Saturday, June 18, 2011

A LONELY DEATH

Ian Rutledge is called from Scottland Yard to assist in the investigation of several murders in a small rural town. All of the men murdered had served and managed to survive WWI only to be murdered in the night in their small hometown. Small ID discs are found in each man's mouth and each of the men have been garrotted. Needless to say, the town is frantic with worry and Ian must quickly figure out who and why these men are being killed.

This is the first book that I have read by Charles Todd (a mother and son writing team). I really enjoyed this book. Ian Rutledge obviously suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was not identified after WWI. He and the men who served bear scars that aren't visible to the naked eye. Rutledge must deal with the voice in his head of one of his former men, Hamish, who is dead due to Rutledge carrying out his orders. Sometimes Hamish offers good insights and other times, he seems only to cause Rutledge more guilt and grief. I think that I missed out by starting with a book that was not at the beginning of the series. I really enjoyed the book, but it was very dark and I'm not sure how many of these sad tales I can take.

Rating - A-

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