Inspector Sloan Series by Catherine Aird, Robin Bailey

Inspector C.D. Sloan of the Callehsire C.I.D. makes his first appearance here as he looks into the murder of a nun at the Convent of St. Anselm. First published in 1966, The Religious Body was Aird's first book and immediately established herself as one of the leading exponents of the post-WWII English traditional mystery.

Larking was a typical English village and, like a thousand similar villages, it also had its secrets. Inspector C.D. Sloan was soon to discover that point after the postman found the body of Grace Jenkins in the road that led to her thatched cottage. She had been murdered.But the real mystery involved Grace's daughter Henrietta. No one could really explain exactly who Henrietta was.

In this gripping mystery by CWA Diamond Dagger winner Catherine Aird, the village spinster dies behind a fortune teller’s booth, and Calleshire’s greatest detective looks into the future—and sees justice The annual Horticultural Society Flower Show would have gone off without a hitch were it not for one very pesky murder.   When nurse Joyce Cooper goes missing from the parish’s fortune-telling booth at the flower fair, her friends at the local church are immediately concerned... moreIn this gripping mystery by CWA Diamond Dagger winner Catherine Aird, the village spinster dies behind a fortune teller’s booth, and Calleshire’s greatest detective looks into the future—and sees justice The annual Horticultural Society Flower Show would have gone off without a hitch were it not for one very pesky murder.   When nurse Joyce Cooper goes missing from the parish’s fortune-telling booth at the flower fair, her friends at the local church are immediately concerned. It’s not like this old lady, who plays the organ during service every Sunday without fail, and who, it’s told, lives for the purpose of helping others, to disappear without notice. So when she’s found strangled to death under a tarp, the community is thrown into an uproar.   Who better to calm the crowd than Calleshire’s greatest detective? Alongside his bumbling sidekick, Constable Crosby, C. D. Sloan runs through the bizarre list of suspects—the daughter of a deceased anthropologist, a greedy developer, a jealous tomato gardener, and a set of wealthy farmers—to find out who would have benefited most from the beloved nurse’s death. What he finds will astonish the entire village. less

"Berebury golf course, in the fictional county of Calleshire, is an unlikely setting for a murder. Set in a pleasant landscape and boasting a splendid view of the market town of Berebury, the golf course is more suited to fun and frolics than murder and mayhem. So when flirtatious golfing beginner Helen Ewell goes in search of her wayward golf ball in the dreaded 'Hells Bells' bunker she is not prepared for the horrible surprise that lies buried beneath the soft sand... more"Berebury golf course, in the fictional county of Calleshire, is an unlikely setting for a murder. Set in a pleasant landscape and boasting a splendid view of the market town of Berebury, the golf course is more suited to fun and frolics than murder and mayhem. So when flirtatious golfing beginner Helen Ewell goes in search of her wayward golf ball in the dreaded 'Hells Bells' bunker she is not prepared for the horrible surprise that lies buried beneath the soft sand." The discovery of a body in the deepest bunker on the course draws Detective Inspector Sloan and Detective Constable Crosby into an intriguing new case that is more challenging than scoring a hole in one. The team soon discover that the body belonged to a healthy young man who had suffered a heavy blow to the head with a sharp instrument a few days prior to his uncovering. What prove more elusive, however, are the identities of both the murderer and the victim, and the motive for the killing. Life is made more difficult when the detectives become caught up in an issue that has divided the members of the Committee of the Golf Club. Yet it is here that the detectives, with the help of their superior officer, Superintendent Leeyes, begin to find some answers. less