Thomas Harding, a middle-aged businessman, is forced into country retirement after a heart attack. He feels bored and restless until the day he discovers a hidden room in his Tudor-era manor house. When a workman uncovers a skeleton in the room, Tom is plunged into a 150-year-old mystery that just happens to intersect with a recent murder in his town.

This as the first mystery I've read by Catherine Aird, and it was delightful. The historical details are fascinating, and the setting was just my cup of tea. If you like British "cozies," you'll like this one.

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Excellent British mystery that kept me guessig and kept me interested. Thomas Harding is retired and bored until he finds a skeleton holed up in a secret room in his house. Now it becomes his pet project to solve this ancient mystery. Little does he know that it will also connect up with a current murderer on the loose in his small village. Great cozy murder mystery!

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Thomas Harding, a London businessman, must retire early because of a heart attack. He buys a Tudor mansion and finds a skeleton hidden in a secret room in the house. Harding is delighted because retirement is a bore. Once the police declare the skeleton to be more than 150-years-old, they drop the case. However, Harding decides to take up the case. The police have their attention turned to a local, current murder of a beautiful, blond woman. Oddly enough, the two murders are related.

This is the only Catherine Aird book that does not include 'Sloan & Crosby,' the infamous Calleshire police sleuths. This is the second book Aird wrote; however, Sloan and Crosby became so popular, that Aird never returned to the plotline without the famous couple.

I've read almost all of Catherine Aird's books at least twice; I just love these old-school mysteries with large doses of humor. This one has less humor because she doesn't have Sloan trying to 'protect my pension' and Crosby falling into correct guesses. However, it is a delicious mystery, worthy of Aird's name. I was so sad when this mystery ended.

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This Aird novel is a stand-alone book and I think it is the best she wrote. There are two murder mysteries centered around an ancient English manor house, one current and one hundreds of years old. How they interact and how they are both solved by a retired businessman and the village community are fascinating. If you like English history wrapped within your British mysteries, you will enjoy this book.

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Anything by Catherine Aird is great. Once again she had made murder interesting. You can learn a lot about old English Manor Houses and see a lot of different types of neighbors. Good read.

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A convalescing man retires to an old English manor, where he happens upon the skeletal remains of a 15 year old boy when he finds a secret room in the house. Solving the 150 year old murder mystery becomes the overriding passion in the man's life, and it becomes intertwined with a present-day murder mystery, as well.
I was thoroughly entertained. Well worth a few hours of your time, if you are a fan of English mystery.

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Altho' I love this author, this is one of her best...the perfect British mystery!

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