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Simon Brett knows theater. He also knows radio and television drama and situation comedy and quiz shows. And he understands all too well the quirky world of true-crime television, as he so wittily proves in his delectable new Charles Paris mystery, A Reconstructed Corpse.
Actor Charles Paris has always been particularly good at playing corpses. This time out, he's asked to portray missing property developer Martin Earnshaw, who may or may not be a corpse, in the popular true-crime reenactment program "Public Enemies." It's not Charles's acting talent that gets him the job. It's his resemblance to the mysteriously missing Martin.
Martin had told his photogenic wife, Chloe, that he was going out for a drink. He never returned. Was he murdered by someone to whom he owed money? Or did he just choose to disappear? Charles finds himself in a bizarre world somewhere between police procedure and show biz as he's inexorably drawn into the investigation ... especially after severed limbs start turning up.
"Public Enemies" viewers enjoy a macabre jigsaw puzzle of death: it's ghastly, of course, but it does make for good television. As the program's ratings soar, so do the egos behind the scene become ever more inflated.
Charles's relations with both his estranged wife and his lazy agent are at an all-time low, and he too often finds comfort in his favorite Bell's whiskey, but no amount of pressure - or booze - can deter Charles from trying to solve the mystery.
A Reconstructed Corpse is a delightfully funny and hugely appealing addition to this popular crime series from one of the major contemporary mystery-writing talents.
