A well-plotted mystery that has wit. Cleverly written and lightly comic police procedural.
Colonel Caversham, once prominent in the British Colonial Service, has died and left his large collection of artifacts to the local museum. Included in the artifacts is a three-thousand year old Egyptian mummy and case. The coroner complicates matters by ruling that no body, however old, may be moved without his consent. D.C. Sloan, a detective inspector is sent to try to resolve the problem, but when the mummy case is opened, instead of the remains of Rodoheptah, they find the body of an unidentified young woman who has only been dead a few days...
Colonel Caversham, once prominent in the British Colonial Service, has died and left his large collection of artifacts to the local museum. Included in the artifacts is a three-thousand year old Egyptian mummy and case. The coroner complicates matters by ruling that no body, however old, may be moved without his consent. D.C. Sloan, a detective inspector is sent to try to resolve the problem, but when the mummy case is opened, instead of the remains of Rodoheptah, they find the body of an unidentified young woman who has only been dead a few days...
Catherine Aird's comedic touch wasn't as pronounced as usual but she still offered some zingers. This is another of her police procedurals with a twist of comedy. Aird takes aim at the illegal drug problem in England and offers a bit of 'the cure fits the crime.'
Sloan still has Crosby, an immature constable who likes fast cars and faster routes. Superintendent Leeyes is even lazier than Crosby, but he's the boss. Sloan finally gets a lucky break (and he needs one after so many years with Crosby and Leeyes), when someone decides to try to bribe Sloan with rose bushes. The best news of all is that he gets to keep the rose bushes. Margaret had already informed Sloan that "they" couldn't afford the bushes. She was incensed when they arrived. Good things do happen to those who wait.
I'm devastated; I only have one more collection and one more novel to read of Aird's. I've read them all at least twice. Aird is one of my very favorite authors.
Sloan & Crosby Series
-- skipped some --
16. AfterEffects (1996)
17. Stiff News (1998)
** 18.Little Knell (2000)
19. Amendment of Life (2002)
20.A Hole in One (2005)
Sloan still has Crosby, an immature constable who likes fast cars and faster routes. Superintendent Leeyes is even lazier than Crosby, but he's the boss. Sloan finally gets a lucky break (and he needs one after so many years with Crosby and Leeyes), when someone decides to try to bribe Sloan with rose bushes. The best news of all is that he gets to keep the rose bushes. Margaret had already informed Sloan that "they" couldn't afford the bushes. She was incensed when they arrived. Good things do happen to those who wait.
I'm devastated; I only have one more collection and one more novel to read of Aird's. I've read them all at least twice. Aird is one of my very favorite authors.
Sloan & Crosby Series
-- skipped some --
16. AfterEffects (1996)
17. Stiff News (1998)
** 18.Little Knell (2000)
19. Amendment of Life (2002)
20.A Hole in One (2005)