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Inspector Sloan #25
Last Writes
The police inspector brightened. ‘I must say that any suggestion of a motive would be a help. The deceased didn’t appear to have any natural enemies.’ ‘We’ve all got natural enemies, Inspector. I think what poor Walkinshaw had were some unnatural ones.’
Last Writes is a mischievously clever compendium of twenty-two short stories from the pen of classic crime author Catherine Aird. Not only do her much-loved police duo Detective Inspector Christopher Sloan and Detective Constable William Crosby feature, but also a host of new characters including the mysterious Malcolm Venables of the Secret Service.
Full of delicious twists and turns, Last Writes is be a collection to curl up with and savour.
Last Writes is a mischievously clever compendium of twenty-two short stories from the pen of classic crime author Catherine Aird. Not only do her much-loved police duo Detective Inspector Christopher Sloan and Detective Constable William Crosby feature, but also a host of new characters including the mysterious Malcolm Venables of the Secret Service.
Full of delicious twists and turns, Last Writes is be a collection to curl up with and savour.
231 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 24, 2014
36 people are currently reading
129 people want to read
About the author
Catherine Aird
68 books194 followers Kinn Hamilton McIntosh, known professionally as Catherine Aird, was an English novelist. She was the author of more than twenty crime fiction novels and several collections of short stories. Her witty, literate, and deftly plotted novels straddle the "cozy" and "police procedural" genres and are somewhat similar in flavour to those of Martha Grimes, Caroline Graham, M.C. Beaton, Margaret Yorke, and Pauline Bell. Aird was inducted into the prestigious Detection Club in 1981, and is a recipient of the 2015 Cartier Diamond Dagger award.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 22, 2023
A great book of short stories by an author I enjoy. There are 22 stories, I will provide an impression based on my experience:
Left, Right, Attention! Features: Henry Tyler, member of the Foreign Office and his sister, Wendy Witherington, previously a secretary in a law office, now a stay at home mum. Time period: on the verge of WWII.
Henry takes a break from London to visit Wendy and her family while working on deciphering a secret code. His sister proves most helpful and together they learn the message. Quote: "Where there's a will, there's a relative."
The Hard Lesson. A headmaster seeks a replacement to teach the Relationships Class when the teacher breaks her wrist. The only one available is the oldest teacher on staff and is describe as being "quite the most strait-laced."
She is tasked with teaching teens how to avoid pregnancy. What follows is an interesting conversation with many sidelines between the canny teacher and the bright students. She leaves quite an impression on them. Quote: "You don't have to let them do that," said Miss Wilkins. "It's a free country."
Care Plan. Features Detective Inspector (DI) Sloan and Detective Constable (DC) Crosby. The Assistant Chief Constable summons DI Sloan to talk about his uncle who is in a care home. He describes him: "petulant, I'd call him. And sometimes a little unwise." What follows is an amusing misinterpretation of a note and the explanation DI Sloan provides.
Quote: "unbiddable children were a sore trial to their parents but unbiddable parents, clinging to their last vestiges of their waning authority, could be an even sorer trial to their adult offspring."
Sleeping Dogs, Lying. This is a deliciously dark tale spiced with humor. Quote: Alice perceives her husband to be "a bag of grumbles for whom nothing was right - not ever."
Quick on the Draw. A story with a double meaning. A couple are having a discussion about an upcoming parachute jump, or are they? I re-read it to see if I could see the twist coming!
1666 And All That. This story includes one man who works for the Foreign Office and the other works for "another government department - the one so secret none dared speak its name: hence its ironic nickname of "The Department of Invisible Men.""
Going Quietly. A man sees red when he discovers that his wife left him and his comfortable surroundings to live alone in "a nasty, poky little semi-detached place" with "half a garden and cheek-by-jowl with the people next door."
La Plume De Ma Tante, The Hen Party, and Spite and Malice. These three stories are set in mid-sixteenth century Scotland and feature Sheriff Rhuaraidh Macmillan.
The Language of Flowers. This story includes murder and a flower clock.
Plane Fare. Features: Henry Tyler, member of the Foreign Office and his sister, Wendy Witherington, previously a secretary in a law office, now a stay at home mum. Time period: on the verge of WWII. This story is about treaties of different sorts.
Deaf Man Talking. Features Henry and Wendy again. This one includes secret messages. Quote: ""We're not sufficiently grateful for the vagaries of the English climate," conceded Henry."
Benchmark. Features DI Sloan and DC Crosby. Quote from Sloan: "Unfortunately him upstairs - actually his superior officer, Superintendent Leeyes - was not in a good mood. When appealed to for extra time he was more unbending than many a cricket umpire." Two men are in custody suspecting of robbing a warehouse. Sloan is hoping one will spill the beans on the other.
The Queen of Hearts. Berebury Bridge Club members discuss game tactics.
In the Family Way. Features DI Sloan and DC Crosby. Family members meet for a pub lunch to discuss what to do with an elderly aunt and remark on the cost of care homes. Later, during afternoon tea, the aunt dies and Sloan and Crosby are given the task of finding out whodunnit.
These for Remembrance. Another Henry and Wendy story. In this story a rather unusual wreath sends a dark message. Quote: "village cricket on a Saturday afternoon was part of the very fabric of English Society." I also loved the reference to a darning 'mushroom.'
Phrase I had to look up: "sponge bag trouser" - meaning grey striped formal trousers. The stripe is similar to the traditional striped design of a sponge bag to hold toiletries.
Stars in Their Courses. Restaurant staff are anticipating a visit from an anonymous inspector. Lively descriptions of the dining guests and scrumptious food are included.
A Managed Retreat. A clever story about a spurned wife who plots to get what she wants.
Business Plan. A cabin boy goes on a course and returns full of ideas for organizing the business - only the business appears to be pirating. A wonderful tongue-in-cheek tale!
Operation Virtual Reality. A sad tale of an elderly man who comes up with a plan to avoid his dreaded daughter-in-law and gets more than he bargained for.
End Matter. "A famous cookery writer had once declared in print that the first bite of a meal was taken with the eye." Unfortunately, Millicent Pevensey is blind. Her care giver seems insensitive to her, and her friend is losing the plot. For example, when asked what time it is, she responds, "Two freckles past a hare, eastern elbow time." This is one of those stories with a wonderful twist.
Quote: "Gravy stains are the medals of the kitchen."
Left, Right, Attention! Features: Henry Tyler, member of the Foreign Office and his sister, Wendy Witherington, previously a secretary in a law office, now a stay at home mum. Time period: on the verge of WWII.
Henry takes a break from London to visit Wendy and her family while working on deciphering a secret code. His sister proves most helpful and together they learn the message. Quote: "Where there's a will, there's a relative."
The Hard Lesson. A headmaster seeks a replacement to teach the Relationships Class when the teacher breaks her wrist. The only one available is the oldest teacher on staff and is describe as being "quite the most strait-laced."
She is tasked with teaching teens how to avoid pregnancy. What follows is an interesting conversation with many sidelines between the canny teacher and the bright students. She leaves quite an impression on them. Quote: "You don't have to let them do that," said Miss Wilkins. "It's a free country."
Care Plan. Features Detective Inspector (DI) Sloan and Detective Constable (DC) Crosby. The Assistant Chief Constable summons DI Sloan to talk about his uncle who is in a care home. He describes him: "petulant, I'd call him. And sometimes a little unwise." What follows is an amusing misinterpretation of a note and the explanation DI Sloan provides.
Quote: "unbiddable children were a sore trial to their parents but unbiddable parents, clinging to their last vestiges of their waning authority, could be an even sorer trial to their adult offspring."
Sleeping Dogs, Lying. This is a deliciously dark tale spiced with humor. Quote: Alice perceives her husband to be "a bag of grumbles for whom nothing was right - not ever."
Quick on the Draw. A story with a double meaning. A couple are having a discussion about an upcoming parachute jump, or are they? I re-read it to see if I could see the twist coming!
1666 And All That. This story includes one man who works for the Foreign Office and the other works for "another government department - the one so secret none dared speak its name: hence its ironic nickname of "The Department of Invisible Men.""
Going Quietly. A man sees red when he discovers that his wife left him and his comfortable surroundings to live alone in "a nasty, poky little semi-detached place" with "half a garden and cheek-by-jowl with the people next door."
La Plume De Ma Tante, The Hen Party, and Spite and Malice. These three stories are set in mid-sixteenth century Scotland and feature Sheriff Rhuaraidh Macmillan.
The Language of Flowers. This story includes murder and a flower clock.
Plane Fare. Features: Henry Tyler, member of the Foreign Office and his sister, Wendy Witherington, previously a secretary in a law office, now a stay at home mum. Time period: on the verge of WWII. This story is about treaties of different sorts.
Deaf Man Talking. Features Henry and Wendy again. This one includes secret messages. Quote: ""We're not sufficiently grateful for the vagaries of the English climate," conceded Henry."
Benchmark. Features DI Sloan and DC Crosby. Quote from Sloan: "Unfortunately him upstairs - actually his superior officer, Superintendent Leeyes - was not in a good mood. When appealed to for extra time he was more unbending than many a cricket umpire." Two men are in custody suspecting of robbing a warehouse. Sloan is hoping one will spill the beans on the other.
The Queen of Hearts. Berebury Bridge Club members discuss game tactics.
In the Family Way. Features DI Sloan and DC Crosby. Family members meet for a pub lunch to discuss what to do with an elderly aunt and remark on the cost of care homes. Later, during afternoon tea, the aunt dies and Sloan and Crosby are given the task of finding out whodunnit.
These for Remembrance. Another Henry and Wendy story. In this story a rather unusual wreath sends a dark message. Quote: "village cricket on a Saturday afternoon was part of the very fabric of English Society." I also loved the reference to a darning 'mushroom.'
Phrase I had to look up: "sponge bag trouser" - meaning grey striped formal trousers. The stripe is similar to the traditional striped design of a sponge bag to hold toiletries.
Stars in Their Courses. Restaurant staff are anticipating a visit from an anonymous inspector. Lively descriptions of the dining guests and scrumptious food are included.
A Managed Retreat. A clever story about a spurned wife who plots to get what she wants.
Business Plan. A cabin boy goes on a course and returns full of ideas for organizing the business - only the business appears to be pirating. A wonderful tongue-in-cheek tale!
Operation Virtual Reality. A sad tale of an elderly man who comes up with a plan to avoid his dreaded daughter-in-law and gets more than he bargained for.
End Matter. "A famous cookery writer had once declared in print that the first bite of a meal was taken with the eye." Unfortunately, Millicent Pevensey is blind. Her care giver seems insensitive to her, and her friend is losing the plot. For example, when asked what time it is, she responds, "Two freckles past a hare, eastern elbow time." This is one of those stories with a wonderful twist.
Quote: "Gravy stains are the medals of the kitchen."
October 5, 2016
Author Catherine Aird is closing in on 90, and, since 1966, she has delighted us with a mystery series featuring Detective Chief Inspector C.D. Sloan with his dim-witted young sidekick, Detective Constable William Crosby. The pair appear repeatedly amongst the short stories included in 2014’s Last Writes, but the hero of this book is definitely Henry Tyler, an astute member of the Foreign Office on the eve of World War II, and his equally astute married sister, Wendy Witherington. The short stories featuring them — “Left, Right, Attention!,” “1666 and All That,” “The Language of Flowers,” “Plane Fare,” “Deaf Man Talking,” and “These for Remembrance” — were the stars of the short-story collection.
Lastly, “Sleeping Dogs, Lying” and “The Hard Lesson” were certainly also very good.
Am I eager for Aird to release another Sloan novel? Of course! I can’t wait for the upcoming American release of Learning Curve, the 25th in the series. (It was released last month in the United Kingdom. When the 24th novel, Dead Heading, was released in the UK, we Yanks had to wait more than a year! Why, O why?) However, how I wish Aird would devote a novel or two to the exploits of diplomat Henry Tyler! Here’s to hoping she does.
Lastly, “Sleeping Dogs, Lying” and “The Hard Lesson” were certainly also very good.
Am I eager for Aird to release another Sloan novel? Of course! I can’t wait for the upcoming American release of Learning Curve, the 25th in the series. (It was released last month in the United Kingdom. When the 24th novel, Dead Heading, was released in the UK, we Yanks had to wait more than a year! Why, O why?) However, how I wish Aird would devote a novel or two to the exploits of diplomat Henry Tyler! Here’s to hoping she does.
March 30, 2020
This book of shorts, unlike previous ones, contains fewer stories containing Sloan. It does have an interesting amount of shorts that deal with ciphers and breaking types of codes, and Henry from the Foreign Office is featured quite a a bit. There are also other types of short stories that may seem a bit on the side of mysteries but are similar in spirit.
Aird really knows how to write shorts so well, they aren’t all 30 page shorts, some of these are SHORT. She is able to pack into them a great deal of information and you can’t always guess which way things will go, which is saying a lot.
Aird really knows how to write shorts so well, they aren’t all 30 page shorts, some of these are SHORT. She is able to pack into them a great deal of information and you can’t always guess which way things will go, which is saying a lot.
January 18, 2021
This is a wildly clever collection of 22 short stories from the hand of witty, devious, and savvy Catherine Aird. Of course, there are some Sloan and Crosby stories but I want to direct you to one particular favorite of mine: 'The Hard Lesson.' I laughed so hard. A school is short of staff and has to send an unmarried prune of a teacher into the sex education class full of 'with it' students. It is priceless.
I save these to read just before going to sleep, partly because I've read everything else this author has written multiple times. The author has a wonderfully wry wit. I have a smile on my face as I fall to sleep.
I save these to read just before going to sleep, partly because I've read everything else this author has written multiple times. The author has a wonderfully wry wit. I have a smile on my face as I fall to sleep.
May 7, 2023
I have been a fan of the author's books since I first read one of her books back in 1981. This is a collection of twenty two very short stories featuring various characters. It's a charming read with some stories set in sixteenth century Scotland, some set in the late 1930s and some set in the present. A few stories feature Detective Inspector Sloan.
Oddly the blurb on the back cover mentions "the mysterious Malcolm Venables of the Secret Service" but I never noticed his appearance in any of the stories!
Oddly the blurb on the back cover mentions "the mysterious Malcolm Venables of the Secret Service" but I never noticed his appearance in any of the stories!
October 26, 2020
This is an easy read. 22 short stories each with a mild sting at the end to finish the story. All written in flowing, 'polite' English, except the ones set in Scotland which the author has thrown in a few north of the border words just to liven things up a bit. If you have just waded through 'War & peace' and need a simple read before you tackle another epic, pick this up, it is not a classic but but it will keep you going for a couple of days.
October 31, 2023
This collection of short stories contains both contemporary stories (a few of which feature Inspector Sloan) and historical stories. Some of the historical stories are set in Scotland during the time Mary, Queen of Scots; while others are set just prior to WWII and feature a diplomat named Henry Tyler. The Tyler stories usually hinge on deciphering codes of various kinds. This is a good book for dipping into a little at a time.
March 3, 2019
Thoroughly enjoyed this collection of short stories. One annoyed me by not revealing the murderer at the end (though I have my favorite of the three possibles) and one I didn't get the ending. But they were all clever and enjoyable.
February 8, 2022
Clever and occasionally macabre glimpses into ordinary lives decades ago in middle class England. Not violent and sometimes clever short pieces sorting out cryptic puzzles and human failings. Easy enough read without being overly memorable.
April 12, 2018
These were clever, mysterious short stories. More than a few seemed to call for in-depth understanding of the British culture and customs. I'm not British, so I felt a bit stupid at times!
May 9, 2020
Mediocre short story collection, only a few were entertaining and many were either boring, pointless or both. I'm not a fan of the form in general so your mileage may vary.
December 7, 2024
I have always enjoyed Catherine Aird's books and this is a book of short stories with some of her main characters appearing from time to time.
June 30, 2025
Thrilling
July 26, 2014
A sparkling collection of short stories some of which feature Inspector Sloan and his sidekick, Crosby. Others feature an interesting character called Henry Tyler who works for the Foreign Office in the nineteen thirties and who regularly visits his sister, Wendy in Calleshire. I enjoyed them all and would be hard pushed to single out my favourites though I did particularly like the second story in the collection - 'The Hard Lesson' - about the stand-in teacher who unexpectedly manages to capture the class's attention.
Another favourite was 'A Managed Retreat' - revenge at its most delightful. 'In the Family Way' was interesting for its family dynamics and 'The Language of Flowers' was extremely clever too. Altogether this is a marvellous collection of stories with plenty of twists just at the last moment when you think you've worked out what is going in.
If you enjoy crime short stories then I would recommend this book.
Another favourite was 'A Managed Retreat' - revenge at its most delightful. 'In the Family Way' was interesting for its family dynamics and 'The Language of Flowers' was extremely clever too. Altogether this is a marvellous collection of stories with plenty of twists just at the last moment when you think you've worked out what is going in.
If you enjoy crime short stories then I would recommend this book.
May 16, 2016
Maybe it's just me, but I thought these stories were pretty feeble.
Very feeble in fact.
Especially the one about some people playing Bridge, and the one about pirates or something.
It's very rare I leave a book unfinished, but this one just bored my bonce off.
Very feeble in fact.
Especially the one about some people playing Bridge, and the one about pirates or something.
It's very rare I leave a book unfinished, but this one just bored my bonce off.
January 13, 2017
This collection of short stories from the veteran cosy crime author is more miss than hit sadly. One or two are great, but that's all.
December 30, 2019
Cosy short stories My first read by this author They were ok but did not overly grab me.
May 18, 2018
Very annoyed. Everything has been done to make it seem as if Sloan & Crosby are what this is all about. That’s a lie. Out of 22 stories only TWO are Crosby & Sloan stories. I quite feel as if they got my money under false pretenses.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews