Book Review: Mrs. Pargeter’s Public Relations

This book is the eighth in a series by Simon Brett, and it is the first one we have read. In fact, this is the first we have heard of the series, but now that we’ve read book 8, we wish we had time to go back and read the series from the start.

The action takes place in England and Greece. The titular Mrs. Pargeter is a wealthy widow whose husband had many associates who…well, let’s say they’re a little shady and perhaps not always on the right side of the law. They are fiercely loyal to Mrs. Pargeter though, and that is what really matters. Also, they are not the mean and evil sort of criminals—or reformed criminals, or whatever they are. They are actually rather nice.

You’ll be wondering where the cats come in. Well, being wealthy, Mrs. Pargeter gets invited by various people in various ways to give up bits and pieces of her money in support of various causes. One such cause is the cat charity—PhilliPussies—run by a sort of friend of hers. The charity takes feral cats from Greece, spruces them up, and “repatriates” them to England for adoption. It is at a fundraiser for this charity that Mrs. Pargeter is accosted by the sister-in-law she never met and whose existence she had been 100 percent unaware of. In ensuing days the sister-in-law, who is really not a very nice sort of person, begins making veiled threats.

And then…the body of an old woman associated with the cat charity is discovered in a shallow grave in Epping Forest (“London’s go-to destination for burying bodies in shallow graves”). Mrs. Pargeter and her, um, associates do some investigating on their own, including taking a trip to the Greek island where the cats are collected from. Just what is the deal with this charity?

Which brings me back to the cats. We don’t really get to know any cats in this story. We see a lot of cats in  cages, either being transported or waiting to be transported, but they are not major players. So if you read this book, just don’t expect there to be cats on every page. We did not find this disappointing though, as the story is excellently told. The climactic scenes are gripping, and there is something James Bond-ish about the way Mrs. Pargeter’s associates use their various skills to get out of tense situations. And Mrs. Pargeter…well, I can’t say we liked her, exactly. But we did respect her. She is the best Mrs. Pargeter we can imagine.

Mrs. Pargeter’s Public Relations is a very entertaining book, well worth a read. Recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We wouldn’t tell you it was good unless we really liked it!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!