Good old fashioned murder mystery, which I enjoy more for a glimpse into British life in the 60s and early 70s than for the writing style or the sharp insights into the human condition. Aird's depiction of the little market towns of the fictional "Calleshire" (her version of Midsomer, for cozy mystery fans) is a real trip down memory lane for anyone who lived in Britain in the 1970s.
For this outing for Inspector Sloan and his less-than trusty side-kick, DC Crosby (the fifth novel in her long-running series), Aird tackles a classic "locked room" scenario. Except, in this case, the locked room is a medieval bell tower, and the doors are blocked (and body buried) by several tons of masonry rubble! The solution emerges like murder mystery sodduku, rather than anything emerging from thoughtful character development, and the keen reader might see the solution coming quite a while before Inspector Sloan. But it's a quick read, and good fun.
For this outing for Inspector Sloan and his less-than trusty side-kick, DC Crosby (the fifth novel in her long-running series), Aird tackles a classic "locked room" scenario. Except, in this case, the locked room is a medieval bell tower, and the doors are blocked (and body buried) by several tons of masonry rubble! The solution emerges like murder mystery sodduku, rather than anything emerging from thoughtful character development, and the keen reader might see the solution coming quite a while before Inspector Sloan. But it's a quick read, and good fun.
