In this thirteenth outing for Scotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge, a man walks into Rutledge’s office and announces, “I’m dying of cancer, and I want to clear my conscience. I killed a man in 1915.” The dead man, it turns out, was his cousin. Within days of the man’s confession, he is found murdered in the Thames.

Inspector Rutledge is frustrated because the man refused to give him critical information other than the murder occurred in Essex. It doesn’t take long for Rutledge to find that the man hadn’t been truthful with him. Rutledge must find out if a murder really occurred, and if it did, was the crime solved.

Todd unfolds the slowly, carefully - like peeling an onion - one layer at a time. Nothing about the investigation is rushed. If you like your investigations to hurry to its resolution, this isn’t the book for you. Even so, you might enjoy its leisurely journey toward finding out who the murderer and the victim were because the book is so well written.

If you like starting a series with the first book, read “A Test of Wills.” You don’t need to read the first book to enjoy this one, but once having read “The Confession,” you’ll probably want to go back to start the series at the beginning. You won’t regret it.