The sixth book in Catherine Aird’s Calleshire Chronicles, Slight Mourning, was not one of my favorites. Despite one funny report about a regimental reunion at a hotel, this mystery was slow-paced, in fact, plodding.
After a dinner party at his home, Bill Fent died in a car accident. When barbiturates were found in his system, the police have to investigate whether it was an accident, or was Fent murdered. Detective Inspector C.D. Sloan, along with Detective Constable Crosby, interviews those who attended the dinner party. However, Fent’s wife, Helen, locks herself away in her bedroom after the funeral, and refuses to see anyone.
Miss Cynthia Paterson, a village spinster, is an expert at funerals. As the daughter of a rector and a gardener for hire in the village, she’s sharp and observant. If Sloan had Miss Paterson’s knowledge of the people who attended that dinner party, he might have saved a couple lives and solved the mystery sooner. This investigation, though, bogs him down as he plods toward a solution.
As I said, Slight Mourning was not one of my favorites in the series.The characters were flat, and I found them uninteresting. It’s Sloan’s wife, Margaret, who is the voice of reason. Despite her minor role, she’s the most interesting character in the book. I hope she appears in future books.
Slight Mourning by Catherine Aird. Doubleday & Company, 1975. 183p.
FTC Full Disclosure – Library book
