The Mrs. Pargeter books are humorous cozy mysteries about a widow of a certain age who likes to help people and solve crimes.
When Mrs. Pargeter needs assistance, she consults her deceased husband's 'little black book', which has contacts with skills like safecracking, forging documents, disguising people, getaway driving, etc.
Mrs. Pargeter professes to believe her husband was a saintly businessman who helped crooks go straight, and the aforementioned crooks are careful not to disabuse Mrs. Pargeter of that notion. This is a running joke through the novels.
In this 9th book in the series, Mrs. Pargeter (and her helpers) investigate a murder and look for a missing person.
*****
Mrs. Pargeter lives in a mansion commissioned by her husband, Mr. Lionel Pargeter, before he passed away. The house, called 'Lionel's Den' was built by Concrete Jacket, who did excellent work between stints in the slammer.
One morning Mrs. Pargeter takes her third cup of coffee out to the patio when one of the paving slabs gives way. Peering into the void revealed by the broken slab, Mrs. Pargeter sees a human skull.
Mrs. Pargeter realizes that a body was buried during patio construction, and she decides to investigate herself before contacting the police. The widow learns that the builder, Concrete Jacket, was unavoidably detained when the terrace was constructed, and he farmed out the job to a Polish contractor named Marek Grabowski.
To find Grabowski - and identify the body and track down the killer - Mrs. Pargeter phones people in the little black book. These include Truffler Mason - a former felon who's now a private detective;
Fixin' Nixon - whose credo is 'there is always a way';
Gary - a professional chauffeur;
Hedgeclipper Clinton - a hotel manager that 'knows people';
Tina the Transformer - who's a whiz with disguises;
Melting Maurice - a plastic surgeon who provides new faces; and more.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Pargeter also embarks on a second mission. The widow's gardener, 20-year-old Kirstie Rollins, mentions that she hasn't seen her father since her 9th birthday.
On that occasion Kirstie's dad, reggae singer Red Rollins, gave Kristie a necklace......and then vanished. Mrs. Pargeter makes it her business to try to locate Red, dead or alive.
As things play out, it appears that the body under Mrs. Pargeter's patio has a connection with Red Rollins.
Meanwhile, gardener Kirstie Rollins applies to be a contestant on a reality TV show called 'Dirt Under the Fingernails', a floriculture competition where contestants spar to grow the best plants.
The show is hosted by comic Brenton Sykes, whose modus operandi is to make crude jokes and insult the gardeners. The studio audience seems to find this hilarious, and the program is very popular. (In today's 'anything goes' reality show culture, this is probably a realistic scenario.)
In the course of the story, Mrs. Pargeter has occasion to dine at the luxurious Greene's Hotel, and to visit an eatery that used to be called 'Hot Honey's', famous for its Caribbean goat curry and beef patties.
Goat Curry
Beef Patties
This is an entertaining cozy mystery, perfect for a fun read between more serious books.
Thanks to Netgalley, Simon Brett, and Severn House for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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