Goodreads: A Late Phoenix by Catherine AirdRating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)
Source: Purchased
Description: Berebury, England, did not have an easy go of it during the Second World War. This quaint Victorian town was destroyed when the Nazis dropped bomb after bomb on its perfect gardens and neat hedges. After three decades of disarray, the town council has finally begun reconstructing what’s left. All throughout Berebury, the sounds of hammers and saws drone on. But on this particular day, the noise stops.
In the crater of a bomb site, a skeleton has been found. While its presence there isn’t unusual—hundreds died in bombing raids throughout England—the manner in which the pregnant girl met her end is sinister enough that Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan and his assistant, Detective Constable Crosby, are called to the scene. The cause of death, it seems, was not the blast, but a bullet to the spine.
Inspector Sloan is the best there is when it comes to cracking the most complex cases. But can he piece together a murder that’s been buried for more than a quarter century?
Genre: Mystery - Cozy
Why I Picked This Book: I've been trying to read through more Golden Age myseries and Catherine Aird is becoming one of my favorite authors.
My Impression: I really enjoyed this classic cozy mystery and it was a pretty quick read. A new doctor has started his practice in Berebury after the death of his predecessor. At the same time a last ditch attempt at archeaology is happening acorss the street at a World War II bomb site. It's last ditch because the site is about to be cleared to make room for a new development. But all that progress screeches to a halt when a body is discovered in the basement of the blast site and the death was not because of the bomb.
Would I Recommend this Book? If you enjoy Agatha Christie or any of the other Golden Age mystery authors Aird is a must try.