Barbara’s rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: Inspector Ian Rutledge #23
Publication Date: 2/16/21
Number of Pages: 352

Mother and son writing team, Charles Todd, beautifully portrays the damage – seen and unseen – suffered by those in WWI. Ian Rutledge’s damage is the unseen kind and he suffers from and deals with the aftermath hour-by-hour. His construct for dealing with the horror is named Hamish and he resides in Rutledge’s head. No, Rutledge doesn’t belong in an asylum, but he definitely suffers from what we would call PTSD in today’s world – and he has a severe case of it. I admire the way the authors show the vulnerable side of Rutledge as well as the skilled investigator side. I’d really like to think Rutledge is getting better and relying on Hamish less and less.

Rutledge’s boss at Scotland Yard doesn’t like him, so, once again he is being punished. He’s been working behind a desk for what seems like forever when his boss sends him off on a case in the Llangollen Valley in northern Wales. The body of a man has been found in the River Dee – no identification and a badly damaged face. Was the man pushed from the aqueduct or did he fall? If he fell, why wouldn’t he have some identification on him?

Nobody in the small village admits to having seen a stranger and they are sure the victim isn’t a local. Who is he? How did he come to be in the small village of Cwmafon? The only clue to the man’s identity is the tailor’s label in his shirt. If Rutledge can just trace that, maybe he’ll be able to find the victim’s name – and talk to his family.

Rutledge is one of the most tenacious, dedicated investigators you’ll ever meet. He never stops until all of the threads are pulled and the total mystery is solved, and this one is definitely convoluted. Before we are done, we’re looking for a missing toddler and we have multiple bodies on our hands. Everyone seems to have secrets and they only tell half-truths or totally mislead. As Rutledge learns more and more, he has to backtrack and go back to the beginning more than once. Time is of the essence for finding the toddler and for discovering the murderer before there are more bodies.

The more Rutledge learns the more he comes to like the victim and the more concerned he becomes for the missing toddler. He speeds over the narrow, curvy, mountainous roads of Wales and England looking for clues. He’s had little sleep and no rest. He’s been attacked, mislead, lied to, and mistrusted. Yet, he is determined to find what has happened to all of the victims.

You should know that it is neither light nor humorous – but it is an excellent read. I love Rutledge and how human he is. I would love to see a bit more light come into his life. Maybe we’ll see that in some of the future books.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Barbara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Inspector Ian Rutledge #22
Publication Date: 2/4/2020
Number of Pages: 336

Betrayal, shock, dismay, regret, and sadness are all felt by Ian Rutledge as he solves his latest case. As always, the story is well-written and excellently plotted with twists and turns throughout. While this is the twenty-second book in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone – but since it is a great series, I’m sure you’ll want to run right out and get some of the earlier books. Ian is one of those characters that you really come to like and wish the best for him – all the while knowing how he suffers from the war. Not all wounds can be seen on the outside.

It is February of 1921 and Ian Rutledge, along with most of England, is still trying to put the war behind him. Although the war ended in November of 1918, Ian is still suffering greatly from shell shock. Balancing his duties as a Scotland Yard inspector and managing his symptoms is definitely not for the faint of heart. After his last big case, The Black Ascot, he is still in disfavor with his superiors and he knows he has to walk on eggshells for a while. After all, the Chief Superintendent still has his letter of resignation in his desk drawer and has let Ian know that he’ll pull it out and accept it at the slightest misstep.

After wrapping up a case in Shropshire, Ian was called into Chief Superintendent Markham’s office. Ian’s new assignment was to take a second look at a case that Chief Inspector Brian Leslie hadn’t been able to solve. Leslie was an excellent investigator as well as a friend and colleague, so Ian was sure that nothing had been missed in the investigation and was a little resentful to have been given the assignment. However, it was his assignment now so he’d best be off to Avebury.

Avebury is a bit of an eerie place as it is built in the center of an ancient stone circle. The body of the murdered woman was found at the foot of one of those stones. Ian retraces the steps taken by Leslie and discovers he is finding the same things as Leslie did. However, Ian is like a dog with a bone – he just doesn’t turn loose. As he stretches his imagination to picture how the murder could occur, how the murderer got the victim to where she was murdered without being seen and a myriad of other things – the clues just don’t add up. He slowly begins to suspect the unthinkable – yet there is no way to prove any of it.

Ian is drawn to the lovely young woman who was murdered. It pains him, and the rest of Avebury, to know that this young woman doesn’t even have a name on her gravestone because they can’t identify her. Ian is determined to identify her, to learn her story and to find justice for her.

In this taut, gripping tale you’ll cry for this young woman and root for Ian to identify her and bring her murderer to justice. Then, just when you think you have it all figured out, the author plagues you with doubt. You can’t be sure of what happened until the very end.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.