) as Charles Paris, with Suzanne Burden as Frances and Jon Glover as Maurice.Also included is an exclusive 18-minute afterword in which Jeremy Front discusses his experience of adapting an unproduced screenplay, reveals what it’s like to work with recurring characters and actors, and explains the mechanics of recording for radio.CreditsWritten by Jeremy FrontFrom a story by Simon BrettProduced and directed by Sally AvensProduction Coordinator: Cynthia FaganStudio Managers: Anne Bunting, Keith Graham and Jenni BurnettAfterword produced by Ania Duggan and Roshni RadiaFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 22 May-12 June 2020CastCharles Paris……………………Bill NighyFrances……………………Suzanne BurdenMaurice……………………Jon GloverVicky……………………Jessica TurnerJenny……………………Scarlett CourtneyTomasz……………………Ian ConninghamTour Guide/Dan……………………Will KirkWaitress/Izzy……………………Lucy ReynoldsZoe……………………Laura ChristySiriol……………………Sinead MacInnesPete/Player King……………………Neil McCaulTim ……………………Greg JonesCanon Park/Director……………………Clive HaywardPassenger……………………Adam CourtingWaitress/Sat Nav. ……………………Amy Bentley-KleinCassie……………………Heather CraneyCheckout/Fortinbras……………………Ikky Elyas Continuity R4/WS Announcer……………………Jeremy Front

A humorous gift book: collection of oxymorons, amusingly illustrated by Paul Thomas.

A pantomime script based around the "Sleeping Beauty" story. Princess Aurora suffers a curse from the evil Carabosse, and falls asleep for hundred years. With a kiss from Florizel, and a little help from the audience in solving a riddle, Carabosse is defeated and all ends happily.

The ninth thrilling adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo, by accalimed crime writer Simon Brett.

The eighth hair-raising adventure featuring the aristocratic brother and sister sleuthing duo!

This is a comprehensive and practical manual about wood engraving, written by one of the masters in the field. Illustrated with beautiful images, it is both a practical handbook and an art object in its own right.

An untraditional pantomime. The aristocratic Boronski family live in Siberia in the years before the Russian Revolution. Just as spring is about to begin, their lives are disrupted by the evil Fox, who condemns Siberia to eternal cold and despatches the Wolf to kill Babushka Boronski.

Elderly Valerie Trevelyan has been murdered with an overdose of painkillers and there are suspicious bruises on her neck. Worse is the fact that the 2 key suspects in the case are her sons, Gavin and Miles. Making no secret of their cold relationship with each other, both had a financial motive and the physical opportunity to have been the killer.

Miggy is a "Sloane Ranger", who has been dumped by her boyfriend Roddy because she is "shallow" and does not care for the environment in the way his new love, Harmony, does. Here, Miggy tells us her story as she wrestles with environmental issues presented by the act of putting the kettle on.

Between June and November 1902, the year of the Coronation of Edward VII, Bellingford Amateur Dramaticks Society is rehearsing A Midsummer Night's Dream. It has the usual range of different personalities - stalwart group members, young lads about town, daughters of local businessmen and also the wealthy diamond-trade man, a devotee of Henry Irving, who is underwriting the production. This man's murder, set against Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, the new craze of ping-pong and the invention of finger-printing broadens the plot and develops the characters. Commissioned to commemorate Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club centenary in 2002.12 women, 8 men

In Act I of this play, Detective Inspector Bruton questions Celia Wallis about her husband's murder. Celia is obviously in the clear, but the drunken journalist sleeping in her bed seems very shady. Act II, however, takes place before the murder, and turns all our expectations on their heads.

Frinsley Village Hall is the hub of community life, lovingly tended by the amiable Mr Quigley, whose little blue book ensures the aerobics class never clashes with the wedding bookings. But plans are afoot to change this cosy existence... the invidious Keith has plans to sell the site. Feeling sure of success, Keith launches his attack on Mr. Quigley a big mistake, for Mr Quigley is wilier than he looks. Offers acting opportunities for all and great fun for the audience!13 women, 13 men

Tawcester Towers, the family seat of the Lyminster family, has suffered an unwelcome injection of distant cousins, so distant that they aren't even British! Count Igor and Count Lyudmilla Bashusky had to flee Russia after the Revolution and have spent the intervening years building up debts in the hotels of Europe's capitals and sponging off ever more exasperated (and distant) relatives.The Bashusky's arrival at Tawcester Towers causes a stir, and it's up to Blotto and Twinks, that indefatigable duo, to provide a solution to get them back to Russia. Reversing the Russian Revolution and getting a Tsar back into St Petersburg's Winter Palace is just the sort of challenge the fiercely bright Twinks relishes, though her dim-witted brother Blotto shows less aptitude for the subtleties of international politics, despite his commendable bravery.The siblings soon find themselves in Berlin to try and broker a meeting with the White Russian community, and swiftly become embroiled in a world of spies, counterspies, conspiracies and counter-conspiracies. Just when things seem to be looking up, little do Blotto and Twinks realise that their plans are being monitored by the spymaster Fyodor Vlachko, a former worker on the Bushusky's estate who has now risen to a senior post in the secret police of the newly-formed Soviet Union . . .