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allaboutfrodo 's review for:
A Test of Wills
by Charles Todd
I’ve listened to all of the later Ian Rutledge books narrated by Simon Prebble, but I had never read A Test of Wills, the first book in the series. This is an excellent series I highly recommend. The books are not all uniformly good, but this one is very good.
Rutledge, an Inspector at Scotland Yard, served in the Great War, and an extremely traumatic event causes him to hear Hamish, the voice of a dead man he served with. He seems so real to Rutledge that he sometimes responds out loud to him in front of others. The Rutledge books are an interesting depiction of PTSD. Rutledge is the best part of the series, more so than the sometimes so-so mysteries. He is a well developed and an appealing character.
Rutledge’s “relationship” with Hamish is more contentious and antagonistic in this first book. In the later books Hamish comes across more as a friend. Maybe this represents Rutledge working through his guilt over Hamish’s death.
The resolution of the mystery in A Test of Wills is a bit gimmicky, but I didn’t see it coming and it was fine. Charles Todd (a mother and son writing team) excels at character development, little details, and a narrative style that consistently pulls me forward through the story. I’m glad I finally got around to reading the first book in this series.
Rutledge, an Inspector at Scotland Yard, served in the Great War, and an extremely traumatic event causes him to hear Hamish, the voice of a dead man he served with. He seems so real to Rutledge that he sometimes responds out loud to him in front of others. The Rutledge books are an interesting depiction of PTSD. Rutledge is the best part of the series, more so than the sometimes so-so mysteries. He is a well developed and an appealing character.
Rutledge’s “relationship” with Hamish is more contentious and antagonistic in this first book. In the later books Hamish comes across more as a friend. Maybe this represents Rutledge working through his guilt over Hamish’s death.
The resolution of the mystery in A Test of Wills is a bit gimmicky, but I didn’t see it coming and it was fine. Charles Todd (a mother and son writing team) excels at character development, little details, and a narrative style that consistently pulls me forward through the story. I’m glad I finally got around to reading the first book in this series.