Murders, mysteries and museums! (Murder in the Museum - Simon Brett)

Member Name: blackviolets

Product:	Murder in the Museum - Simon Brett
Date:	20/09/09 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good read, characters

Disadvantages: at times feel the need to skim over sections

This is the second Simon Brett novel which I have read. After enjoying The Hanging in the Hotel I ventured out to find another of his works and surprisingly enough couldn't find that many. Not out of the correct series which I wanted. The Fethering collection seemed like a good place to start as I'd heard only praise about it.

Murder in the Museum is set in an Elizabethan house under the ownership of Graham Chadleigh-Bewes. When the a body is discovered by a group of volunteers a group of the museums trustees want it to be covered up.

Even though this skeleton is years and years old, the relations connected to the house and the family history of it do not want the press to hear about it. Suggesting that there could be something amiss about the place. That is the least of their problems when one of their members is shot dead and so the investigation begins. Although not in the most conventional of ways.

When reading this you are seeing it through the eyes of two of the main characters. Carole Seddon, a new member of the Trustees of Bracketts and Jude, her neighbour and co investigator. It seems that these two are your modern day Ms Marple. The police are useless and so it has to fall on them to figure it all out.

Both are middle aged woman with possibly a bit too much time on their hands. Not that that stops them from getting into all kinds of mishaps. After all, these characters have become notably well known in the area for solving murders. Whilst Carole is slipping into a bit of a mundane lifestyle, Jude has suddenly livened up a bit from previous novels. Having more pressing concerns that solving crimes which frankly have nothing to do with her.

This is another of your classic murder mystery novels. A genre which I find thoroughly pleasing. There is less description of what the actual building looks like and most of the writing is what the characters are saying. Sometimes this can be a bit annoying as it's just one whole block of speechmarks. No showing of how people are reacting and even when it does not much is given away.

I think however, that this could of been done intentionally. The less Simon Brett mentions about their characteristics the more surprised you become at the outcome. I'll admit that it was not one which I was expecting. What he has done is make you become aware of one particular character and you are so sure that it's them only to be completely side tracked the further on you go.

In a few cases Brett has put a few people in just to completely confuse you. I spent a good while trying to work out how they are connected. In what way do they have a place in the murder? Personally I quite liked this aspect as it left me trying to solve it along with Carole and Jude. Unlike other crime novels it was as if when they were working things out, you were taking part at the same time.

A problem I do find is that whilst the whole of the book is based around the house and its surroundings you don't really get a mention of the people living there until the end. Despite the fact that there's clearly a link about the family history it isn't shown until right near the end.

I wouldn't say that there is a lot of suspense in this novel. Any of the incidents which occur are a bit predictable and you get the feeling of how stupid he has made these characters. It's like they're lambs to the slaughter if that makes sense!

Overall I did enjoy this book. It's not exactly the most amusing of novels but there is a bit more development into the two main characters personal lives. Ones which were missed out on during the previous stories I've read involving them. Although there is the familiar cover up idea and throwing in odd characters every now and again, this doesn't fail to interest you. At times it is a bit slow paced and you just feel the need to skim over huge chunks of it. Only to have to go back and reread it.

There are 372 pages in total but in saying that, it didn't take me all that long to read. You can get it for £5.49 from Amazon and is worth every penny!

Summary: .