Slight Mourning

I have read a fair amount of Catherine Aird's Inspector Sloan mysteries. They are a mixed bag. I will not call them boring by any means, but the stories are nothing spectacular either. This time, however, I was rather surprised by the final twist and how it was resolved. Come to think of it, the 'twist' is probably not even a twist. Rather it has more to do with my expectations about Aird's books. I keep forgetting that these books are from the relatively recent past and not from the Golden Age of detective fiction. Aird writes in such an old-fashioned way that it is easy to forget about her book's time periods. So, my 'surprise' is rooted in my own expectations regarding what was proper for the Golden Age rather than what was realistic show more for a book published in 1975, the year "Slight Mourning" came out. Overall, I liked this book well enough. It's easy, 'comfort' reading. show less

A dinner party with a dozen guests. A fatal automobile crash. The autopsy reveals the victim died by poisoning. Inspector Sloan investigates. Although most readers will likely guess the identity of the murderer pretty early, this pleasant installment in the classic Aird series resonates with the charms of English villages.

I didn't remember reading this one before, so I was really excited to read it again. A man dies in a car crash. The trouble is, he was already dying from poison. Inspector Sloan of the Calleshire CID is on the case. Funny in parts. I had guessed the murderer well before the end, but it was still a good read.

CMB

The sixth installment of Inspector Sloan's adventures finds our hero and his faithful sidekick Crosby investigating the death of one Bill Fent, who died in a car crash. You'd think that would be the purview of the Traffic officers, but in this case, Bill had been found to have had a massive dose of barbituates in his system. Doing some research, Sloan and Crosby figure it could only have been administered at an earlier dinner party -- but there were 11 guests around the table. Which one did it? And why?

Again...the story reads well up until the end when the murderer is revealed...and then the ending is quite abrupt. Oh well. I'm still enjoying this series and will probably read through them all.

If you like police procedurals, or show more British mysteries, you get 2 in one here. show less

Inspector Sloan and Constable Crosby have a round about way of figuring out the reasoning behind the murder of Helen Fent's husband. An English drawn out book. NOT one to read again!