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Past Tense by Catherine Aird (view source)
Revision as of 18:31, 22 February 2010
, 18:31, 22 February 2010no edit summary
Detectives Sloan and Crosby weren't interested in the death of Miss Short, but they were called in when there was a burglary at the nursing home where she died. Nothing seemed to have been stolen but a vase was broken in her room. Sloan wasn't to have much time to concentrate on the case as the body of a young woman was pulled from the river. Was there any connection with the break in – and exactly what was Jan's husband doing on the night the young woman died?
Unusually for me I worked out the murdered name of the murderer and the reason for what was done fairly early on. I suspect that the first was rather obvious and the reasoning appealed to a certain quirkiness in my brain, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the book. Much of this was down to the character of Jan Wakefield – a sensible woman doing her best in the absence of her husband and I really wanted everything to work out for her. Sloan appealed too – he's a copper's copper with a warm heart. His sidekick, Crosby, annoyed the hell out of me – described by his Superintendent as a man who could cause a problem in an empty room I was moved to think ''that '' was the best place to keep him.
The writing put me in mind of [[:Category:Ruth Rendell|Ruth Rendell]]. It's simple, direct and without any unnecessary padding. The plot is clear and although you might groan that one or two things are just ''too'' convenient it's engaging and a relaxing read.