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plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
4.0
After reading the previous book in this series, A Cold Treachery, I was interested to see where Inspector Ian Rutledge's cases would take him next and I decided to jump right in and read the next book in the series. After all, it was already on my Kindle waiting for me, just a click away.
We first encounter the inspector here on New Year's Eve, 1919, only a short while after the end of his last case. He accompanies his sister, Frances, to the house of mutual friends for a dinner party. At the party, one of the guests is alleged to have some psychic powers and she is asked to hold a seance, an activity that is very popular in the London of the day. This makes Inspector Rutledge, who has an intimate knowledge of and relationship with the dead from the recent war, very uncomfortable, and he is relieved to receive a phone call from Scotland Yard which gives him an excuse to leave.
As he is leaving, he finds a brass cartridge casing on the steps outside. He picks it up and sees that there is an engraving on it. He puts it in his pocket and goes on his way, but soon he's finding other such engraved casings. Someone seems to be following him around and leaving the casings for him to find. For a man already on the knife's edge of mental collapse because of PTSD, this seems a deliberate attempt to unsettle and threaten him.
Mercifully, he is called away from London to a small Northamptonshire village where the local constable has been shot and seriously wounded by a bow and arrow, while in woods that the locals consider to be haunted. Trying to find out what has happened proves difficult for Rutledge because the local folk are extremely taciturn and close-mouthed.
Rutledge learns that there are other mysteries which the villagers seem intent on hiding for some reason. For example, a teenage girl disappeared from the village some three years earlier and has never been found. Her grandmother, with whom she lived, says she must have gone to London to look for her missing mother. But did she? And was the constable looking for her grave in the woods when he was shot?
It soon becomes apparent to Rutledge that there is a connection between the missing girl and the wounded constable, but just what that connection is is not at all clear.
Meanwhile, distressingly, Rutledge continues to find engraved cartridge casings in odd places and then while he is out in his motorcar one day, a bullet smashes his windscreen, barely missing his head. Who is this unknown adversary who appears to be stalking him?
To complicate the situation further, the psychic from the New Year's Eve party shows up in the village and expresses concern about Rutledge, but is her concern genuine or is she somehow connected to the stalker?
In order to solve the mysteries, Rutledge must find a way to break the silence of this unfriendly and secretive village and he must find the motive behind the disappearance of the teenager and the wounding of the constable and discover the connection between the two.
This is another eloquent story of suspense told in absorbing prose with an emotional depth that gives the reader a sense of Ian Rutledge as a very real and sympathetic, if flawed, character. He is a character that we can care about, one about which we can look forward to reading more.
We first encounter the inspector here on New Year's Eve, 1919, only a short while after the end of his last case. He accompanies his sister, Frances, to the house of mutual friends for a dinner party. At the party, one of the guests is alleged to have some psychic powers and she is asked to hold a seance, an activity that is very popular in the London of the day. This makes Inspector Rutledge, who has an intimate knowledge of and relationship with the dead from the recent war, very uncomfortable, and he is relieved to receive a phone call from Scotland Yard which gives him an excuse to leave.
As he is leaving, he finds a brass cartridge casing on the steps outside. He picks it up and sees that there is an engraving on it. He puts it in his pocket and goes on his way, but soon he's finding other such engraved casings. Someone seems to be following him around and leaving the casings for him to find. For a man already on the knife's edge of mental collapse because of PTSD, this seems a deliberate attempt to unsettle and threaten him.
Mercifully, he is called away from London to a small Northamptonshire village where the local constable has been shot and seriously wounded by a bow and arrow, while in woods that the locals consider to be haunted. Trying to find out what has happened proves difficult for Rutledge because the local folk are extremely taciturn and close-mouthed.
Rutledge learns that there are other mysteries which the villagers seem intent on hiding for some reason. For example, a teenage girl disappeared from the village some three years earlier and has never been found. Her grandmother, with whom she lived, says she must have gone to London to look for her missing mother. But did she? And was the constable looking for her grave in the woods when he was shot?
It soon becomes apparent to Rutledge that there is a connection between the missing girl and the wounded constable, but just what that connection is is not at all clear.
Meanwhile, distressingly, Rutledge continues to find engraved cartridge casings in odd places and then while he is out in his motorcar one day, a bullet smashes his windscreen, barely missing his head. Who is this unknown adversary who appears to be stalking him?
To complicate the situation further, the psychic from the New Year's Eve party shows up in the village and expresses concern about Rutledge, but is her concern genuine or is she somehow connected to the stalker?
In order to solve the mysteries, Rutledge must find a way to break the silence of this unfriendly and secretive village and he must find the motive behind the disappearance of the teenager and the wounding of the constable and discover the connection between the two.
This is another eloquent story of suspense told in absorbing prose with an emotional depth that gives the reader a sense of Ian Rutledge as a very real and sympathetic, if flawed, character. He is a character that we can care about, one about which we can look forward to reading more.
zogg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
jlmb's review
3.0
Wow, we actually see Rutledge in London having a bit of a social life. That's a first. Hopefully that development will continue in later books. I liked the inclusion of Mrs. Channing as a potential love interest. She better be in the next book. The mystery itself was fine. I guessed who did it pretty early on in the book. I liked the book enough to keep reading the series but not enough to go gushing about it.
archergal's review
3.0
These novels are fine while I'm reading them. The writing is decent. But five mins after I'm done, I've forgotten everything that happened in the story.
madmadammim's review against another edition
5.0
That was one of the sadder books in this series, I think. I couldn't really believe the end. It was brilliant, too.
I've been reading this series out of order and I must say I hated Mrs. Channing. I've changed my mind now. I like her a lot better after reading this.
I've been reading this series out of order and I must say I hated Mrs. Channing. I've changed my mind now. I like her a lot better after reading this.
volare's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoy the Inspector Rutledge series very much. I wish there was some way of incorporating it into history lessons because I feel it gives such an excellent description of trench warfare and the waste and tragedy of all wars. It also allows us to gain insight into the pain and suffering that returning soldiers experience. I am sure the pain is as bad for those in 1918 as it is today, as taking life in war is not easy for soldiers to reconcile.
I am beginning to wonder when Rutledge will be assigned a case in London and I'm curious as to why Bowles feels so much animosity and dislike for him but I'm sure those items will be addressed in subsequent instalments in the series and when they are, I fear the series will draw to a close.
I will continue to enjoy reading through them in the meantime.
I am beginning to wonder when Rutledge will be assigned a case in London and I'm curious as to why Bowles feels so much animosity and dislike for him but I'm sure those items will be addressed in subsequent instalments in the series and when they are, I fear the series will draw to a close.
I will continue to enjoy reading through them in the meantime.
wendystewartfox's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars, good story the ongoing plot thickens!
aemsea26's review
3.0
Hi! Remember that time I had horrible reader's block for an entire month and exclusively read Inspector Rutledge ebooks that I downloaded from the library? I wish I had more to say about them because I truly do enjoy the series but I read them all so fast that I really can't remember the difference between them. Particularly since every single one involves suspicious and distrusting locals, a beautiful yet angry female who will say at least once "I wish you never came here! You've ruined everything!", a resentful local police force who jeers at the fancy city boy from London, and usually a kindly doctor and/or clergymen who will nevertheless ask Inspector Rutledge how he can live with himself after digging through people's private lives. However, this repetition will not stop me from finishing the series. AND I DON'T CARE IF THEY ARE OUT OF ORDER (Bryan)!
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