A Nice Class of Corpse by Simon Brett review

Published in 1988, it seems a throwback to the British mysteries of the 1930s.  This is the first in the series, and I expect additional books to be a bit better, and the character more defined in future books.

I hadn't read any of the other Mrs. Pargeter mysteries previously, and while it seemed a little old fashioned, I did enjoy it. I found the mystery interesting, and the Mrs. Pargeter character intriguing. 

Mrs Melita Pargater is the very wealthy widow of a talented burglar.  She's a little low class, is aware of it, but doesn't care.  She decides to stay at a genteel residential hotel, with mostly permanent residents (which are the fairly usual characters in a British cozy--aging actress, impoverished aristocrat, ex-military man and his not-very-bright friend).  The owner of the hotel wants the hotel to cater to high class residents, and is not sure about Mrs. Pargater.  

Then the other guests start dying, and Mrs. Pargater starts to investigate.  She uses the contacts her husband had to help her out.

I liked reading this.  It's not a deep book, but fun and easy to read.  I enjoyed the character of Mrs. Pargater, and I'm looking forward to reading others in this series.