A friendly warning about this one - it was originally published in 1969 under the title [b:The Complete Steel|2648064|The Complete Steel|Catherine Aird|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|1823552] and for some reason, the title was changed to "The Stately Home Murder." you can still find it under the original title. This is to prevent anyone from buying both titles without realizing they're the same book. I've had this happen with some [a:Edmund Crispin|54703|Edmund Crispin|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1210234217p2/54703.jpg] books.

DI C D "Seedy" Sloan and DC Crosby investigate the very unusual murder of a man whose body was stuffed in a suit of armor in the home of the Earl of Ornum. The body is discovered during a tour when a bored 13-year-old boy is amusing himself with the suits of armor and notices that one sounds different than the others. He lifts the visor and a dead man looks back at him. It turns out the victim was researching the family history of the Earls of Ornum, and he may have discovered something important shortly before his death.

The motive for the crime is not readily apparent at first, though the clues are there if you pay attention. The murderer was certainly a surprise (a very amusing one, actually!). The quirky, eccentric noble family is entertaining, though I found the spinster (is that word used any more?) cousin to be rather dated, even for the early 1970s. The book pokes gentle fun at nobility in general. The Earl and Countess of Ornum and their extended family don't really seem to do anything. You have a feeling that once this mystery is over, they will simply make a few minor changes in their household and then go on like nothing happened.

Like [b:The Religious Body|25481808|The Religious Body (Inspector Sloan, #1)|Catherine Aird|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1435494340s/25481808.jpg|2105181], this book feels like it dates from the 1940s or 1950s. There's nothing to indicate it was actually published in the 1970s. Like [a:Erle Stanley Gardner|10214|Erle Stanley Gardner|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1211517281p2/10214.jpg] and [a:Rex Stout|41112|Rex Stout|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1201136975p2/41112.jpg], Aird does not let her main characters age or really change in any substantial way. I don't see this as an issue and obviously I'm not alone, judging from the popularity of Perry Mason and Nero Wolfe books to this day. Since the characters never change, you always know what to expect - an amusing, entertaining read with a cozy, old-fashioned atmosphere.