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After Effects (The Calleshire Chronicles) Kindle Edition

by Catherine Aird (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 334 ratings
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In this mystery by CWA Diamond Dagger winner Catherine Aird, Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan investigates a case of medical malpractice that looks a bit too much like foul play

Muriel Ethel Galloway passed away at home, twitching and grasping at objects only she could see. Her family mourns, sad but unsurprised that an old woman suffering from heart disease should die suddenly. But when Mrs. Galloway’s son receives an anonymous call alerting him that his mother’s life was put in jeopardy by her doctors, he demands action from the Calleshire Police.
 
As world-weary detective C. D. Sloan learns, Mrs. Galloway’s passing was just one in a string of eerily similar deaths. Dozens of elderly patients suffering from heart disease have been “gently pushed” toward taking part in the Cardigan Protocol, a double-blind drug trial from the powerful pharmaceutical company Gilroy’s. Something, it seems, is very wrong. But what might have been a simple malpractice case morphs into something much more complex when the doctor in charge of the trials goes missing and the headquarters of Gilroy’s is burgled by animal rights activists. As Detective Sloan well knows, murder is never a simple matter.
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  1. Book 15 of 28
    The Calleshire Chronicles
  2. Print length
    206 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publisher
    Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller
  6. Publication date
    June 2, 2015
  7. File size
    5602 KB
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
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  10. Enhanced typesetting
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  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this latest Detective Inspector Sloan procedural, Sloan investigates the deaths of an elderly woman who took part in a drug test and the unexpected suicide of a doctor connected with the test. Quality writing from a practiced hand.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Aird brings back the wry Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan, who is contending, as usual, with Colonel Blimp^-like Superintendent Leeyes and the captious Detective Constable Crosby. This time, the death in the local hospital of an extremely ill patient seems unremarkable until the son, dissatisfied with her care, insists on an investigation, and an anonymous phone call to the police suggests that the drug trial the patient was participating in was very dangerous indeed, if not deadly. When the doctor conducting the trial also turns up dead shortly thereafter, an apparent suicide, Sloan mournfully foregoes his weekend to learn about double-blind trials, medical ethics, and the interesting private life of the deceased doctor. Another humorous variation on the British police procedural delivered with the author's usual panache. Stuart Miller

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00VUC3H70
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Open Road Media Mystery & Thriller (June 2, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 2, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 5602 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 206 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 334 ratings

About the author

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Catherine Aird

Catherine Aird

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Catherine Aird is the author of more than twenty volumes of detective mysteries and three collections of short stories. Most of her fiction features Detective Inspector C. D. Sloan and Detective Constable W. E. Crosby. Aird holds an honorary master's degree from the University of Kent and was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her services to the Girl Guide Association. She lives in a village in East Kent, England.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
334 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Rev
5.0 out of 5 stars A delightful read!
Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2021
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Catherine Aird is a terrific writer, whom I've loved for decades. She's one of the few mystery writers who have mastered the usually British art of using subtle tweaks and turns of our so-versatile language, to convey layered emotions.. usually a tongue-in-cheek or eye-twinkling (or rolling!) humor even while dealing with apparently quite serious events and observations. Her characters are deliciously warm and a little silly and intellectual and down to earth and practical and idealistic all at once. Her plots are quite good too.
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ealovitt
4.0 out of 5 stars The Cardigan Protocol
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2018
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This book is the 15th in Catherine Aird's 'Inspector C. D. Sloan' series, and was originally published in 1996. My husband and I both enjoyed these ingenious British mysteries starring Inspector C.D. Sloan and his clueless side-kick, Detective-Constable Crosby, and I was happy to see them come out on Kindle so I could read them all over again.

The procedurals are set in the fictional County of Calleshire, England which very much resembles the County of Kent where Catherine Aird (the pseudonym of novelist Kinn Hamilton McIntosh) lives.

The plot fits very nicely with something Agatha Christie's Miss Marple once said: “I always feel that...doctors are only too anxious to experiment." Senior Consultant Cardiologist, Dr. Paul Meggie is testing an experimental drug at St. Ninian's Hospital, and was supposed attend a lunch meeting at Gilroy’s Pharmaceuticals, the developers of the experimental drug. An alarming number of his heart patients who were participating in a double-blind test of the new drug were dying, and now Dr. Meggie has gone missing.

Animal Rights activists are breaking into Gilroy's Pharmaceuticals on a regular basis, and two women are fighting over the affections of Dr. Meggie, so when he is found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning and Dr Dabbe, the local Consultant Pathologist rules his death a murder, there are plenty of suspects to be investigated.

"After Effects" isn't my favorite Catherine Aird mystery. It lacks much of the sparkle and wit of her earlier Sloan novels. For one thing, Dr. Dabbe who usually can be relied upon for an acerbic comment or two is off racing his yacht at the Kinnisport Regatta during most of this book. He does get in one mordant remark about drug trials, when Inspector Sloan mentions a request for autopsy on one of Dr. Meggie's heart patients:

"‘There’s a post mortem because there are certain allegations that she died as a result of a drug trial.’ ‘So do most patients, Sloan,’ said Dabbe cheerfully."

These Calleshire Chronicles have been labelled 'cozies' by some reviewers, but I find them a bit too edgy to easily fit into the 'cozy' category. Catherine Aird's humor has many hidden barbs. I'd classify her Inspector Sloan books as police procedurals, with interesting dollops of village life in not-so-cozy postwar England.
5 people found this helpful
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GAGirl
5.0 out of 5 stars Top Writer
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2020
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Always a pleasure to read Catherine Aird's work. One of the great mystery writers.
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Linda
3.0 out of 5 stars AFTER EFFECTS, Catherine Aird, 1996
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2018
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In this medical police procedural, Detective Inspector Sloan investigates the death of an elderly woman who took part in a drug test. The death of an old woman suffering from heart disease is not surprising, but her son questions the care provided by the doctors and demands action from the Calleshire Police. They soon discover that this death was only one in a string of similar deaths of patients taking part in the Cardigan Protocol, a double-blind drug trial from the powerful pharmaceutical company Gilroy’s. What seems to be a simple malpractice case becomes more intense when the doctor in charge of the trials can't be found and Gilroy’s is under siege by animal rights activists. Another intelligent, well-plotted story. This one is perhaps a bit darker than some of the others, due to the subject matter.
4 people found this helpful
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Patto
4.0 out of 5 stars Too many deaths...
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2022
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Much of the action is at a small hospital where too many patients — and eventually doctors! — are dying. Drug tests are ongoing among the heart patients. Drug tests are very much in the news nowadays with Covid, but this book, which appeared in 1997, is from the before-time. It’s about duplicity and murder.

There are various possible suspects in the murder of a certain good doctor — animal rights activists, drug researchers, and family members. The plot offers Inspector Sloan a plethora of false trails, which makes the investigation fun.

There are all the usual gags — inane comments from Sergeant Crosby, cheerful autopsies with the effervescent Dr. Dabbe, and stressful conversations for Sloane with his belligerent, xenophobic, misogynistic boss.

I’ve read most of the Sloane and Crosby crime novels, and am experiencing some series fatigue. But overall I’d consider this a well-done mystery.
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susie m tanner
5.0 out of 5 stars need more
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2019
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need more books by Catherine aird
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars I will read all books in this series
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2019
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Nothing I dislike.love the characters.
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D. G. Hulan
4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly typical Aird
Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2014
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Somehow I missed this book when it came out in 1996, but I ran across the title in a recent book of hers I bought and naturally picked it up. It’s the usual rather light-hearted police procedural featuring Inspector C.D. Sloan and DC Crosby of the Calleshire CID. In this one the problems seem to originate in a couple of hospitals, where a pharmaceutical company is testing a new drug on patients who haven’t been helped by existing ones. Then there’s a group of animal rights activists doing things, and the doctor who was the primary investigator on the drug test has disappeared. If you like Aird and haven’t read this one you’ll want to; it’s pretty typical of the series, with maybe a little more edge than most.
9 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Client d'Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars RAS
Reviewed in France on September 8, 2019
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Damaskcat
5.0 out of 5 stars After Effects
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 15, 2015
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An elderly woman dies in hospital of heart failure. The death isn't unexpected but she was part of a drugs trial and her son receives an anonymous call suggesting that maybe her death was a little premature. Sloan and Crosby are clutching at straws and not getting any sort of help with their investigations when the doctor overseeing the drugs trials is found dead in his car - an apparent suicide. But, the pathologist, Dr Dabbe believes he was murdered.

As more patients at local hospitals die unexpectedly, Sloan and Crosby are involved in a race against time to prevent further deaths of doctors and patients. This is a well plotted and intriguing mystery with plenty of suspects and victims and a nail biting finish. This is an enjoyable read with plenty of humour and some likeable characters. I recommend this series to anyone who likes crime novels which concentrate on who done it and why. The series can be read in any order.
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Dorothy
5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER GOOD READ
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2013
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I LOVE ALL BOOKS BY CATHERINE AIRD. THEY ALL TELL A FASCINATING STORY, AND WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THEM IS THAT THEY ARE TOLD WITH A SENSE OF HUMOUR. UNLIKE LOTS OF CRIME STORIES THEY DO NOT CONCENTRATE ON THE VIOLENCE THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE. THIS IS A STORY SET IN A HOSPITAL. UNLIKE MANY CRIME NOVELS OF TODAY IT IS SET IN ENGLAND. MANY ARE AMERICAN, AND IT IS A REALLY GOOD READ.
I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS TO ANYONE WHO LIKES CRIME STORIES.
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James T
3.0 out of 5 stars It was OK but fell short of others in series ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 9, 2015
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It was OK but fell short of others in series. Not too much Sloane/Crosby interaction and rhetoric and a very weak story line. Readable, but only just.
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