Aird updates the technology, but much of the rest remains the same. The "pop star"'s stage name is from the '60s, but he plays with an iPod during one conversation. This book is the next after "Hole in One" and the golf course and its professional recur in this book, tangentially. It seemed a little careless, and a good deal less funny than "The Late Phoenix", the first of her books I read. I've listened to all the audio my library has available, and I don't think I will be reading any more.

Another adequate mystery from Aird, part of her long-running CD Sloan series. This is one of those series in which the main characters don't change much, while the world updates subtly behind them. At least, I don't think it's supposed to be set in the 1960s (although it's actually rather hard to tell).

Light and enjoyable, but nothing special. ( )

I read a couple of Catherine Aird's books a few years back and seemed to remember liking them so I picked this up off the library shelf. I love having my archives to look back through though - they are so much better than my memory! I had liked the first one I read: "Short and sweet, but really pretty well executed." but the second one seemed a bit too similar. This one contained the same compact storytelling but with a gap of several years since the last book I enjoyed it for much the same reasons. Economical with words but full of plot. This one is about a fire in a dilapidated stately home at the centre of a new housing development. It might be the only crime novel I've read in years without a murder. I had a good idea where the story was going and was mostly right. The quick ending meant that I felt that at least one thread of the story was left swinging in the air. Mostly good.

I was excited to see this latest in a series I really enjoy, featuring Detective Inspector CD Sloan and the almost-clueless Constable Crosby. This time, the action centers around first the theft of a painting and then around the arson involving the building in the painting. The building depicted is the center of a land development tangle involving preservationists, real estate developers, city planners, and a rock star.

I usually rate these at 5 stars, but this one seemed to me to be a little too much about, well, a little too little. The mystery didn't seem to be worth all the action. Things did heat up towards the very end, but until then it was pretty light. Still, I was happy to see a new book by Catherine Aird. I hope there's more to come! ( )