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zogg's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
2.0
I found this ninth in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series a bit of rough going. It was hard to work up much interest in the plot or in the main characters. The whole premise of the story just seemed rather unbelievable.
As always, the plot is tied to the experiences of World War I. In this instance, the connection is through a man with whom Ian Rutledge had served in the war. a man who returned from the war to find the woman that he had been in love with now married to another older, richer man of a higher social class. When that man is severely beaten and left for dead, suspicion falls upon Rutledge's former comrade in arms.
When the police go to question the man, he goes a bit off the tracks and runs over the constable's foot with his car as he makes his escape. Instead of leaving the area, he makes his way to the house of the victim where, in a strange encounter with the man's wife, she gives him her husband's gun and essentially invites him to hold her and the housekeeper hostage!
When the police inevitably come calling, he tells them that he will not talk to anyone except Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard. Rutledge is involved in investigating another case at the time and is very reluctant to head out to the hinterlands to deal with this new crime, but his superiors do not give him a choice in the matter. He's instructed to go and sort it out.
As he goes, he is still accompanied by the presence of Hamish, the Scottish soldier whom he executed during the war for refusing to obey a command. Hamish is an ever-present reminder of the horrors of war, but his contribution to this story seems subdued at best.
After Rutledge arrives on the scene, things seem to go from bad to worse. The suspect, the grieving wife, and the housekeeper are still holed up in the house with the suspect brandishing his revolver. Soon another body is added to the death toll as the housekeeper is smothered in her bed. Then the victim, who had apparently been in a coma at the local doctor's surgery, mysteriously disappears. Did he leave on his own or was he spirited away?
In the contretemps caused by the missing patient, it isn't noticed at first that the doctor's wife has been bludgeoned to death, her body left behind a desk. So, the tally becomes three dead bodies and one missing, either dead or alive, body.
At this point, the tale seemed to be descending into parody. I could not work up any empathy or interest in the two main characters, the wife and the suspect. They both seemed utterly unsympathetic and undeserving of my time. I really didn't care what happened to either of them.
The list of possible suspects, once we had pretty well established that the man in the house was not guilty, was long and scattered. Moreover, the denouement, when it came, was particularly unsatisfying and didn't really wrap things up for me. Too many loose ends were left hanging.
In a long series like this, there are bound to be times when the writer(s) is/are not at his/their best. The mother and son duo that make up "Charles Todd" have maintained a high standard of quality and this book didn't meet that standard. It was not terrible and there were bits that were entertaining, but, overall, it certainly was not one of their best.
As always, the plot is tied to the experiences of World War I. In this instance, the connection is through a man with whom Ian Rutledge had served in the war. a man who returned from the war to find the woman that he had been in love with now married to another older, richer man of a higher social class. When that man is severely beaten and left for dead, suspicion falls upon Rutledge's former comrade in arms.
When the police go to question the man, he goes a bit off the tracks and runs over the constable's foot with his car as he makes his escape. Instead of leaving the area, he makes his way to the house of the victim where, in a strange encounter with the man's wife, she gives him her husband's gun and essentially invites him to hold her and the housekeeper hostage!
When the police inevitably come calling, he tells them that he will not talk to anyone except Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard. Rutledge is involved in investigating another case at the time and is very reluctant to head out to the hinterlands to deal with this new crime, but his superiors do not give him a choice in the matter. He's instructed to go and sort it out.
As he goes, he is still accompanied by the presence of Hamish, the Scottish soldier whom he executed during the war for refusing to obey a command. Hamish is an ever-present reminder of the horrors of war, but his contribution to this story seems subdued at best.
After Rutledge arrives on the scene, things seem to go from bad to worse. The suspect, the grieving wife, and the housekeeper are still holed up in the house with the suspect brandishing his revolver. Soon another body is added to the death toll as the housekeeper is smothered in her bed. Then the victim, who had apparently been in a coma at the local doctor's surgery, mysteriously disappears. Did he leave on his own or was he spirited away?
In the contretemps caused by the missing patient, it isn't noticed at first that the doctor's wife has been bludgeoned to death, her body left behind a desk. So, the tally becomes three dead bodies and one missing, either dead or alive, body.
At this point, the tale seemed to be descending into parody. I could not work up any empathy or interest in the two main characters, the wife and the suspect. They both seemed utterly unsympathetic and undeserving of my time. I really didn't care what happened to either of them.
The list of possible suspects, once we had pretty well established that the man in the house was not guilty, was long and scattered. Moreover, the denouement, when it came, was particularly unsatisfying and didn't really wrap things up for me. Too many loose ends were left hanging.
In a long series like this, there are bound to be times when the writer(s) is/are not at his/their best. The mother and son duo that make up "Charles Todd" have maintained a high standard of quality and this book didn't meet that standard. It was not terrible and there were bits that were entertaining, but, overall, it certainly was not one of their best.
michaelromeo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thesummer's review against another edition
2.0
The prose for this novel (and indeed, the whole series that I have read) is needlessly overdramatic, flowery, and cheesy. The author has a problem with writing women that are not clichés, as well as with telling, rather than showing. Passages where Inspector Rutledge meets a woman and immediately figures out what kind of person she is have really begun to grate on me--whether it's deciding right away that she has an incredible strength of character through the steel in her eyes, or that she is a harsh gossip who rules the town from her posture and expression, it's both silly and unrealistic. This novel suffers from bad pacing--it has way too much set-up and too many red herrings, and does not get interesting until the very end, with a decent enough twist. I understand, of course, the importance of set-up and that in real life, policemen follow many leads that turn out to be dead ends, but there was far too much of that in this book.
Although I found some of it quite engaging, and though I always liked the discussion of themes like PTSD, I think I'm done with this series. There has simply been one too many "Good God! Not ___, man, not ____!" for me to motivate myself to read any more.
Although I found some of it quite engaging, and though I always liked the discussion of themes like PTSD, I think I'm done with this series. There has simply been one too many "Good God! Not ___, man, not ____!" for me to motivate myself to read any more.
vesper1931's review
medium-paced
4.0
February 1920. At Hampton Regis Matthew Hamilton has been severly attacked. Local Inspector Bennett clearly believes in the guilt of Stephen Mallory, an old friend of wife Felicity Hamilton. Due to the stupidity of the unlikeable Mrs Hamilton, and compliance by Mallory they find themselves in an intolerable situation of their own making (I nearly gave up on the story here). Mallory calls on old commander Routledge for help.
After getting past the, to me, unbelievale scenerio at the beginning of the story I enjoyed the rest.
After getting past the, to me, unbelievale scenerio at the beginning of the story I enjoyed the rest.
archergal's review against another edition
3.0
I keep reading these books. I'm not sure why. I think the writing style is fine, and the setting is fine. But about 2/3 of the way through, I feel like the authors should just WIND IT UP ALREADY. And I start skimming.
Go figure. I got a 3 for 1 price deal from Amazon, but I think I'm about done by now.
Go figure. I got a 3 for 1 price deal from Amazon, but I think I'm about done by now.
butcept's review against another edition
1.0
This book came to me from the Wake County Library. I had recently signed up for e-mail from the library and one of the first received was a list of books for different genres. The synopsis seemed interesting so I decided to reserve it and received it fairly quickly, despite being alerted that I was number seven in the waiting list queue.
The book is not a typical novel for me to read. It was set post-WWI with British characters.
Apparently, the main character, Inspector Ian Rutledge, is part of a series of novels by this author. I discover that Ian Rutledge was a commander in the war, who killed one of his own men (I never really figured out if he was ordered to, or he thought he needed to) who now 'exists' inside of his head. Hamis is his name, so he 'talks' to Ian Rutledge. This was odd, but I got used to it.
The story is set in a small coastal town where someone ends up missing. It's a mystery that brings Inspector Ian Rutledge to the town to solve.
The book was pretty big. It was offered for checkout for one week, so it is one of the new releases. I didn't like it. The writing, to me, was trying too hard to be of a literary form. The story was intriguing, but not a page-turner. I'm glad I read it mainly because it was a different type of book for me to read, but I wouldn't recommend it, nor would I probably read another one of this in its series.
I rate it as OKAY.
The book is not a typical novel for me to read. It was set post-WWI with British characters.
Apparently, the main character, Inspector Ian Rutledge, is part of a series of novels by this author. I discover that Ian Rutledge was a commander in the war, who killed one of his own men (I never really figured out if he was ordered to, or he thought he needed to) who now 'exists' inside of his head. Hamis is his name, so he 'talks' to Ian Rutledge. This was odd, but I got used to it.
The story is set in a small coastal town where someone ends up missing. It's a mystery that brings Inspector Ian Rutledge to the town to solve.
The book was pretty big. It was offered for checkout for one week, so it is one of the new releases. I didn't like it. The writing, to me, was trying too hard to be of a literary form. The story was intriguing, but not a page-turner. I'm glad I read it mainly because it was a different type of book for me to read, but I wouldn't recommend it, nor would I probably read another one of this in its series.
I rate it as OKAY.
volare's review against another edition
4.0
We are able to learn a little bit more about Ian Rutledge's wartime experiences in this book. Once again, he is sent out of London to solve another crime.
craftyhilary's review against another edition
3.0
I think I'm reaching the end of my enthusiasm for this series. Ian Rutledge is a fascinating character, but while he has gone through some interesting growth in prior installments, in the last few he seems to be either backsliding or just stagnating. The police procedural piece here wasn't very interesting, and Rutledge seemed to fade into the background rather than holding the story together.