Harm's Way [Hardcover]

Catherine Aird (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1985

It was the task of the reconnaissance party of the Berebury Footpaths Society to see that the path was clear. And so it was until a passing crow dropped something exceedingly sinister before their very eyes. From this small beginning developed a murder hunt that cast its net over the trail of a missing financier, someone's ne'er-do-well son, and a man whose facial bruises certainly needed accounting for.

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

From AudioFile

Bruce Montague's understated style is perfect for this modern-day cozy, set in the English countryside. When the Berebury Footpaths Society sends two members to scout its upcoming trek, more than the society is in for a nasty shock. A crow flying overhead drops a human finger, turning the walkers into police assistants as they comb the trail for a body. Aird peppers the story with an array of literary quotations. Sergeant Mason must report police progress to his overbearing superior entirely by phone. Montague delivers these reports with just the right amount of suppressed frustration while adding a poetic touch to the text when necessary. This unusual story should appeal to those who yearn for a less complicated world. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ulverscroft Large Print (October 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0708913598
• ISBN-13: 978-0708913598
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,088,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A crow, a finger, and a missing corpse, May 12, 2002

By 

Michele L. Worley (Kingdom of the Mouse, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harm's Way (Mass Market Paperback)

The Berebury Country Footpaths Society's rallying cry - "Every walk a challenge" - usually throws down a gauntlet in front of the owner of the land over which they propose to walk rather than the walkers, if the land has an official public footpath or right of way. The challenge for their walk over Footpath 79 turns out not to be the walk itself, but the decomposing human finger dropped by a crow in front of Wendy Lamport while she checks out the state of the footpath prior to the walk.

According to Dr. Dabbe, the Berebury police pathologist, the finger isn't medical waste - somewhere an unburied human body is lying in the open where a crow can pick off anything it wants. In the farming area of Great Rooden - which is also fox-hunting country - where could a corpse have lain long enough to get into this state? And who could it be, since no missing person reports seem to tally with the finger?

Of course, it could be any of several unaccounted-for people who aren't the usual type of missing person: the alcoholic black-sheep son of a local respectable farmer, an unfaithful husband with a mistress somewhere, or a financier who pulled a fast fade just ahead of the auditors.

Inspector CD Sloan and his assistant, Constable Crosby, first have to "catch their hare" - find the corpse. My compliments to any reader who deduces where the body was stashed before the search parties locate it. Once they find it, there's no doubt that this is murder, but plenty of doubt that the owner of the property on which it was found had any knowledge of it.

Apart from the murder and its clever cover-up, we finally get a chance to meet perpetual constable Ted Mason of Great Rooden: the bane of Superintendent Leeyes' existence, since he can't be manipulated by the carrot (promotion would mean leaving Great Rooden) or the stick (he's a good cop; Great Rooden is the quietest beat in the county through his efforts).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Real Puzzler This One., December 12, 2003

By 

S. Schwartz "romonko" (alberta canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harm's Way (Mass Market Paperback)

In C.D. Sloan's most bizarre case to date, a human finger turns up on a walkway in the country. This sends Sloan and his inimitable sidekick Crosby on the trail to find a corpse, and then to find a murderer. Those readers who don't like British Procedurals done in the classic format probably don't appreciate Catherine Aird as much as those of us that do like these, but she writes wonderful mysteries. The plots are always tight, and the characters are drawn very well, and everything is done so understated and so verry, verry, British. She writes with a tongue-in-cheek at all times, and the understated remarks and asides that come from her detective are wonderful. They are funny, warm and human. We also see a good example of the "long arm of the law" in this book as Sloan gets help from everywhere to track his killer. Wonderful little book, and one of the best puzzlers in this series.

3.0 out of 5 stars Those Who Like Catherine Aird Books Will Like This One-- Audio book review, March 7, 2011

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harm's Way (Audio Cassette)

First, I have to say that Bruce Montague does a workmanlike job of narrating this short (about 7.5 hour) police procedural by Catherine Aird. Several of the quoted lines are from songs and he came up with a nice compromise between singing the words and simply reading them.

The plot is simple. A finger is dropped by a crow and then Inspector C. D. Sloan and Constable Crosby are brought in to investigate the potential source of the finger. About half way through the body is found but it is still not clear which of the local missing persons it might be.

I used to grab any Catherine Aird book I could get my hands on, but I'm afraid my tastes have changed in the past 40 years, or maybe Ms Aird is not as snappy a writer as she used to be. The characters of her detectives are worn down to a few tics and twitches. There's almost no characterization except one character likes to grow roses, another is a "modern" dresser-- except modern in this case is a relative term-- because the book was originally published in 1984. There is a lot of literary references from Childe ballads to Kipling to Grave's "D'ye ken John Peel"-- the British huntsman, not the British DJ.

About half way in I was about to throw in the towel, but the body was found so I stayed the course although I'm not sure the game was worth the candle-- see this quoting thing is catching.

Recommended for those who like short, dry British police procedurals where the emphasis is on repeatedly questioning the potential suspects and witnesses rather than action and character.