Death Under the Dryer: A Fethering Mystery

The popular and prolific Brett takes us into the world of cut, color and curl in his witty eighth Fethering cozy (after 2006's The Stabbing in the Stables ). Carole Seddon needs a haircut: exactly the same, just shorter. She risks going to a salon in her small English town of Fethering, only to witness the discovery of the assistant, Kyra, strangled in the back room with evidence of a tryst all around her. When Kyra's secret boyfriend, Nathan, becomes the suspect, but his parents aren't worried, Carole decides the local constabulary needs help from her and her next-door neighbor and sleuthing partner, Jude. Brett perfectly describes the mannerisms of stuffy upper-middle-class Carole slowly letting her hair down; the odd, arty insouciance of Nathan's academic family; and anyone else who comes within range. This funny and intricately plotted story brims with affection for the affectations of our favorite Fethering friends. (Aug.)