A Discerning Reader |

03/05/2006
Brett has written so many books, this must have been a few weeks' worth of thought and no more.It is tossed off with some style; but the plot, characters, and conclusion are slick and superficial.
Virginity and the way three different characters resolve their angst over that status is a theme of sorts in this novel.Madeline Severn is a 37-year-old tutor at a language school.One of her pupils, 19-year-old Paul, is virtually unable to think about anything else apart from how he can lose his virginity--preferably with Madeline.Madeline seems to be interested in someone else (another teacher at the institution), and Paul must deal with his feelings about a more suitable suitor for Madeline.
Things culminate in a remote cottage where, one weekend, Madeline plans to lose her virginity.A dead body is found in the cottage after the weekend, and the remaining living characters move along pleasantly with their lives.This despite the fact that one of them is a murderer!I won't read any more Simon Brett--there just isn't much thought or psychology to the characters, crime, or motives in this story.