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jandi's review against another edition
5.0
The story started a little slow, but picked up quickly. Could not stop reading once I started on the last few chapters.
Charles Todd (which is actually a mother/son team) did a great job painting the atmosphere of war time England. Shortages, relatives/friends serving in the army, veterans with PTSD. I really enjoyed Bess as the main character, a strong female lead with a firm moral compass. She gets involved in solving a crime not because of the thrill, but because of her sense of duty, and while we only get glimpses at her feelings, she shows herself as a very compassionate and understanding person when facing issues like mental illness. I'm intrigued by her dad (why does she refer to him so formally?) and his friend - hope to see more of them in other books in this series.
Charles Todd (which is actually a mother/son team) did a great job painting the atmosphere of war time England. Shortages, relatives/friends serving in the army, veterans with PTSD. I really enjoyed Bess as the main character, a strong female lead with a firm moral compass. She gets involved in solving a crime not because of the thrill, but because of her sense of duty, and while we only get glimpses at her feelings, she shows herself as a very compassionate and understanding person when facing issues like mental illness. I'm intrigued by her dad (why does she refer to him so formally?) and his friend - hope to see more of them in other books in this series.
myrdyr's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. The story was engaging, and I really liked Bess Crawford. I look forward to listening to others in the series.
taleisin's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked the heroine in this novel. Bess Crawford reminded me a lot of Claire Fraser from the Outlander novels. Not only are both women combat nurses, but they seem to have very similar ways of seeing/ dealing with the world.
Add to that a well thought out mystery with a somewhat believable conclusion and I'm hooked. I will definitely be looking for the next one in the series.
Add to that a well thought out mystery with a somewhat believable conclusion and I'm hooked. I will definitely be looking for the next one in the series.
texanoffer's review against another edition
4.0
I was so excited to find a mystery series that is so well written and so completely riveting, AND icing on the cake, it is a clean read! I really enjoyed the main character, Bess Crawford, who is a nurse in WWl that finds herself in the midst of a family mystery while passing on a message from a wounded soldier. The book had the feel of a novel written in times past when the classic mystery novels were compelling and richly written, without the need for excessive descriptive violence or steamy scenes. I can't wait to read more of the, "Bess Crawford" series, and plan on reading Todd's, "Inspector Ian Rutlage" series as well.
An interesting side note is that Charles Todd is actually the pen name for a mother and son team that write these books together. Often co-authored books don't seem to turn out well, but in this case it works beautifully!
An interesting side note is that Charles Todd is actually the pen name for a mother and son team that write these books together. Often co-authored books don't seem to turn out well, but in this case it works beautifully!
we_are_all_mad_here26's review against another edition
Since I will undoubtedly one day come across book #2 in this series and wonder if I should pick it up, I'm writing this review to remind myself what I thought of the first. Sadly, what I thought was, am I almost done yet? Not because the book was bad. It was actually perfectly fine. But it did start to feel long, between visits to rectors and doctors and other various players in the story - and also, the tension never really escalated. We were asking the same questions throughout the story, with the same group of suspects making themselves clear, but no information presented to lead you to think of one of them over any others. So at the end, when the truth is revealed, I thought, oh. So it was that one. Very well.
Update 09/22/2022 - finally, my review strategy paid off! Ignoring suggestions to read #2 in this series.
Update 09/22/2022 - finally, my review strategy paid off! Ignoring suggestions to read #2 in this series.