A review by judyward
A Lonely Death by Charles Todd

4.0

It's 1920 and World War I has been over for two years, but it is obvious that for many in Europe the war will never be over. People are identified and judged by what they did during the war, where they served, who they lost, and what physical and psychological wounds they carry. Inspector Ian Rutledge is called to a small village in Sussex where three former soldirs have each been garroted, three days apart, and each was found with a service ID disc in their mouths. Is revenge a dish best served cold or is something else behind these murders? Charles Todd (a mother-son writing team) successfully evokes the political climate and culture of post-World War I England particularly in focusing on Ian Rutledge and his attempts to hold on to his sanity and function relatively normally despite his shell-shock and the overpowering grief and guilt that he brought back from the war. Highly recommended, but with a caution. Each of the books in this series easily stands alone, but the full impact of the series is best experienced by reading the books in order of publication.