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Summary
Summary
"The late Octavia Garamond's last wishes were very odd indeed. Her request for a police presence at her funeral bothers Inspector C. D. Sloane, but not nearly as much as her insistence that her body be thoroughly examined after death. Amelia Kennerly is worried, too, when her holiday is interrupted by the news that she has been appointed executrix for a great-aunt she only met once. Now she is in charge of executing a number of inconvenient requests from her late Aunt Octavia." "But when Octavia Garamond's house is broken into and her papers ransacked, it begins to occur to all concerned that perhaps her written requests were not simply the ramblings of a senile old lady, but the actions of a woman in fear of her life. Inspector Sloane, aided (as it were) by Constable Crosby, finds himself facing an inexplicable puzzle. Who would want to harm a quiet eighty-year-old woman? He must dig deep into Garamond's past, both personal and professional, to uncover the key to a long-kept secret and reveal the sinister truth behind her tragic death." "With Aird's characteristic charm and wit. A Going Concern is a delightful welcome back for Inspector C. D. Sloan."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Intricate, witty and thoroughly delightful, Aird's latest case for Chief Inspector C. D. Sloan and Constable Crosby probes a death with roots in WW II biochemical research. Eccentric, elderly Octavia Garamond has left a will directing that the police be present at her funeral and that her doctor examine her body very closely after her death. These odd requests perplex those involved, notably the deceased's only known survivor, Amelia Kennerly, who is named her great-aunt's sole executor. Further questions are raised when Octavia's home at the Grange, Grand Primer, Calleshire, is thoroughly tossed right after her death; when the local parson expresses some reluctance to preside at the funeral; and when two chemical companies engaged in a takeover battle seem somehow connected to Garamond's demise, which is eventually attributed to a poison worthy of Agatha Christie. As Sloan tracks a money angle, Amelia traces a child born out of wedlock in 1940. In the end, these and related mysteries are handsomely resolved and Aunt Octavia turns out to have been mad only ``north-north-west'' and fully capable of knowing ``a hawk from a handsaw'' right unto her end. Peopled with a cast that aptly and frequently quotes Shakespeare, this tale is a literate, surprising treat. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Arriving just in time for those chilly fall evenings in front of the fire are three British police procedurals, all from veteran writers who have again turned out solid performances. While all three share the elements common to the genre, each offers the reader different pleasures. Hart's Inspector Roper is back in A Deadly Schedule, this time on vacation in Crete, where he's helping with an archaeological dig--only to discover the body of a well-to-do Englishwoman in his hotel. Roper's involvement is strictly unofficial until he returns to England and finds that a series of murders on his own turf may be connected to the incident in Crete. Hart's "just-the-facts" approach to the genre makes this tale the most traditional procedural of the three, but it offers a well-developed plot with all the clues in the right places. The inspector's fans will be delighted. Bannister's Charisma features the return of Chief Constable Frank Shapiro, Inspector Liz Graham, and Sergeant Cal Donovan, all of whom first appeared in A Bleeding of Innocents [BKL S 15 93]. In this second installment in the series, a young prostitute has her throat cut while working on Castlemere's canal dock, where a Welsh evangelist is pitching his tent for a local revival. When a young schoolgirl out for a morning ride also has her throat slashed, the town goes into a panic. While the novel emphasizes character over action, Bannister is no slouch at plotting, and his evocation of Castlemere's historic canal area is wonderful. A highly readable new series. Aird's A Going Concern reunites readers with Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan of the Calleshire CID. Here Sloan must solve the murder of the somewhat eccentric Octavia Garamond. Also in the picture is the great-niece Amelia Kennerly, who is the sole executrix of the somewhat peculiar will. Matters turn sinister when Amelia's and Octavia's houses are ransacked, apparently by someone in search of information relating to Octavia's secret chemical research during World War II. Aird adds a great dash of humor to the usual procedural formula, playing Amelia's penchant for quotations from unsuitable sources and Sloan's patient endurance of his irritable superior for all the laughs she can. A thoroughly entertaining mystery for those who like their procedurals on the lighthearted side. ~--Stuart Miller