In this classic parlor mystery from CWA Diamond Dagger winner Catherine Aird, Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan investigates a dinner party that ended in murder Twelve friends sit down for supper at Strontfield Park-but only eleven survive the evening. After dinner, the host, William Fent, offers to drive one of his guests home, only to die behind the wheel in a violent accident. The autopsy shows that Fent ingested enough barbiturates to kill a horse. So begins a fresh tale of murder and deceit for Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan, whose list of suspects begins and ends with the surviving dinner guests. Among them are a theologian at the local university; Dr. and Mrs. Washby, whose wedding was the cause for celebration; Ursula Renville, tall, graceful, and utterly aloof; the fat and extravagant Mr. and Mrs. Marchmont; the spinster Miss Paterson; the rector's daughter, Cynthia Paterson; Quentin Fent, heir to the Fent fortune; and Mr. Fent's wife, the now-widowed Helen. Each of the guests had the opportunity to kill William Fent. But which one wanted him dead?

Twelve friends sit down for supper at Strontfield Park, but only eleven survive the evening. So begins a fresh tale of murder and deceit for Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan.

Inspector Sloan returns in another well-crafted and delightful English village mysteries by the modern mistress of gentle mayhem.

The C.I.D.'s Inspector Sloan hies to the village of Constance Parva, where everyone is saddened by friendly Bill Fent's automobile death and shocked by the post-mortem discovery that someone slipped a barbiturate overdose into his last dinner pudding.

From the author of STIFF NEWS, a BLACK DAGGER CRIME edition featuring Inspector C.D. Sloan, who investigates the poisoning of a man who, along with his wife, has just thrown a dinner party for twelve guests, all of whom are relatives, friends and close neighbours.

Slight Mourning by Catherine Aird (1989)