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Who Killed Simon Peters?
Who Killed Simon Peters?
Jan 17, 2026 1:19 AM

Author:Paul Hendy

Who Killed Simon Peters?

The King is dead. A nation mourns...

Having clawed his way up from C-list obscurity to the pinnacle of A-list superstardom, media personality and self-proclaimed King of Saturday Night Television, Simon Peters is found dead in 'suspicious circumstances'.

Deluded, self-obsessed and with an ego the size of Coventry, Simon trod on so many toes, stabbed innumerable backs and slept with a lot of the wrong people in his ever-more desperate search for fame. The bitter ex-agent, the ruthless manager, the jilted ex-girlfriend, the rival game-show host and any number of members of the viewing public who'd had to sit through his shows - each and every one had reason to hate Simon. But who would hate him enough to want to see him dead? Investigative journalist David Mulryan looks back on the career of this light entertainment legend in his search to answer the burning question: Who Killed Simon Peters?

Taking you inside the mind of a man who is dying to be famous, this deliciously funny novel takes a sideways swipe at show business, slaps the face of the television industry and gives a friendly poke in the eye to our celebrity-obsessed culture.

Reviews

An hysterical, rip-roaring, celebrity yarn...Hendy has done it again!

—— CHRISTOPHER BIGGINS

Paul Hendy brilliantly depicts the glamour and grime of showbusiness. A laugh a page and then some

—— SHAUN WILLIAMSON

Brilliantly funny...why isn't it all about me, though? I think he should have called it 'Who Killed Toyah Wilcox?'

—— TOYAH WILCOX

I had to read the whole book just to make sure I got a mention...Very funny though

—— PETER DUNCAN

A delightful mystery-thriller set in a city populated by stuffed animals...dastardly fun to read

—— San Francisco Chronicle

Hardboiled teddy bears, voluptuous rats, pious penguins and exploding fowl populate a world that's violent, tender, hilarious, and downright sickening. Really, what could be better?

—— Eric Garcia, author of Matchstick Men

These are stuffed animals like you've never seen: deep, dark, and, somehow, utterly believable. Lucky us--a mystery that's completely original

—— Brad Meltzer

In this off-beat debut, Davys marries film-noir-slick with teddy-bear-sweet to create a cutthroat world peopled with stuffed animals. Like Who Killed Roger Rabbit's evil cousin, this gangster story is replete with stakeouts, break-is, threats, coercion and double dealing....With its engaging characters, refreshing perspective and action-packed plot, AMBERVILLE is poised to become one of the must-read books of the year

—— Winnipeg Free Press

Peebles tells this story with skill, tempering a potentially saccharine plot with a wry authorial gaze

—— Adrian Turpin , Financial Times

The Death of Lomond Friel is a very fine first novel, full of emotion, laced with wit, and crowded with observations of the surface absurdities and hidden pains of being human. It marks Sue Peebles as an assured and cunning writer

—— James Robertson

Shot through with a fizzing mix of philosophy and comedy

—— Piers Plowright , The Tablet

An unusual, loveable debut...that explores the complexities of family relationships and the weight of memory

—— Natalie Young , The Times, Christmas round up

An unusual, loveable debut about a father and his daugther on the East Coast of Scotland...superbly written with a small cast of memorable characters

—— Erica Wagner , The Times, Christmas round up

The beautiful debut by Scottish novelist Sue Peebles. This tale of a daughter caring for her father who has suffered a stroke is psychologically true and elegantly portrayed

—— Lesley McDowell , Sunday Herald, Christmas round up

The best debut I read...sharp, tender, wicked, and beautifully poised prose that reads like the work of an accomplished novelist

—— Gavin Wallace , Sunday Herald, Christmas round up

It would be a hard heart indeed that remained unmoved . . . the tender feelings that Noble engenders in her readers are to be cherished

—— Daily Express

Warner navigates the comic, the philosophical and the socially acute like no other writer we have

—— Independent

Played refreshingly uncliched games with the device of the unreliable narrator

—— Jonathan Coe , Daily Telegraph, Christmas round up

Blake Morrison's examination of the dark heart of male rivalry makes foe a gripping read

—— Aminatta Forna , Sunday Telegraph, Christmas round up

Pacy and gripping...wonderfully atmospheric

—— Good Book Guide

Morrison's compelling study of male competitiveness offers a discomforting account of the amoral excuses and self-deception of the compulsive gambler: "I don't have a problem. I could stop tomorrow"; "gambling is the basis of our whole economy". You reckon you could put it down at any point - though you'd be kidding yourself

—— Alfred Hickling , Guardian

The Bank Holiday weekend from hell is the subject of Blake Morrison's entertaining new novel - a dark little tale about middle-class rivalry and midsummer meltdown. With an ear attuned to metropolitan pretension - modern parenting skills are sent up with gusto - Morrison succeeds in weaving a murderous melodrama that is grounded in the most recognizable of human impulses and desires

—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent

A tense chamber piece about a twisted friendship...the author's skilful choreography of unsympathetic characters and a menacing tone make for a sharply intelligent novel that is both unnerving and enjoyable

—— Financial Times

The Last Weekend isn't really a thriller though its well-paced, tight and gripping narrative has you reaching for the same adjectives that you would use to describe one

—— Paul Dunn , The Times

For those holidaying with old friends…the book tells the chilling story ofa rivalrousfriendship…leaving Alex Clark to conclude that Morrison “keeps the reader constantly intrigued

—— Guardian
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