detective | Oumissa Inspire

Title : The Body Politic

Author: Catherine Aird

Publisher: Doubleday

Year: 1990

Source: Borrowed

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What do Old English battle re-enactments, a fatal road accident and a Middle Eastern country rich in a rare mineral have in common?

The death of a British expatriate.

The entire book is one giant unfolding mystery. You follow the Detective Inspector Sloan as he unravels whether it is natural causes or murder. Aird weaves threads of classical poetry, medicine, life in the English countryside, politics, international relations, history into this tale. The thick suspense holds up till the very end. When the villain is revealed , it will not be your best guess.

I found this book hard to follow at some point but curiosity kept me going in addition to being familiar with many of the themes. This may also be due to the fact that it was written almost three decades ago and roughly set within that period. Insight- when the doctors talk about smallpox being eradicated and AIDS popping up not too long after.

In all, it is the kind of book that will improve your knowledge asides enjoying the plot.

Have you read this book? What was your experience like? I’d love to hear your views.

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OumissaInspire

Lagos, Nigeria

170418

A train crashes and derails following a storm in the Norwegian mountains.
The passengers find refuge in a hotel close by. As the hours turn into days, a couple of them turn up dead.
A wheelchair-bound former detective has to contribute her skills and intuition to get to the root of the matter.
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First Scandinavian read. Brought back memories of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.

The translation was obvious from the first few pages. The sentences were strung together differently. It still retained enough dark humour , sarcasm and emotion to make the mystery and suspense easier to bear.