His Burial Too

Inspector Sloan #5

by Catherine Aird

In this crime novel by CWA Diamond Dagger winner Catherine Aird, Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan returns to solve a locked-room mystery, but he’s thrown for a loop when a prominent industrialist turns up dead

On the hottest day in living memory, Richard Mallory Tindall, the owner of a patent firm, does not return home to Cleete village. When a man is found crushed to death, Tindall’s case goes from missing person to homicide.
 
In the course of solving murder cases, Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan has seen all manner of ugly death. But there’s something particularly gruesome about this one, the body crushed beneath the marble and iron of an old Saxon church tower. With rubble blocking off access to the crime scene, no one can get close enough to inspect the body. What little evidence is available—a burned match, a black thread, an earring—doesn’t bode well for a quick and easy solution.
 
Even the legendarily cool-headed great detective might begin to crack when a second body turns up. And then an important file goes missing from Sloan’s office. How does it all connect?

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Procedural, Audiobook, British Literature, Contemporary

263 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read which took me back to the 1970's in England. I had to chuckle at the reference to Chicago, "A missing man and a dead one in one Division. This isn't Chicago." I also enjoyed the reference to a children's radio program called, "Listen with Mother," which aired on BBC radio from 1950-1982. The lady host with the enthusiastic sing-song voice would begin with the question, "Are you sitting comfortably?" (pause) "Then, I will begin...." The reference from this books is: "I may not be 'Listening With Mother,'" said (Superintendent) Leeyes heavily, "but I am "Sitting Comfortably.'" All in all, it was a lovely cozy read.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Tindall has disappeared. He is normally extremely reliable and informs everyone who needs to know of his whereabouts. His car has been returned to his garage with the keys in it but the man himself is not in it and his bed has not been slept in. His daughter is worried and the police are informed. They are not too concerned at first as there is no indication of foul play. Then workmen installing central heating in a village church find their access blocked to the tower by a heap of broken marble - which has an arm sticking out of it.

This is the traditional locked room scenario - how did the victim get in and how did the murderer get out? The solution is simple and ingenious. There are red herrings enough to furnish a good sized fishmongers and some very suspicious characters indeed. Sloan and Crosby have their work cut out to sift through the suspects and the broken marble.

This has always been one of my favourite books in this entertaining series. Sloan is a likeable characters who tries to keep the peace with his irascible superior while at the same time not getting too exasperated with DC Crosby who is always slow on the uptake but uncannily perceptive at times. The series can be read in any order.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read a number of novels in the series, I will rest here. Although light and easy-to-read, they have their annoyances.

Crosby is too thick, Sloan too bland and the Superintendent too officious. The writing strains to be amusing and wears its learning too heavily.

Above all, there is usually just one clever idea. In this case the method used to kill the first victim. But the detection never lives up to this. The perpetrator here is obvious, given the method.

Additionally, the publishers have left in a saying which even in 1973 would have been offensive and is easily replaceable.

I only buy these when on offer as the regular price is excessive for such short works but I have read enough.

3 stars.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun quick read where it seems everything is popping up, a serious of nasty anonymous letters, road repairs, and then a dead body. Aird has a really nice way of telling a story in such a clear and succinct manner- while also making it feel very relaxed.

While not giving away any spoilers- what an ingenious technique to kill someone.

Some really lovely observations made through Sloan as usual.

[Kerrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful cozy. There are bodies of course but even their demise is scientifically achieved. In fact the whole plot of the novel is rather intricately based around patents, science, and secrets.

There's humour too and some interesting characters, ambition, and deception. Through all the author lays out the clues for the reader to sift through and to decide who the culprit is

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reprint from Rue Morgue press. I've read several of her titles and have enjoyed all of them. If you like small British towns with quirky characters, this author is a good choice. Well written and an easy beach read.

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another entertaining instalment in this very enjoyable series.

[John Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think that this is my 5th in the series and it won't be my last. However, I didn't think that this was as good as those before.

The main characters are still the same. Sloane the steady, Crosby the inept and Leeyes the Superintendent, but the tale was too complex for me.
Maybe it was me but I never really could picture the 'Fitton Bequest' and this meant that the intricately planned murder was difficult to imagine.

Add to this the complicated matter of the company take over and old patents and my eyes started to glaze.

It could be just me and I won't let this one put me off continuing the series.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent variation of the locked room mystery, with a dash of industrial espionage and Italian intrigue added in for good measure. Sloan is an engaging detective and Crosby is a hilariously inept assistant. Anyone who likes Ngaio Marsh or Ruth Rendell should try Catherine Aird.

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. I listened to this while driving home from Ottawa, Canada's capital, to the Toronto area, almost 400 kilometres away. Perfect company. As was the Tim Horton's coffee in Marmora. Rural eastern Ontario in the late summer is a joy. Enough - back to the mystery. I've previously enjoyed following Inspector C.D. Sloan of the Berebury police and his continuing problems with his assistant, Constable Crosby, and his superior, Superintendent Leeyes. The first has challenges and the second is demanding and opinionated. It's a very intriguing puzzle, something author Catherine Aird specializes in. There may be a body in a church bell tower but entry seems impossible . When Sloan finally gets a look inside the tower, he finds a statue has fallen over in the small room and broken into many pieces. For Sloan, one aspect is important. There's a human arm sticking out of the rubble but the mess is blocking his entry. We eventually find that the body belongs to a man recently reported missing by his daughter. Richard Mallory Tindall was the owner of an industrial patent firm; Sloan soon discovers files missing and the company up for sale! Hmm. (Au2026)

[Katie Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one a lot, despite the solution being clear from the beginning (both the murderer and the mysterious murder method). In large part I think this was due to the victim's daughter, who was a strong secondary character and one that effectively tugged at the reader's sympathy. Plus there were little background characters that made the most of limited pagetime.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice locked-room mystery briskly done.

Only wish that Aird wouldn’t make so many sentences into paragraphs.

Distracting, that.

But you get used to it.

Almost.

[Clare Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

How does she come up with these deaths!? Marble statues are lethal.

[Lady Wesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars bumped up to 4 because of the diabolical murder method. And Derek Perkins’s excellent narration.

[Deanna]

DNF.

I started this book a few times last year. There must be some whisper of interest that brings me back to pick it up again, but it doesn’t hold, so I’m moving on.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The owner of a successful company has gone missing. He has always been a very reliable person, so his disappearance is very out of character. Not only is he missing, but an important file from his company, can also not be found. His daughter finds that his bed is empty and does look like it has not been slept in, but his car is in the garage. After searching everywhere for him, she phones the police to report his disappearance, but as he is a adult and only been missing overnight, they tend to not worry. In the meantime, some workmen at a local church are unable to enter the church but manage to see around the blocked door that a statue has fallen over, but amongst the marble of the statue there is a human arm. Inspector Sloan and Crosby, his DC are sent off to examine the church, and manage to identify the arm as belonging to the missing man, but they are unable to confirm that the fallen statue did in fact kill him. During their investigation, a lot of characters are brought in story, providing a lot of suspicious people and dealings.
I enjoyed this locked room mystery, as it was not just a case of who, but how did the murder come about. I do like the humour between Sloan and Crosby, and Sloan and his superior.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh dear! This installment (#5 in the series) finds our dear friend Detective Inspector Sloan and his trusty sidekick Crosby looking into the strangest murder. It seems that a man was killed when a rather large and heavy marble statue falls on him, but the debris took up so much room that it blocked all exits into the room. However, only the dead body is found there. This one's a fun "locked room" typed mystery with a unique solution.

Again, a pretty average entry in the British mystery genre; if you like British mysteries and police procedurals, this will keep your attention. I will say that I figured out after this book why I've only been giving these average marks -- it seems to me that the story builds well, but the endings are rather abrupt. By that I mean that the story is going along rather nicely, and all of a sudden Sloan and Crosby are capturing the culprit. It seems to be a pattern with the author; maybe this won't be the case in the future but at least I'm prepared for it! All in all, a fun read -- I'm getting to like Inspector Sloan more in each story.

[Jazz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 STARS | As I've come to expect from Catherine Aird, this puzzle mystery starts off with a delicious bang when a seemingly ghastly piece of statuary (why else hide it in a church's confining bell tower?) falls over at midnight, crushing a man beneath it. There is no entry or exit from the bell tower once the marble debris blocks the doors. So who pushed it over, and how and why? And how did the murderer himself escape the bell tower? It was an intriguing puzzle, but the characters in this one didn't capture my imagination in the same way that I enjoyed The Stately Home Murder. You may enjoy the solution more if you are scientifically-minded (not my strong suit) because my interest began to lag about 3/4 through. Still, an average Catherine Aird mystery is nevertheless far better than mysteries by many others. If you like traditional British locked-room puzzle mysteries, I recommend starting with the Stately Home Murder for a better flavor of Aird's humor and cleverness.

[Jan C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it.

A daughter has recently returned from a sojourn in Italy. The housekeeper asks her whether her father got an early start to the day. Turns out his bed wasn't slept in. But his car is in the garage but it doesn't appear that he put it there. There are fresh paint scratches. Sloan and Crosby are called in on the job. A statue has tumbled over and a body is found underneath it. Later a man is found shot to death in the parking lot of the local diner.

There are several suspects, some of whom seem to have alibis. One is iron-clad.

How was the statue toppled? I was glad that although I didn't actually guess about a pendulum I did accurately guess the kind of pendulum.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic locked room mystery has a wry twist. A fussy, predictable scientist is found crushed to death inside a church. The police have to discover how the crime was committed before they can discover who committed it.

CMB

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this series! There are times when Inspector Sloan reminds me of another beloved crime fighter; Sheriff Dan Rhodes.
I highly recommend this book, as well as the series, to any British manor house cozy fan.

[Barbi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really a one star for me. I like this series a lot so I'll give two stars... but this entry was not up to the usual standard.

[Cookie M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun Calleshire murder mystery featuring DI Sloan and his NTB assistant DC Crosby, who wouldn't know a clue if you handed it to him. Catherine Aird is witty, sly and devious in her handling of red herrings in this one, all about engineering firms with made up terms like "mellimetics" mixed up with real phrases about tensile testing, etc. Pseudo science, pretend sound business practice, where even bits of scrap paper are filed and returned to clients, industrial espionage and diamonds and emeralds all get tangled up in a murder in a church tower. You will get a lesson in middle school physics, too, involving Foucault's Pendulum.

[Carolien · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Not the strongest in the series, but an ingeniously plotted murder. I appreciate Inspector Sloan's sarcastic humour and appreciate the author's ability to provide a solid mystery with well-developed characters in a taut, slim novel. This is one of my favourite series when I want a well-written murder mystery that is not too violent and with a normal, cynical police inspector whose personal problems mainly concern his rose garden. I've enjoyed every one of the books in this series thus far.

[Colin Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK but not a book to remember. A straightforward police proceedural finds Inspector Sloan investigating the dissapearence and then murder of a local businessman. Lots of nonsensical banter between the Inspector and Superintendent, an slow witted Detective Constable (How did he get a transfe?). We reach the end with the Inspector suddenly coming out with the solution. Passed the evening but might not fo;;ow up on the series. 2 stars.

[France-Andrée · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m really liking this series, I’m not sure why; the mysteries are clever, but I have gotten the culprit every time though I’m not sure of myself and I like it like that. In this one, Inspector C.D. Sloan and Constable Crosby are investigating a bizarre murder in a church tower. I think the how it was done was fascinating and reminded me of school science, the who did it was also satisfying.

[Cindy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hooked on the series, main character, and the narrator. Always keeps interest and always clean. 👍🏼⭐️⭐️⭐️🔅

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A locked room mystery set in the world of scientific research, patents, and industrial espionage - but still in Inspector Sloan's Calleshire County.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot is far-fetched to say the least. This wouldn't have been too much a problem if the attempt at humour had been more successful. I found the prose rather like bullet points in places and after while it began to pall. Someone as stupid as Constable Crosby would never even get in the police force let alone become a detective.

I have read most of the others in this series and found this is the least enjoyable.

Disappointing.

[Pamela]

3.5