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A review by weweresotired
Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd
2.0
See more reviews at Short & Sweet Reviews.
Proof of Guilt is the fifteenth book in the series of Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries; however, like most long-running mystery series, it's possible to jump right in without having much, or any, previous knowledge of the series. That held true for this book for the most part, although there were some confusing aspects and I think I overall would have been more satisfied with it had I been a long-time reader. Rutledge, who fought in WWI, is still living with the after-effects, most of which are easy to understand, save for the occasional voice in his head belonging to a dead soldier named Hamish. This isn't explained at first so I thought I'd missed out on Hamish's introduction; it takes a few mentions of Hamish before the narration explains it. Also, there's very little time given over to physical description of Rutledge or other returning characters, so I spent the entire book not actually having a clear mental picture of the main character -- not a big deal for all readers, but it threw me for a bit of a loop.
That said, Proof of Guilt is a pretty standard crime procedural, with the added bonus fact that it takes place in England in the 1920s. There are a lot of different social habits and rules that had to be observed back then, and it was neat to see those in a mystery rather than a romance. I'm used to modern crime stories, so it was a nice change of pace to read something unfamiliar, even if 2013-me was flailing on the inside because of how different investigative procedures were in the 20s. I did a lot of hand flapping over spoliation of evidence and confidentiality and looking for evidence that fits your theory instead of looking at evidence in an unbiased way.
But, never mind that. This is a book with a lot of twists and turns, and just as Rutledge (and the reader) starts to think that he's got a handle on the crime he's investigating, several more angles pop up to complicate the matter. There are a lot of characters to keep straight, a lot of backstory, a lot of motives. Many characters have similar names, too, which makes it harder to keep up. I could have used a list of characters, like fantasy books have, so I could remember at any given time what role a character played in the story.
The book started off slow, and the first few chapters were a bit of a chore to get through, but the pace definitely picked up by the end. I was left a little unsatisfied by the ending as I felt like all the loose ends were not tied up, but I'm guessing they were left open to be addressed in future books. I'd be interested in going back and checking out earlier books in the series, especially to get more context and background on Rutledge. For being a crime/mystery novel, the book is very clean - there was no bad language that I could recall, no romance/love side plots, and though there are deaths in the book, they are never described in great detail.
Check out the Rafflecopter below to win a copy of this book for yourself! Open to US readers (or international readers who have an address in the US where they can receive mail) only.
Proof of Guilt is the fifteenth book in the series of Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries; however, like most long-running mystery series, it's possible to jump right in without having much, or any, previous knowledge of the series. That held true for this book for the most part, although there were some confusing aspects and I think I overall would have been more satisfied with it had I been a long-time reader. Rutledge, who fought in WWI, is still living with the after-effects, most of which are easy to understand, save for the occasional voice in his head belonging to a dead soldier named Hamish. This isn't explained at first so I thought I'd missed out on Hamish's introduction; it takes a few mentions of Hamish before the narration explains it. Also, there's very little time given over to physical description of Rutledge or other returning characters, so I spent the entire book not actually having a clear mental picture of the main character -- not a big deal for all readers, but it threw me for a bit of a loop.
That said, Proof of Guilt is a pretty standard crime procedural, with the added bonus fact that it takes place in England in the 1920s. There are a lot of different social habits and rules that had to be observed back then, and it was neat to see those in a mystery rather than a romance. I'm used to modern crime stories, so it was a nice change of pace to read something unfamiliar, even if 2013-me was flailing on the inside because of how different investigative procedures were in the 20s. I did a lot of hand flapping over spoliation of evidence and confidentiality and looking for evidence that fits your theory instead of looking at evidence in an unbiased way.
But, never mind that. This is a book with a lot of twists and turns, and just as Rutledge (and the reader) starts to think that he's got a handle on the crime he's investigating, several more angles pop up to complicate the matter. There are a lot of characters to keep straight, a lot of backstory, a lot of motives. Many characters have similar names, too, which makes it harder to keep up. I could have used a list of characters, like fantasy books have, so I could remember at any given time what role a character played in the story.
The book started off slow, and the first few chapters were a bit of a chore to get through, but the pace definitely picked up by the end. I was left a little unsatisfied by the ending as I felt like all the loose ends were not tied up, but I'm guessing they were left open to be addressed in future books. I'd be interested in going back and checking out earlier books in the series, especially to get more context and background on Rutledge. For being a crime/mystery novel, the book is very clean - there was no bad language that I could recall, no romance/love side plots, and though there are deaths in the book, they are never described in great detail.
Check out the Rafflecopter below to win a copy of this book for yourself! Open to US readers (or international readers who have an address in the US where they can receive mail) only.