Sloan and Crosby Books in Order
Part ofCatherine Aird Books in OrderSee every Sloan and Crosby book by Catherine Aird in order, with brief summaries, series background, and clear guidance on where to begin.
Last updated: July 14, 2026
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Sloan and Crosby books in publication order
26 books
The Religious Body
by Catherine Aird
1966
When Sister Anne is found dead at the foot of convent stairs, Inspector C. D. Sloan must look past the appearance of an accident. Her past, her wealthy family, and the convent's strict routines all hide possible motives.
Henrietta Who?
by Catherine Aird
1968
A woman is killed in what looks like a hit-and-run, but the autopsy reveals both murder and a startling lie about her family. Inspector Sloan must discover who Henrietta really is before the past claims another victim.
The Stately Home Murder / The Complete Steel
by Catherine Aird
1969
When a tourist lifts the visor of a suit of armor at Ornum House, he finds a dead man inside. Inspector Sloan and Constable Crosby sort through the troubled noble household before the killer can strike again.
A Late Phoenix
by Catherine Aird
1971
A skeleton uncovered in a Berebury bomb site seems like another wartime casualty, until evidence shows the pregnant woman was shot. Sloan and Crosby reopen a murder that has lain hidden for more than twenty years.
His Burial Too
by Catherine Aird
1973
On a sweltering day, an industrialist disappears and is later found crushed beneath a fallen church tower. With little access to the body and a second death looming, Sloan faces a grim, tightly locked puzzle.
Slight Mourning
by Catherine Aird
1975
A dinner party ends with its host dying in a violent car crash, but the autopsy finds a fatal dose of barbiturates. Every surviving guest had the chance to poison him, leaving Sloan with an intimate suspect list.
Parting Breath
by Catherine Aird
1977
Campus unrest, a dormitory break-in, and a dying student's final words, "twenty-six minutes," draw Sloan into a baffling university case. With Crosby at his side, he must connect a petty crime to murder.
Some Die Eloquent
by Catherine Aird
1979
A retired school chemistry teacher dies with an unexpectedly large fortune, and eager people soon circle her money. As Sloan prepares for fatherhood, he must learn how Beatrice Wansdyke became wealthy and why others may kill for it.
Passing Strange
by Catherine Aird
1980
At a village flower show, beloved nurse Joyce Cooper vanishes from a fortune-teller's booth and is found strangled nearby. Sloan and Crosby face a colorful group of suspects, each with reasons to resent the helpful spinster.
Last Respects
by Catherine Aird
1982
A fisherman pulls a body from the river, yet the victim did not drown. Sloan and Crosby investigate strange deaths, local history, and building disputes as they search for the reason behind this waterlogged killing.
Harm's Way
by Catherine Aird
1984
A crow drops a severed finger at the feet of two walkers reclaiming a public path. Inspector Sloan follows the clue into farming country, where several missing people give him far too many possible victims.
A Dead Liberty
by Catherine Aird
1986
Lucy Durmast refuses to speak at her murder trial after a man she fed is poisoned. When the original detective is incapacitated, Sloan reopens the seemingly simple case and uncovers missing people, politics, and deeper motives.
The Body Politic
by Catherine Aird
1990
An engineer escapes prosecution abroad after a fatal accident, then dies during a war reenactment back in Calleshire. Sloan must find out whether international business interests, political threats, or local grudges led to murder.
A Going Concern
by Catherine Aird
1993
Octavia Garamond's will demands police attendance at her funeral and a thorough examination of her body. When her home is ransacked, Sloan investigates why an elderly woman expected danger even after death.
Injury Time
by Catherine Aird
1995
This collection gathers sixteen compact mysteries involving thieves, impossible accidents, suspicious confessions, and stolen research. Several stories revisit familiar faces from the Sloan and Crosby books, while each puzzle delivers a quick, clever turn.
After Effects
by Catherine Aird
1996
An elderly woman's death raises fears that a drug trial has harmed vulnerable heart patients. As similar cases emerge, Sloan investigates medical malpractice, a missing doctor, and the powerful company behind the treatment.
Stiff News
by Catherine Aird
1999
A letter delivered after an old woman's death suggests that her nursing-home demise was murder. Sloan follows the lead into a home for former members of a Second World War regiment, where more than one secret survives.
Little Knell
by Catherine Aird
2000
A local man's colonial-era collection is bequeathed to the Calleshire museum, including an ancient mummy case. When the case holds a body dead for less than a week, Sloan must identify the victim and the killer.
Amendment of Life
by Catherine Aird
2002
A body appears in the center of the yew maze at Aumerle Court, while a slaughtered rabbit is left at a bishop's door. Sloan and Crosby pursue a case with as many turns as the maze itself.
Hole in One
by Catherine Aird
2005
A death on the golf links looks impossible, yet Inspector Sloan is soon convinced it was murder. With Constable Crosby adding pressure, he works through the strange circumstances behind a crime that should not have been possible.
Losing Ground
by Catherine Aird
2007
The theft of an eighteenth-century painting is discovered just before the manor shown in its background burns down. Bones appear in the blaze, and Sloan must untangle arson, development schemes, and Berebury's troubled past.
Past Tense
by Catherine Aird
2010
A young girl is found murdered in a river, and Sloan discovers that her death may be tied to the recently deceased Josephine Short. Following the evidence backward, he uncovers the hidden story that links the two women.
Dead Heading
by Catherine Aird
2013
Sabotage at a greenhouse seems pointless until similar incidents multiply across Calleshire. Then a woman disappears from her ransacked cottage, and Sloan and Crosby must prove how the two unsettling cases connect.
Learning Curve
by Catherine Aird
2016
A dying research chemist suddenly cries out that he was murdered, leaving Sloan and Crosby to decide whether it was confession or delirium. Their search uncovers drownings, an old caving death, and a fatal car crash.
Inheritance Tracks
by Catherine Aird
2019
Five strangers inherit part of a fortune made from a dubious patent medicine, but a sixth heir cannot be found. When one beneficiary dies in suspicious circumstances, Sloan and Crosby investigate the dangerous family windfall.
Constable Country
by Catherine Aird
2023
When Mike Wakefield's business partner vanishes with their printing firm's money, Sloan expects an embezzlement case. Then threats escalate and an employee dies during a launch party at Ornum House, turning financial ruin into murder.
Sloan and Crosby books in chronological order

The Religious Body
by Catherine Aird
1966Sloan and Crosby, Book 1
Henrietta Who?
by Catherine Aird
1968Sloan and Crosby, Book 2
The Stately Home Murder / The Complete Steel
by Catherine Aird
1969Sloan and Crosby, Book 3
A Late Phoenix
by Catherine Aird
1971Sloan and Crosby, Book 4
His Burial Too
by Catherine Aird
1973Sloan and Crosby, Book 5
Slight Mourning
by Catherine Aird
1975Sloan and Crosby, Book 6
Parting Breath
by Catherine Aird
1977Sloan and Crosby, Book 7
Some Die Eloquent
by Catherine Aird
1979Sloan and Crosby, Book 8
Passing Strange
by Catherine Aird
1980Sloan and Crosby, Book 9
Last Respects
by Catherine Aird
1982Sloan and Crosby, Book 10
Harm's Way
by Catherine Aird
1984Sloan and Crosby, Book 11
A Dead Liberty
by Catherine Aird
1986Sloan and Crosby, Book 12
The Body Politic
by Catherine Aird
1990Sloan and Crosby, Book 13
A Going Concern
by Catherine Aird
1993Sloan and Crosby, Book 14
Injury Time
by Catherine Aird
1995Sloan and Crosby, Book 15
After Effects
by Catherine Aird
1996Sloan and Crosby, Book 16
Stiff News
by Catherine Aird
1999Sloan and Crosby, Book 17
Little Knell
by Catherine Aird
2000Sloan and Crosby, Book 18
Amendment of Life
by Catherine Aird
2002Sloan and Crosby, Book 19
Hole in One
by Catherine Aird
2005Sloan and Crosby, Book 20
Losing Ground
by Catherine Aird
2007Sloan and Crosby, Book 21
Past Tense
by Catherine Aird
2010Sloan and Crosby, Book 22
Dead Heading
by Catherine Aird
2013Sloan and Crosby, Book 23
Learning Curve
by Catherine Aird
2016Sloan and Crosby, Book 24
Inheritance Tracks
by Catherine Aird
2019Sloan and Crosby, Book 25
Constable Country
by Catherine Aird
2023Sloan and Crosby, Book 26
Series background & context
The Sloan and Crosby mysteries, also known as the Calleshire Chronicles, follow Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan and Detective Constable Crosby as they investigate murder across the fictional English county of Calleshire. The first book, The Religious Body, starts in a convent. From there, the cases move through villages, schools, old houses, hospitals, museums, businesses, churchyards, and university grounds.
Sloan is the steady center of the series. He is patient, practical, and good at listening when everyone around him has a different theory. Crosby is devoted, energetic, and often a source of complications, particularly when a fast car or a hasty conclusion is involved. Their partnership is warm without becoming sentimental. Sloan has to guide Crosby, but he also knows that policing is rarely a solo job.
The crimes tend to begin with a strong, odd image.
A dead nun lies at the bottom of convent stairs in The Religious Body. A woman in a suit of armor is found to be hiding something far more alarming in The Stately Home Murder / The Complete Steel. A Late Phoenix opens with human remains uncovered at a wartime bomb site, while Little Knell sends Sloan to a museum after a supposedly ancient mummy case contains a recently dead body.
Calleshire matters as much as the clues. It is a place of old institutions, local loyalties, inherited grudges, and residents who may know far more than they are willing to say. Aird uses the routines of rural and small-town life to make each case feel grounded. A flower show, a golf course, a nursing home, a hedge maze, or a printing business can all become the setting for a complicated puzzle.
These are traditional police mysteries, but they are not all the same sort of story. Some focus on old secrets and family history. Others involve medicine, money, politics, archaeology, property disputes, or a disputed will. Sloan usually has to untangle several smaller questions before the central crime comes into focus. The tone is civilized and often funny, though the stakes are real for the people caught up in the investigation.
Start at the beginning if you can, since The Religious Body establishes the working rhythm between Sloan, Crosby, and Superintendent Leeyes. Still, most of the later novels work well as individual cases because the mysteries are complete in each book. The related collections, Chapter and Hearse and Last Writes, offer shorter visits with Sloan and Crosby, along with stories featuring other characters and time periods.
The pleasure is in watching careful police work meet very messy human motives.
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