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lcoverosey's review against another edition
4.0
About 3.75 but I know it going to get better as I get into the series. Good history of the 1st world war and life in that timeframe. Looking fwd to the next book
mamap's review against another edition
3.0
Post WWI - I think - Inspector Rutledge from the Scotland Yard with PTSD is sent off to solve a case involving a former Colonel. And petty people wanting power - why?
A little slow moving - the physiology of the whole thing is intriguing. A gothic mystery type.
I'm not a fan of the negative imaginary friend in his head.
p.182 "Well, he'd discovered in the trenches of France that Hell itself was not half so frightening as the darkest corners of the human mind.
p190 "Men don't like to be wrong, sir."
A little slow moving - the physiology of the whole thing is intriguing. A gothic mystery type.
I'm not a fan of the negative imaginary friend in his head.
p.182 "Well, he'd discovered in the trenches of France that Hell itself was not half so frightening as the darkest corners of the human mind.
p190 "Men don't like to be wrong, sir."
stevem0214's review against another edition
5.0
Welcome to a new series (to me)! Great book and I'm hoping they'll flesh themselves out as it goes along. Ian Rutledge is an Inspector from Scotland Yard who struggling with PDST or shellshock. He is sent to this job in Warwickshire as a test he was supposed to fail. He didn't and therein weaves a great story. I'll looking forward to more of these novels!!! I love a series that is new to me!!
annemariep68's review against another edition
3.0
Audiobook: A good mystery and a protagonist to care about and follow… think I’ve found another series to keep me busy!
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
3.0
I totally bought into this story until the last moment, when I went "huh"???? The plot was intricate and kept my interest until the end, but I felt cheated by the solution and felt that the author had pulled a rabbit out of a hat. I will read the next in hopes that the ending will be more fair to the reader, but if not...
pr727's review against another edition
3.0
Well written but long. The who of who-dun-it rather came out of almost nowhere at the end. That his superior wants to see Rutledge fail is reminiscent of the Inspector Gamache mysteries. One is enough of this series. I listened to the audio book, the narration was fine.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Dove in right after [b:A Fine Summer's Day|22103866|A Fine Summer's Day (Inspector Ian Rutledge, #17)|Charles Todd|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1412531008s/22103866.jpg|41449322] (couldn't sleep). I didn't enjoy the perspective shifts between characters at times - felt choppy - but quite a good twist at the end. (And, knowing what I do know about Rutledge's pre-war life, his backstory is surprisingly frustrating/muddy here)
leevoncarbon's review against another edition
4.0
Surprise ending but fairly done as the clues were dropped into the story early on.
lgpiper's review
4.0
This is the first of Todd's Inspector Ian Rutledge stories. I had read one three years ago (GoodReads claims I read two of them, but I appear to have reviewed only one of the two) and liked it enough to consider reading more. I decided I should begin at the beginning.
Ian Rutledge was a police inspector who went off to World War I and came back with some rather severe "shell shock", or as we term it these days, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). One of the features of this PTSD is that Rutledge hears voices in his head, notably that of a Scott, named Shamus, whom Rutledge had to have executed for refusing orders on the battle field. It doesn't help that his fiancée dumped him after he returned from the war.
Rutledge thinks that returning to work with Scotland Yard will help his healing process. In theory, the folks at Scotland Yard don't know about his medical issues. But one, his immediate superior does seem to know. Further, said superior doesn't much like Rutledge and would like an excuse to get rid of him. So, Rutledge is sent off to investigate the murder of a war hero, Col. Wood. The most obvious suspect is a local rabble rouser who has had run-ins with the war hero, but Rutledge finds evidence to exonerate him. Then, there's another war hero, Capt. Wilton, who happens to be betrothed, to Col. Wood's niece and ward, Lettice, and who also appears to have been highly decorated by the royal family. So, Rutledge has to sort out all the various relationships in the local village, all the while being abused verbally by the voice of Shamus in his head. Something like that.
It was a pretty good book, and although it was written fairly recently by Americans, most of the background feels reasonably true to post World War I Britain. I'm not sure I liked this book as much as the first one I read (which was the sixth in the series), but I liked it enough I'll likely pick up a few more somewhere along the line.
Ian Rutledge was a police inspector who went off to World War I and came back with some rather severe "shell shock", or as we term it these days, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). One of the features of this PTSD is that Rutledge hears voices in his head, notably that of a Scott, named Shamus, whom Rutledge had to have executed for refusing orders on the battle field. It doesn't help that his fiancée dumped him after he returned from the war.
Rutledge thinks that returning to work with Scotland Yard will help his healing process. In theory, the folks at Scotland Yard don't know about his medical issues. But one, his immediate superior does seem to know. Further, said superior doesn't much like Rutledge and would like an excuse to get rid of him. So, Rutledge is sent off to investigate the murder of a war hero, Col. Wood. The most obvious suspect is a local rabble rouser who has had run-ins with the war hero, but Rutledge finds evidence to exonerate him. Then, there's another war hero, Capt. Wilton, who happens to be betrothed, to Col. Wood's niece and ward, Lettice, and who also appears to have been highly decorated by the royal family. So, Rutledge has to sort out all the various relationships in the local village, all the while being abused verbally by the voice of Shamus in his head. Something like that.
It was a pretty good book, and although it was written fairly recently by Americans, most of the background feels reasonably true to post World War I Britain. I'm not sure I liked this book as much as the first one I read (which was the sixth in the series), but I liked it enough I'll likely pick up a few more somewhere along the line.