The Stately Home Murder by Catherine Aird

Unfortunately, my local library system does not have Heinretta Who by Catherine Aird, so I skipped over that to the third Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan mystery, The Stately Home Murder. The murder takes place in a stately home, owned by the Earl of Ornum. The family is the typical scatterbrained characters that we sometimes associate with nobility and English stately homes, and Aird does a great job of drawing the characters. The family librarian and archivist is found murdered in a suit of armor after making a claim that the he might have found paperwork saying that the Earl was not the legitimate heir to the earldom. Sloan is called on the case, and receives heaps of abuse from his superior, Superintendent Leeyes and little help from his assistant, Detective Constable Crosby. There's stories about a family ghost making an appearance, which signals an upcoming death in the family, and when a hanger-on relative winds up dead, it seems to jive with the ghostly appearance. However, Sloan knows that there must be a connection between the two murders. It's just a matter of figuring out who in the small group of suspects could have performed the murder, and why the crime was done.

I enjoyed this story. The story is a quick read, and I have to admit that I didn't suspect the murderer or the reason for the crime. Up until the last 15 pages or so, I was as bamboozled as most other readers are, I suspect. There is some humor in the dry, British humor sort of way. The story has the feel of a golden age detective novel, and I am looking forward to reading more Detective Inspector Sloan mysteries.

Religious Body by Catherine Aird

I am not very familiar with Catherine Aird, but I heard about some of her mysteries, especially The Stately Home Murder. It's supposed to be a must-read in the mystery genre. Since I never read any Aird, I thought I would start with the first book in the Detective Sloan series, The Religious Body. Inspector Sloan is called in to check on the death of a nun. The local doctor who was called in to check the body realized that the nun did not die from an accidental fall down the cellar steps; she was bashed in the head with a heavy object. Inspector Sloan starts his investigation, and he finds out that the nun's cousin is in the local area. The nun's death is to the benefit of the cousin who's chemical company can now go public to great financial benefit to the cousin. Things are looking dire for the cousin, and when a guy is burned at the local farmer's institute in the habit of a nun, with the dead Sister Anne's glasses, the case becomes muddier. How did the students get the habit and the glasses? Then one of the students, the one who got the habit from the convent. What did the student see that resulted in his murder?

Although the book is not long, Aird provides a fairly complex mystery. It wasn't clear at all who the murder was. In fact, I was quite shocked at the end when all was revealed. I already got the two of the next three books in the series. The third Henriette Who is not available from my library. However, the fourth Inspector Sloan book is the classic The Stately Home Murder, and I am really looking forward to reading it.