I’ve always enjoyed Catherine Aird’s snarky mysteries. Stiff News (1998) is the 17th book in Aird’s Sloan and Crosby series, but you don’t have to have any previous knowledge of the books in this series to enjoy this clever mystery.
A letter received by an old woman’s son shortly after her death alerts Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan that another woman’s death by “natural causes” may actually be a murder. Sloan and Crosby begin an investigation of the odd events in a local nursing home catering to former members of a WWII regiment. Aird’s great strength as a mystery writer is her clever and witty characterizations.
You’ll wince at Aird’s uncompromising view of elderly residents of nursing homes. If you’re in the mood for mystery whose tentacles extend into the Past, Stiff News will amuse and entertain you. GRADE: A-
I always liked her books. Time to go back for a revisit.
Patti, I found a number of Catherine Aird paperbacks when I was at the World Fantasy Convention in San Antonio. A few blocks from the hotel was the San Antonio Public Library. They had a whole section of paperbacks and hardcovers for sale at reasonable prices. I wanted to buy more, but my suitcase was already bulging with free books from the Convention!
When the midwest convention was in Austin in the 90’s my friend Willie Herr and I made a side trip to San Antonio so I could see the Alamo. We met one of my cousins’ for dinner with his wife. One of his friends was a volunteer at the library. He let us in to the book room and back room and let us buy whatever we wanted. I got some fantastic deals there.
One regret I had when LCC was in Bristol Aird was there. I seem to think she wasn’t on the list, just showed up (but could be wrong) I wish I had gotten something signed by her. It’s been a long time since I read her books, and don’t remember the snark. I’ll check if the library has any as used book stores are
rapidly becoming a thing of the past here and paperbacks of that era are not stocked unless for best sellers
Maggie, give STIFF NEWS a try. You’ll encounter Aird’s snarkiness on Page One. I could have filled a U-Haul with all the great books I saw in the Book Room in the San Antonio Library!
I can never remember at what point I stopped reading her books. I think I read about a dozen (stopped before this one, probably) as well as her short story collections. She is 90 now and her last book was published in 2019! I always enjoyed the Sloan-Crosby byplay.
Jeff, I like to read a Catherine Aird mystery once a year or so. Aird tells a great story, sets up clever mysteries, and her snarky humor is a big plus!
I’m aware of Aird but have never read anything of hers, and this sounds like something I might enjoy. When trying to decide whether to try a new (to me) author, I do have this silly little test that I apply–how many books have they already written? I’m something of a completest and need to consider whether or not I might find time to read all of them if I really like the first one. The actual number isn’t set in stone, but it’s in the neighborhood of ten, with some allowance given for length. It’s pretty stupid, isn’t it? I wouldn’t have to break a sweat coming with many examples where the policy would cause me to miss a lot of really good books. In my defense I should mention that the policy is relatively new. It wasn’t there to keep me from blowing through all the Rex Stout or Agatha Christie novels many years ago. But once I became old enough to qualify for a Covid shot (even though I can’t seem to get one) it became something to think about.
Michael, I completely understand your strategy. The Good News about Catherine Aird is that most of her books run around 200 pages. Aird has written about 20 mysteries, manageable I think.
I’ve read a few of her book and relly enjoyed them, but somehow she got pushed to the back of my reading bus as more authors came along. Time to check her out again.
Jerry, same here. I read about a half dozen Catherine Aird mysteries and then ran out of them. I picked up a number of Aird paperbacks in San Antonio a couple years ago and I’m just getting around to reading them. I find Aird clever and…sassy!
I like her books, and Ann loves them. We were only been able to get our hands on the first dozen or so, then the prices jumped dramatically. A lot of the later ones were available on kindle, but I’ve got dozens of books on kindle and never go there to read. It was a few years ago that I looked for them. Maybe I’ll try again.
Jeff, I picked up a few Catherine Aird mysteries at a Library Book Sale years ago. Mostly, I have her books in paperback (I would prefer hardcovers).
I like her books, too and have read a dozen or so, I think, with more paperbacks on the shelf. Good to think of reading another.
The Governor here has pushed back Covid shots for elders again. It could be two or three months before the 80 year olds get theirs, at 75 I’ll be in the group after that, but all front line workers, teachers, and dozens of other groups go first. We, and TN, are the last 2 states in giving shots. BAH!
Rick, BAH! indeed! Erie County has canceled their appointments for Covid-19 shots because they ran out of vaccine. The same happened in Niagara County. People who showed up for a shot and were sent away without one are super pissed! I’m guessing Rite Aid has their own supply chain.
Aird is a very good detective story writer whom I’ve not read in far too many years. Gotta fix that!
Steve, I have the same attitude towards Catherine Aird: I need to read more of her work!