Mrs Pargeter's Past

<p><b>"A delightfully twisty comic caper . . . If you’ve never met Mrs. Pargeter and her merry crew of criminals, now’s your chance" - <i>Booklist </i>Starred Review</b><br/> <b><i><br/> A gambler on the run. A widow with deep pockets. A pair of criminal brothers with a secret agenda. The new instalment of the quirky, inventive and charming mystery series featuring widow Mrs Pargeter – whose late husband was absolutely NOT one of the most notorious villains in Essex (the very idea).</i></b><br/> Mrs Pargeter’s friends know two important details about her marriage to her late husband. First, that it was blissfully happy. And second, that Mr Pargeter was not a man to bring his work home with him. So, while the chance of her ever being asked by the police what he did for a living is, naturally, remote, Mrs Pargeter would be able to reply, in all honesty, that she doesn’t know.<br/> What she <i>does </i>know is that Mr Pargeter’s former associates are all respectable members of society, and if they were ever criminals, they are now 100% reformed. So when she learns that Short Head Shimmings, her late husband’s former accountant, has fallen on hard times, she springs into action, chequebook at the ready.<br/> But Short Head has borrowed from the wrong people, and the infamous Batinga Brothers aren’t out for his money – they’re out for blood. The only way to save Short Head is to dismantle their criminal empire. But how can the highly law-abiding Mrs Pargeter, whose only weapons are her charm, her quick wits and her little black book of Mr Pargeter’s contacts, hope to do such an impossible thing?<br/> <b>Cosy mystery-meets-crime caper in this witty, light-hearted and terribly British novel from CWA Diamond Dagger-winner Simon Brett, which is perfect for fans of Richard Osman, Janice Hallett, Robert Thorogood and M.C. Beaton.</b></p>