Simon Brett

When Simon is not doing his writing jobs, he is most probably reading, going to watch theatre stage plays or doing the The Times crossword. He also loves playing Tennis on the court at Petworth House.

The best place to start is the Charles Paris series, the earliest of Simon Brett's multi-book series: it opens with Cast in Order of Disappearance (1975) and runs to 20 books across 1975–2018, ending with A Deadly Habit (2018). Simon Brett's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Simon Brett has 130 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1975 and 2026. 78 of them belong to 8 named series — the largest being the Fethering Mystery series with 23 books — and 52 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Simon Brett's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Charles Paris (1975–2018, 20 books), Mrs Pargeter (1986–2025, 10 books) and Three Detectives (1986–1987, 2 books), plus 5 more.

This guide splits Simon Brett's 130 books into 8 named series and 52 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Fethering Mystery (23 books, 2000–2026); Charles Paris (20 books, 1975–2018); Blotto and Twinks (13 books, 2009–2024); Mrs Pargeter (10 books, 1986–2025); Decluttering Mysteries (5 books, 2020–2026), plus 3 further series.