Review: THE TANGO SCHOOL MYSTERY, Peter Bartram

• File Size: 416 KB
• Publisher: The Bartram Partnership (March 22, 2018)
• Publication Date: March 22, 2018
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B07C91889
• my source: the author

Synopsis (supplied by the author)

Take your partners, please, for The Tango School Mystery. Yes, wisecracking crime reporter Colin Crampton and his feisty girlfriend Shirley Goldsmith tango into trouble in their most thrilling adventure yet.

If you've read the Crampton of the Chronicle series from the beginning, you'll know that the first - Headline Murder - was set in August 1962. Now we've moved on to September 1964 and in the UK, change is in the air. The Prime Minister has just called a general election. Colin is annoyed because he thinks all the political news will push his crime stories off the front page of the Brighton Evening Chronicle.

But that's before he stumbles across a dead body - and encounters a sinister figure from the past. And that's not all. Gerald Pope, the Chronicle's editor - known to Colin as His Holiness - has given him a very special assignment. If Colin gets it wrong, someone else could end up very dead - and Colin will be out of the job he loves. What makes it all worse is that Frank Figgis, Colin's news editor, is trying to give up smoking so he's even more grumpy than usual. Swinging Sixties Brighton comes alive in this new full-length murder mystery that will keep you turning the pages right through the Easter holiday.

The Tango School Mystery is available as a Kindle book or paperback (264 pages).

My take

The plot of this novel takes Brighton crime reporter Colin Crampton into one of his most dangerous investigations so far. He and his girl friend Shirley are dining out when the ceiling begins to rain drops of blood. Colin enters the flat over the restaurant, finds a body, and sees someone leaving.

He already has a case in hand - looking for his editor's brother who is supposedly bent on murdering an elderly fascist who has recently returned to Britain and is standing in the just-announced General Election. Colin is worried that this body means that Gervase, the editor's brother has been successful.

And then a third case comes up - the theft of four life size waxwork figures from the local Tussaud's.
And how is Colin's landlady's experience at her tango dancing lessons connected to any or all of these things?

An amusing cozy, with some reflections on political happenings in Britain in 1964.

My rating: 4.3

I've also read
4.3, MURDER IN THE MORNING EDITION 
4.1, MURDER IN THE AFTERNOON EXTRA
4.2, MURDER IN THE NIGHT FINAL

Review: MURDER FROM THE NEWSDESK, Peter Bartram

My Take:

This book consists of 7 Crampton of the Chronicle mystery stories, cozies set in Brighton in the 1960s.

The Mystery of the African Charity

The Mystery of the Two Suitcases

The Mystery of the Single Red Sock

The Mystery of the Beauregard Hotel

The Mystery of the Precious Princess

The Mystery of the Clothes on the Beach

The Mystery of the Phantom Santa

If you are looking for a quick but satisfying read, this may suit.

The longest story is the first one which dates from Colin Crampton’s early days at the Chronicle. A friend of his landlady becomes worried when a nephew she rarely sees requests her to donate her dead husband’s clothes to charity and follows up by asking if he can store clothes in her spare room.

Each of the stories gives Crampton a scoop for the newspaper.

All very readable.

My Rating: 4.4

Review: MURDER IN THE NIGHT FINAL, Peter Bartram

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
  
• File Size: 415 KB
• Print Length: 179 pages
• Publisher: The Bartram Partnership (July 3, 2017)
• Publication Date: July 3, 2017
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B073PYW644
• Text-to-Speech:  
• #3 in the Morning, Noon and Night Trilogy

Synopsis (Amazon)

Welcome to Brighton, England - where they do like to murder beside the seaside…

Don't you just hate it when you've shaken off a murderer - and then find two more want to kill you?

Ace crime reporter Colin Crampton believes he's uncovered the stunning motive behind a train robbery that ended in murder. But that was before he uncovers unexpected clues.

With his feisty Australian girlfriend Shirley Goldsmith, Colin sets out on his most daring ever adventure. If he can nail this story, editors will be beating a path to his door. But only if…

As he faces up to a new threat, he meets a doorman with a cauliflower ear, a hairdresser's assistant turned motorcyle rocker's moll, and a ruthless killer who keeps chickens.

If you enjoy books by authors like Janet Evanovich, M C Beaton and Simon Brett, you'll soon be hooked by the mix of murder, mystery and mirth in this third book in the Colin Crampton Morning Noon & Night trilogy. Come and join the fun…

My Take

Colin Crampton of the Brighton Chronicle returns from New York where #2 in this series took him. Now he attempts to track down the mind behind the Great Train Robbery, and in the process concludes that the main target was not the money after all.

Under pressure always by his editor to come up with a good story, Colin puts himself and his girlfriend Shirley in incredible danger.

A good, light, entertaining and short read. Recommended.

My rating: 4.2

I've already read
4.3, MURDER IN THE MORNING EDITION 
4.1, MURDER IN THE AFTERNOON EXTRA

Author's website 

Review: MURDER IN THE AFTERNOON EXTRA, Peter Bartram

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
  
• File Size: 390 KB
• Print Length: 160 pages
• Publisher: The Bartram Partnership (July 3, 2017)
• Publication Date: July 3, 2017
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B073PYXKJN
• #2 of The Morning, Noon and Night Trilogy

Synopsis (Amazon)

Welcome to Brighton, England - where they do like to murder beside the seaside…

Don't you just hate it when you go on a foreign trip - and then someone tries to kill you?

Ace crime reporter Colin Crampton thinks he's wrapped up a story that began with a robbery and ended with a murder. He's filed his copy. Job done.

But that was before he hit on a new clue - which takes him on a foreign trip and into more danger than he's ever known.

Before long, Colin discovers his hunt for the truth has dumped him right into the middle of a conspiracy he could never have foreseen.

As he battles to find a way out of danger, he meets a stripper with a pet python, a clumsy assassin who kills the wrong people, and a slot machine salesman with less luck than his punters.

If you enjoy books by authors like Janet Evanovich, M C Beaton and Simon Brett, you'll soon be hooked by the mix of murder, mystery and mirth in this second book in the Colin Crampton Morning Noon & Night trilogy. Come and join the fun…

My Take

This novella is the second in a trilogy, so you really must read the first for it to make any sense at all. As with the first, this is a fairly light fluffy cozy with a murder or two thrown in.

Reporter Colin Crampton's search for the identity of local criminal leads him to the Big Apple, and more unlikely events.

Just a bit of fun, light reading.

My rating: 4.1

I've already read
4.3, MURDER IN THE MORNING EDITION 

Review: MURDER IN THE MORNING EDITION, Peter Bartram

• format: Kindle (Amazon) - currently available for $0
• File Size: 381 KB
• Print Length: 158 pages
• Publisher: The Bartram Partnership (July 4, 2017)
• Publication Date: July 4, 2017
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B073QWJBPH
• THE MORNING, NOON AND NIGHT TRILOGY, BOOK 1

Synopsis (Amazon)

Welcome to Brighton, England - where they do like to murder beside the seaside…

Don't you just hate it when you get the afternoon off - and then find yourself chasing a train robber with his loot?

Join ace crime reporter Colin Crampton and his feisty Australian girlfriend Shirley Goldsmith as they embark on a new adventure.

It all starts when Colin spends a lazy afternoon by the beach with Shirley. But when a daring robbery takes place before their very eyes, Colin reckons he's on the trail of a big story.

But nothing about the robbery is what it seems. And before long Colin and Shirley are drawn deeper into danger.

Colin encounters a motorcycle rocker with bad teeth, a dyslexic tattooist, and a seller of novelty toilet roll holders as he chases down his story.

Murder in the Morning Edition is the first part of a mystery adventure trilogy which continues in Murder in the Afternoon Extra and Murder in the Night Final.

My Take

While this isn't his first Colin Crampton story, it is the first time that the author has attempted a mystery as a trilogy. In the introduction he even estimates how long it will take the average reader to read. His opinion is that this is his detective's most thrilling adventure yet.

Elsewhere Peter Bartram calls the book a cosy caper, and I think that is about right. I found it engaging reading with just enough mystery in the main plot to keep me interested. As a bonus, at the end there is a chapter from the next book in the trilogy, just to whet the appetite.

So, here is some light reading, which may take a night or two on your e-book reader. And did I mention it is free?

To be honest, I'm looking forward to the next one.

My rating: 4.3


About the author

Peter Bartram brings years of experience as a journalist to his Crampton of the Chronicle crime mystery series. His novels are fast-paced and humorous - the action is matched by the laughs. The books feature a host of colorful characters as befits stories set in Brighton, one of Britain's most trend-setting towns.
Website: ColinCrampton.com