The first of a new series "The Fethering Mysteries", The Body on the Beach takes us to a small south coast retirement community where spite runs high. Uptight divorcee Carole has restricted her life to walking the dog and the odd bit of charitable work--she confuses middle age and retirement with being bored and depressed; when she finds a body on the beach, she calls the police and is irritated when they treat her like a hysterical idiot--the body has gone missing. Her new neighbour, the flashy Jude, a woman with a past and an untidy living room, drags the more thoughtful Carole into regular glasses of wine at the pub and what becomes a complicated investigation; Jude is keen to have a good time at all times, and will not take the polite rebuffs which keep Carole from involvement with life. This is an interesting thriller which reminds us that even Middle England has its underside; it is also an impressive opening to a new series in which Brett skewers the conventionality and repressed emotion of his intelligent heroine while understanding the safety they represent for her. --Roz Kaveney