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?
Catherine Aird (1930–2024) was the author of more than twenty books of detective mysteries and three collections of short stories, most of which feature Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan and Detective Constable W. E. Crosby. Aird held an honorary master’s degree from the University of Kent and was appointed an MBE in 1998. In recognition of her significant contribution to crime writing she was awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger in 2015.
Derek Perkins is a professional narrator and voice actor. He has earned numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration, as well as numerous Society of Voice Arts nominations. AudioFile magazine named him a Best Voice consecutively in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Augmented by a knowledge of three foreign languages and a facility with accents, he has narrated numerous titles in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres.