Cosy Crime: Gentle Mysteries

Actor and sleuth Charles Paris is back in this full-cast BBC radio dramatisation of Simon Brett's novel, starring Bill Nighy

Locked down with his semi-detached wife Frances, Charles has thrown himself into a new career as a handyman, becoming quite the DIY expert. He's developed muscles, stopped smoking and even cut back on the booze.

Then his agent, Maurice, offers him the chance to get back on stage - and in a West End play, no less. The star, Justin Grover, asked for him specifically: but Charles has reservations. Grover was cocky enough when they were both young hopefuls; now he's the star of a massive TV fantasy series, and the play - a verbatim piece set in a monastery - is dire.

So why has Justin signed up for it? He certainly doesn't need the money, unlike Charles. The cast is drearily male, and before long Charles is hitting the Scotch again. When he drunkenly stumbles over the corpse of a fellow actor, Charles panics, leaving the body to be discovered by someone else. But he soon regrets lying to the police, and driven by guilt and self-preservation, he resolves to find the murderer...

This sparkling adaptation by Jeremy Front stars Bill Nighy (Emma, Love Actually) as Charles Paris, with Suzanne Burden as Frances and Jon Glover as Maurice.

Credits
Written by Simon Brett
Adapted by Jeremy Front
Directed by Sally Avens

Cast
Charles Paris........................Bill Nighy
Frances........................Suzanne Burden
Maurice........................Jon Glover
Justin ........................Tony Turner
Lydia ........................Ria Marshall
Kit ........................Joseph Ayre
Brendan ........................Jonathan Kydd
Nina ........................Marilyn Nnadebe
D.S. Dalby ........................Stewart Campbell
Alice/Peaches ........................Elinor Coleman
Kelly/Dervla ........................Jane Slavin
Bethan ........................Christine Kavanagh
Neil ........................Simon Ludders

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 3-24 September 2021

Victor Green is 37, unmarried and the sort of man who irons his underpants. When pruning his tree, he falls from his ladder and kills the pedestrian below - the gangster Tommy 'Gruesome' Hewson. As word spreads of the gangster's demise, Victor is mistaken for Vincent Green, an international hitman, and swept into a turf war between two local gangs. The hapless Victor's life is turned upside down as he inherits Tommy's poodle, gets a girlfriend and is recruited to fight in both gangs, accidentally leaving a trail of bodies in his wake as he tries to figure out what seems to be a horrific misunderstanding.

When the historic Padua pearls and other jewels are stolen, Berry and Co find themselves up against master criminal Auntie Emma!

Agatha Raisin has never been one for enforced holiday cheer, but her friendly little village of Carsely has always prided itself on its traditional Christmas festivities. Then Mr John Sunday, an officer with the Cotswold Health and Safety Board, goes too far when he rules that there cannot be a Christmas tree atop the church tower this year..  Book 21 of series.

Agatha is going through a man-hating phase and so is unmoved by news of the captivating new curate. But when she meets the golden-haired, blue-eyed Tristan Delon, she is swept off her feet... along with every other female in the village. She is positively ecstatic when he invites her to dine with him but the next day Agatha is left with a hangover from hell - and his cold corpse suggests that, once again, she's in the frame for murder!

Book 13 in the Agatha Raisin mystery series.

Drowned brides are like buses: nothing for ages, then two come along at the same time...! Abandoned by husband James, Agatha hops on a plane to the South Pacific, hoping to mend her broken heart. But there she meets a happy honeymooning couple, for whom disaster strikes when, tragically, the bride drowns. Back home, alarm bells start ringing for Agatha when a woman, dressed in a wedding gown, is swept down river. The police say suicide, but Agatha, spurred on by recent memories, particularly her own disastrous marriage, sets out to prove them wrong.

Book 12 in the Agatha Raisin mystery series.

The bells of St. Ethelred church are the pride and glory of the village of Thirk Magna, together with dedicated bell ringers, twins Mavis and Millicent Dupin. As the village gets ready for the Bishop's visit, the twins start bullying the other bell ringers, so much so that Joseph Kennell, a retired lawyer, yells at the sisters that he 'felt like killing them'! When the twins' home is broken into, and Millicent is found dead, suspicion falls onto the lawyer... Will Agatha unmask the real killer and clear Joseph's name?.  Book 29 of series.

When wealthy divorcée, Catherine Laggat-Brown walks in, Agatha gets her first real case. Death threats, blackmail and physical attack soon follow, and once again Agatha is off scouring the countryside for clues and showing friends and enemies alike what Raisin Investigations can do.  Book 15 of series.

Agatha, feeling jilted and cross, rents a cottage in the pretty village of Tryfam in Norfolk. Here she hopes to find good fortune and true love. Instead she gets caught up in fairies, murder and theft..  Book 10 of series.

No happily ever after for her! Recently married to neighbour James Lacey, Agatha quickly finds that love is not all it's cracked up to be - soon the newly-weds are living in separate cottages and accusing each other of infidelity. Then, after a fight down the local pub, James vanishes - a bloodstain the only clue to his fate. Naturally, Agatha is Suspect Number One. Determined to clear her name - and find her husband - Agatha begins her investigation and promptly discovers a murdered mistress...

Book 11 in the Agatha Raisin mystery series.

On the day of her marriage, Agatha’s first husband, Jim, whom she thought was long-dead, turns up in time to spoil the day. Her fiancé, not surprisingly, breaks off the engagement. The next day Jim is found murdered and Agatha and her fiancé are the prime suspects..  Book 5 of series.

After being nearly killed by both a hired hit man and her former secretary, Agatha Raisin could use some low-key cases. So when Robert Smedley walks through the door of her detective agency, determined to prove that his wife is cheating on him, Raisin Investigations immediately offers to help.

Unfortunately for Agatha, Mabel Smedley appears to be the perfect wife: young, pretty, and a regular volunteer at church. But just as Agatha is ready to give up, Smedley is poisoned with weed killer, leaving Mabel, the prime suspect, to inherit a fortune.

With no one left to pay her, Agatha has to drop the investigation... that is, until her old friend Sir Charles Fraith turns up again to rekindle her curiosity in the case.

Book 16 in the Agatha Raisin mysteries.

Mary Forunte is quite superior in every way, and has even ensconced herself in the affections of Agatha Raisin's neighbour, an eligible bachelor. When Mary is murdered and found buried upside down in a plant pot, Agatha seizes the moment to dig up village secrets. But is this wise?.  Book 3 of series.

When she retires PR boss, Agatha Raisin, follows her dreams and buys a Cotswold cottage. Desperate to fit in she enters a quiche baking competition, but is soon branded as a poisoner when a judge dies after eating her shop bought entry. Unless she can expose the poisoner, Agatha's dream of rural bliss will be at an end.  Book 1 of series.

Agatha Raisin travels to Cyprus in search of her ex-fiancé. There they witness the murder of an obnoxious tourist, instead of enjoying the honeymoon they had planned. Agatha won’t rest until she finds the murderer, and the murderer won’t rest until she’s history..  Book 6 of series.

Agatha Raisin has convinced herself that the new village vet is attracted to her, but before romance can blossom he accidentally kills himself! Once more she is forced to be chummier with her neighbour, James Lacey, as they work together to solve the mystery of the vet's death..  Book 2 of series.

After six months in London, Agatha Raisin returns to Carsley where she soon has a juicy murder to investigate. Jessica Tartinck has been bludgeoned to death - could this have been done by someone in her walking group, or one of the landlords she has enraged over the years?.  Book 4 of series.

The village of Anscombe is the epitome of rural charm, but the village is divided into two camps with the arrival of a mineral water company. Tongues start to wag when the chairman of the Parish Council is found murdered..  Book 7 of series.

Agatha is helping out at the church fete, but there's more going on than innocent village fun. Several of the offerings in the jam-tasting booth turn out to be poisoned and the festive entertainment becomes the scene of two murders. Book 19 of series.

Agatha Raisin has arrived with friend and rival in the sleuthing business, Toni, to enjoy a celebratory hog roast at Winter Parva. But as the spit pig is carried towards the bed of fiery charcoal Agatha - and the rest of the village - realise that things aren't as they seem.....  Book 22 of series.

Private Detective Agatha Raisin returns for her 30th mystery. She is employed to investigate a case of industrial espionage at a factory where nothing is quite what it seems. The factory mystery soon turns to murder and a bad-tempered donkey turns Agatha into a national celebrity, before bringing her ridicule and shame. To add to her woes, Agatha finds herself grappling with growing feelings for her friend and occasional lover, Sir Charles Fraith. As a possible solution to the factory murder unfolds, her own life is thrown into deadly peril..  Book 30 of series.

Agatha has fallen in love - again. This time it's the local gardener, George Marston. But when George goes missing, Agatha goes looking for him - and finds he has been murdered, having been bitten by a poisonous snake and buried in a compost heap!  Book 23 of series.

Private Detective Agatha Raisin immerses herself in the glittering lifestyle of the fabulously wealthy when Sir Charles Fraith is accused of murder - and Agatha is named as his accomplice! A high-society wedding, a glitzy masked ball, and an introduction to the world of international show-jumping where the riders are glamorous, the horses are beautiful, and intrigue runs deep, leave Agatha with a list of suspects as long as a stallion's tail..  Book 31 of series.

Gloria French is at first welcomed in the Cotswold village of Piddlebury. She seems like a do-gooder par excellence, raising funds for the church and caring for the elderly. But she has a bad habit of borrowing things and not giving them back, so when she is discovered dead, poisoned by a bottle of elderberry wine, folk in the village don't mourn her passing too intently. Parish councillor Jerry Tarrant hires Agatha Raisin to track down the murderer. But the village is creepy and secretive and the residents don't seem to want Agatha to succeed.  Book 24 of series.

When the bride of her former husband is murdered on their wedding day, Agatha is under suspicion - but then the dead bride's mother engages Agatha to take on the case. Soon Agatha's own life is in danger.  Book 20 of series.

Professor Lamont arrives at the Mariners Hotel, for a meeting with the guest in Room 106, where the body of Dr Whistler is found lying in a pool of blood. Suspicion lands on Lamont when his sister confirms that he had a knife with him that morning. It looks like an easy case to solve, but Detective Constable Sukey Reynolds' instincts are telling her otherwise.

Simmy has been adjusting to life in Windermere, running her florist shop and trying to put her tragic past behind her. But just when she thinks her life is quietly coming together, it starts to unravel at the seams when she delivers a bouquet with a mysterious message attached, that brings sinister secrets to light.

Rumpole has two intriguing cases to occupy him. Is there something fishy about a 12-year-old Peter been given an ASBO for playing football in the street? A young bachelor, prime suspect in the murder of a prostitute, protests his innocence, and Rumpole cannot ignore him. On top of this his colleagues are protesting about the cigars and wine he occassionally enjoys in Chambers!  Book 20 of series.

When Sheila Malory is badgered by Annie Roberts to write the village history, she grudgingly agrees. After Annie dies of food poisoning, a victim of her love of freshly-picked mushrooms, Sheila finds the circumstances too suspicious not to investigate.

A series of strange events are all related to stories by Victorian novelist Ranulph Raven. But why were Raven's mysterious descendents so keen for Inspector Appleby to spend a night at their house?

Schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are at Daisy's home for the holidays, and Daisy's mother is throwing a tea party for her birthday. Then one of their party falls seriously, mysteriously ill - and everything points to poison. The Detective Society must do everything they can to reveal the truth . . . no matter the consequences. Book two in the series

When Flavia de Luce is banished to Miss Bodycote's Female Academy in Canada she’s soon on familiar ground, when, on her first night, a mummified body is dislodged from a chimney, and she is presented with a gruesome puzzle to solve.

When Maggie Kaye and Sam Dee join the Bishops Well archaeological dig, they are as surprised as everyone else to unearth a body that was buried there less than fifty years ago. It can't possibly be the remains of an ancient Celt.

Maggie, with her usual flair - and psychic intuition - is convinced that there is more to this discovery than meets the eye. And some Bishops residents seem to know a lot more about the case than they are willing to let on.

But nobody is as shocked as Maggie when a face from the past - a face she thought she'd never see again - appears in the village, and long-hidden secrets begin to surface.

With danger at her door, and Sam by her side, can Maggie uncover the truth before it's too late?

When Gregory Matthews, patriarch of the Poplars is found dead one morning, imperious Aunt Harriet blames it on the roast duck he ate for supper. After all, she had warned him about his blood pressure. But a post-mortem determines that the cause of death is much more sinister. Murder. By poison. Suspicion falls immediately amongst his bitter, quarrelsome family. Each has a motive; each, opportunity. It falls to Superintendent Hannasyde to sift through all the secrets and lies and discover just who killed Gregory Matthews, before the killer strikes again...  Book 5 of series.

After the murder of his second wife, Hugh Franklin is the chief suspect in the eyes of Superintendent Markby. He soon realises however that the truth is far more complex than he ever envisaged.  Book 12 of series.

Jersey detective Bergerac has to contend with the murder of an elderly resident, threats from the IRA and the possibility of a scarlet fever epidemic.