Last Respects

By: Catherine Aird

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

In this C. D. Sloan Mystery by CWA Diamond Dagger winner Catherine Aird, a body is found in the river - but the victim didn't drown.

When local fisherman Horace Boller decided to row his boat out on the tidal backwash of the river one morning, he couldn't have meant to land a catch like this. What he ended up with was a body floating on the river's surface. And judging by the state of the corpse, the death was not a recent one.

The strange thing is, the coroner report indicates that drowning was not the cause of death. It's up to the intrepid C. D. Sloan - and his markedly less intrepid assistant, Constable Crosby - to investigate.

Along the way, Calleshire's most successful pair of puzzle-solving policemen will contend with a handful of additional strange deaths, befuddling municipal building codes, an antiquarian with interesting views on local history, and a fisherman who has his own motivation for helping (or perhaps hindering) the investigation. Can C. D. Sloan get to the bottom of this waterlogged killing?

©1982 Catherine Aird (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

disappointed

gory. I'm returning it. too much gruesome detail describing the state of a body's decomposition. not enough puzzle or charming folksy relationships between the other characters.

A satisfying puzzle

All the elements are there if you can assemble them. Characters in which you can be invested.

Another good one, but narrator not as good

The narrator was very inconsistent this reading, and so when the speaker was not identified by the author (e.g. “... said Sloan”), it was difficult to figure out why a certain character would have said that thing. Additionally, he didn’t get the character right in the sense that he made some sound smarter or dumber than the author has previously developed them to be.

The mystery was good. This book in particular had a pretty sad ending. Usually there is at least one thing to hold onto at the end, a “well at least... “.

Great Mystery & Narration!

It begins a bit slow, but this mystery develops well & the narrator, Derek Perkins, is the best at bringing to life each of the characters. I do highly recommend it.

Last Respects

Held my interest. Was well read. Had seceral twists that kept me guessing. Would recommend this book as entertaining.

Another excellent mystery from her pen ...

Catherine Aird is one of my favorite authors. I collect all of her books, as I do the books of Rex Stout (the Nero Wolfe series), Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers … all classic mystery writers from what many have called the Golden Age of Mysteries … there is no 'fluff' or 'filler' in these novels - there's no need to distract the reader with detailed descriptions of violence at it occurs, there's no need for sexual stimulation to keep the reader's attention, the marvelously convoluted plotting and the well populated, well written set of characters keep your attention glued to the story as it unfolds. I absolutely recommend every book of Catherine Aird's … if you like a complex mystery, with interesting characters you can relate to, with tongue in cheek humor sprinkled here and there, you'll like these novels.

Glossed Over and Too Short

Let me start off by saying that this was a free listen. I was somewhat disappointed in this particular story. It felt like more of an outline that needed filling out. Instead of 5 1/2 hours it could easily have been eight with a lot more depth. I have enjoyed many of this author’s books. This one, not so much.

Classic

I love a good classic British mystery. I do highly recommend it. You won’t regret it

Last respects

I really didn't connect with the detectives. the story seemed very disjointed and hard to follow.

A good mystery

Off to a quick start, then a comfortable pace forward thru this interesting sea-based mystery. Nice descriptions. Would read more by this author.