This is the first in Charles Todd's (pseudonym of a mother & son writing team) Inspector Ian Rutledge series. Just a year after returning from The Great War, Rutledge has returned to his position at Scotland Yard, but not to his previous life. He is burdened with the guilt and ghost of a soldier he executed for cowardice on the front lines by the name of Hamish MacLeod. Additionally, Rutledge was buried alive in a suicidal last charge and suffers shell shock (now we call it PTSD), which he keeps secret. Persecuted by a cruel and manipulative superior at Scotland Yard, Rutledge is barely holding it together when he is sent off to investigate the death of retired Army colonel, Charles Harris. The villagers want to point the finger at a local trouble maker, Bert Mavers, but what little evidence there is points in another direction entirely--to Capt. Mark Wilton, the fiancé of Col. Harris' ward, Lettice. In a seemingly unrelated situation, the daughter of one of the villagers has suddenly become mute and Rutledge begins to think that whatever the child witnessed is somehow connected to the murder. Rich settings and characterization as well as clever plotting make this an engaging read. I actually decided to start this series from the beginning after reading the newest installment, No Shred of Evidence.
Reviews available from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and The New York Times.
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