CRIME WRITERS AND OTHER ANIMALS

BLOOD AT THE BOOKIES

Carole and Jude are faced with trying to uncover who is responsible for the murder of a Polish immigrant. Jude finds herself under suspicion when she happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Carole unbends from her usual puritanical stance sufficiently to enter a bookies. But it's all in the course of detection.

BLOTTO, TWINKS AND THE BOOTLEGGERS MOLL

Due to financial hardships at Tawcester Towers, the Dowager Duchess has decreed that the only way the family fortunes can be restored is to marry Blotto off... to an American!

BLOTTO, TWINKS AND THE HEIR TO THE TSAR

Tawcester Towers has suffered an unwelcome injection of distant cousins. Count Igor and Count Lyudmilla Bashusky had to flee Russia after the Revolution. Their arrival causes a stir, and it's up to Blotto and Twinks, that indefatigable duo, to provide a solution to get them back to Russia.

BLOTTO, TWINKS AND THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX

The Dowager Duchess decides to sell off some family possessions, which have been consigned to the attics. The valuer spies a sarchophagus decorated with hieroglyphs. Twinks starts to translate: 'Anyone who desecrates this shrine will be visited by the Pharoah's curse...' - just as Blotto prises the lid off!

THE BODY ON THE BEACH

When Carole Seddon retires to Fethering she doesn't expect to have a neighbour like Jude, but when Carole discovers a body on the beach only Jude believes her. Together they investigate, facing up to dangers they never knew existed.

A BOX OF TRICKS

Murder, from the simply bizarre to the downright nasty, is the theme of this collection of short stories from Simon Brett. The 12 stories include one featuring the boozy actor-detective Charles Paris.

CHARLES PARIS: A DEADLY HABIT: A BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATION

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. 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. 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...

CHARLES PARIS: A SECOND BBC RADIO COLLECTION

Charles Paris - unsuccessful actor, bad husband, and dipsomaniac - is back, and getting into trouble once more. As he tries to woo back his semi-detached wife, Frances, and land a few half-decent roles, he finds himself embroiled in murder and mayhem and forced to turn detective. Luckily, his sleuthing is much better than his acting... Murder in the Title - The thespian sleuth gets a part in a terrible play - but someone wants to kill off the cast. First a series of nasty accidents occur, then Charles is the victim of an attempted stabbing. Can he find the killer, or will he be fired first? A Reconstructed Corpse - Charles is playing a missing businessman in a crime reconstruction programme. But when severed body parts begin to appear, he must piece together a macabre jigsaw puzzle of murder. An Amateur Corpse - What starts as a simple voiceover job leads Charles to the discovery of a dead body. Could his old friend Hugo really be a murderer? All the signs are pointing that way... Corporate Bodies - A corporate video turns into a horror movie when a secretary is killed. As he investigates, Charles uncovers blackmail, sexual intrigue and multiple motives for murder amongst the workforce. A Decent Interval - Cast as The Ghost and First Gravedigger in Hamlet, Charles is finding rehearsals tense as both the lead roles are being played by reality TV stars. But soon it's not just Shakespeare's lines being murdered...

CHARLES PARIS: A THIRD BBC RADIO COLLECTION

Actor, alcoholic and amateur sleuth Charles Paris returns in another quintet of humorous theatrical thrillers. All Charles asks for is a nice juicy part in a successful play - but wherever he appears on the bill, murder and mystery always play a starring role... The Cinderella Killer - Panto seems the perfect way to spend the Christmas season for Charles, but when the show's star is found dead, the slapstick must make way for a murder investigation. Dead Room Farce - Charles is appearing in a revival of a 1970s farce. But when two cast members die in suspicious circumstances, he suspects foul play is afoot. Star Trap - When a series of accidents befalls the cast of a West End musical, Charles steps in to investigate. Who is trying to sabotage the show - and why? A Doubtful Death - Charles has landed a role in an immersive theatre production of Hamlet. But when an actress goes missing, he must decide if it is to be or not to be a murder case... Also included with this story is an exclusive afterword with scriptwriter Jeremy Front, who adapted it from an unproduced screenplay by Simon Brett. He reveals what it's like behind the scenes of Charles Paris, and explains the mechanics of recording for radio. A Deadly Habit - Offered a job in a verbatim theatre piece set in a monastery, Charles has reservations. Then disaster strikes the production - and he smells criminality...

THE CINDERELLA KILLER

Charles Paris lands a minor part in Eastbourne's Christmas production of Cinderella, but when he stumbles across a body beneath Eastbourne Pier, the pantomime rehearsals slip into chaos. It's up to Charles to put his renowned sleuthing skills to the test to find out who really killed his fellow cast member - and why.

THE CLUTTER CORPSE

Ellen Curtis runs her own business as a declutterer. She is used to encountering all sorts of weird and wonderful objects in the course of her work, but she has never before encountered a dead body. When Ellen stumbles across the corpse of a young woman, suspicion immediately falls on the deceased homeowner's son, who has recently absconded from prison. Discovering a link between the victim and her own past, Ellen sets out to uncover the truth. But where has her best friend disappeared to? And is Ellen really prepared for the shocking revelations to follow?

CORPORATE BODIES

Charles Paris, failed actor and amateur sleuth, takes on the role of a forklift truck driver in a promotional video and finds himself in an adventure involving corporate politics, product marketing and the world of sales conferences.

THE CORPSE ON THE COURT

Jude's life has been turned upside-down thanks her new man, Piers Targett, who's keen to get her involved in his hobby - or obsession - of Real Tennis. But when one of Piers' friends dies on the court in suspicious circumstances, Jude finds herself caught up in the police investigation.

DEAD ROMANTIC

Madeleine Severn has always looked much younger than her years and had her pupils falling in love with her. Paul Grigson is the latest student to fall for Madeleine but his feelings for her are becoming obsessive.

DEAD ROOM FARCE

Actor-sleuth Charles Paris is on a three month tour of the farce "Not on Your Wife", when someone in the cast murders an old friend.

THE DEAD SIDE OF THE MIKE

Charles Paris uncovers a complicated fraud at the BBC when a beautiful studio manager is murdered. Clues are hidden in seemingly innocent radio announcements and lead to a trap which nearly spells the end for Charles.

THE LIAR IN THE LIBRARY

Having been booked to give a talk at Fethering Library, successful author Burton St Clair invites his old friend Jude to come along. What Jude hadn't been suspecting however was that the evening would end in sudden, violent death. More worrying, from Jude's point of view, is the fact that the investigating police officers seem to be convinced that she herself was responsible for the crime.

THE LITTLE SOD DIARIES

The delightful musings of a baby who systematically brings chaos and havoc into the lives of his parents. Contains 'How To Be A Little Sod'; 'Little Sod's Next Step' and 'Not Another Little Sod'.

MRS PARGETER'S PLOT

Mrs Pargeter and Truffler Mason are determined to find out who has framed Concrete Jacket by placing a body in the wine-cellar.

MRS PARGETER'S POUND OF FLESH

Mrs Pargeter becomes involved in a murder investigation at a health farm;

MURDER IN THE MUSEUM

Carole Seddon regrets her decision to join the Board of Bracketts, which is overseeing the conversion of Bracketts, an Elizabethan house into a museum. But when a skeleton and then a second body are found in the grounds, Carole is once again involved in a murder investigation.

A NICE CLASS OF CORPSE

The Devereux is a nice residential hotel which caters for a nice class of guest. But the arrival of Mrs Pargeter seems to act as a catalyst of disaster for everyone connected to it. On the morning after her arrival the corpse of one of the frailer residents is found at the foot of the main stairs.

A RECONSTRUCTED CORPSE

An actor's career plumbs new depths when he acts the part of a murder victim and gets drawn into a real investigation.

SICKEN AND SO DIE

Charles Paris lands himself a part in Twelfth Night, but is soon suspicious that someone is trying to kill him.

SINGLED OUT (X Rated)

A beautiful woman decides to take control of her life and finds herself facing a chilling legacy of murder. X rated, contains offensive language and explicit sex

SO MUCH BLOOD

Appearing in his own one-man show on Thomas Hood at the Edinburgh Festival, middle-aged actor Charles Paris finds himself falling for a gorgeous young girl. He also finds himself being dragged into a complex murder investigation involving the death of a fading pop star, a bomb scare in Holyrood Palace and a suicide leap from the top of the Rock.

SO MUCH BLOOD: A BBC RADIO 4 FULL-CAST DRAMATISATION

August in Edinburgh, and thousands of performers of all stripes have flocked to the Fringe Festival. Among them is Charles Paris filling in at the last minute after a student actress breaks a leg and has to drop out. Showcasing an earnest one-man show in a sea of stand-up comics is a bit of a gamble, but at least he's acting, and with a Charles Paris production, what could possibly go wrong? Charles is sharing a venue with a group of student actors, but when one of the performers dies in a freak stabbing, the actor-cum-amateur sleuth smells a murderous rat and decides to investigate. When the killer sets his sights on him, Charles realises that he must be getting close to the truth - despite not having a clue what's going on... Help arrives in the form of his agent, Maurice, in town scouting for talent, and Charles' 'semi-detached' wife, Frances, who inadvertently finds herself directing Charles' show. The three become drawn into the mystery, and find themselves playing detectives. This unlikely trio are way out of their depth, but when has that ever stopped Charles Paris?

THE STABBING IN THE STABLES

Carole Seddon and her friend Jude find themselves in the midst of some horseplay, after stumbling upon the body of ex-equestrian at Long Bamber Stables.

THE TORSO IN THE TOWN

Grant and Kim Roxby hope that their first dinner party will be a talking point. It is, when a body is discovered in the cellar. Their friend Jude and her neighbour Carol, budding amateur detectives, quickly decide to investigate.