Past Tense by Catherine Aird – 9/20 Books of Summer

Janet Wakefield is very surprised to be notified that her husband’s Great-Aunt Josephine (not known to either of them) has died in a nearby nursing home. Bill is in South America for business so she reluctantly tries to organize a funeral and reception:

“So we’re back to hymns and things,” she said a trifle ungraciously. “I suppose we ought to have ‘Abide with Me.’”

“A lot of people do,” said Derek Tompkinson.

“And ‘The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended’,” she said. This suggestion had come from her best friend, Dawn, enrolled to give advice over a cup of coffee.

“Very popular,” said the Vicar.

“Well, if we don’t know anything about her,” said Janet astringently, “we can hardly have ‘For All the Saints’, can we?”

What seemed to be an uneventful funeral becomes more complicated when one of the attendees, a lovely young nurse, is murdered overnight, and Josephine’s grave is disturbed! Enter two of my favorite detectives: Detective Inspector C.D. Sloan and clueless Detective Constable William Crosby and their irascible Superintendent Leeyes of Calleshire County. Sloan has to tell Leeyes he is investigating a connection between the murdered nurse and the deceased Josephine Short.

“The body is on the way to Dr. Dabbe at the mortuary now,” promised Sloan, “and I’m on my way to the Brebury Nursing Home.”

“Take Crosby, will you?” said Leeyes. “Anything to get him out from under my feet would be a good thing as far as I’m concerned. He’s nothing but a nuisance here.”

“Yes, sir,” said Sloan stiffly. No one could call the detective constable an asset to any investigative team. He gritted his teeth and said, ingrained discipline overcoming any other response, “Certainly, sir.”

“But,” said Leeyes, a specialist in the unanswerable Parthian shot, “don’t let him hold you up.”

This is their 23rd outing so loyal readers know what to expect but what makes Aird amusing is the interaction of the characters and their wry observances. The plot here is predictable (or could I have read it years ago?) but even the hapless Crosby occasionally comes up (accidentally or not) with some insight that helps solve the mystery.  I appreciated that the quantity of characters is kept low so the reader can keep everyone straight.

This is book nine of my 20 Books of Summer, and my nineteenth book for the Cloak and Dagger Challenge. If you can find a copy, the series doesn’t need to be read in order although of course, in an ideal world, that is preferable. My favorite book by Aird is a standalone called A Most Contagious Game about a couple who find a skeleton in their new home.

Title: Past Tense: A Sloan and Crosby Mystery
Author: Catherine Aird
Publication: Minotaur Books, hardcover, originally published in 2010
Genre: Mystery
Source: Personal copy
Music: For All the Saints is a favorite hymn in my family!