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Amendment of Life is one of the later Inspector Sloan procedurals and one of the strongest of the late run. A woman's body is found in the yew-hedge maze of a country house that has been opened for a heritage day. The maze becomes a useful metaphor for the investigation, which keeps turning back on itself in ways Aird signposts without spelling out.
What Catherine Aird does, when she is at her best, is treat small social observations as the engine of detection. The disagreements at the parish council, the unfinished restoration project, the absence of certain villagers from a tea, all matter in ways the reveal earns. Sloan and Crosby continue their long quiet partnership.
Four stars. One of the stronger late-series entries. Recommended after a few earlier Sloans for full appreciation.
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