A Long Shadow

Inspector Ian Rutledge #8

by Charles Todd

"Seamless in its storytelling and enthralling in its plotting."
--Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

"Dark and remarkable....Once [Todd] grabs you, there's no putting the novel down."
--Detroit Free Press

The Winston-Salem Journal declares that, "like P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Charles Todd writes novels that transcend genre." A Long Shadow proves that statement true beyond the shadow of a doubt. Once again featuring Todd's extraordinary protagonist, Scotland Yard investigator and shell-shocked World War One veteran, Inspector Ian Rutledge, A Long Shadow immerses readers in the sights and sounds of post-war Great Britain, as the damaged policeman pursues answers to a constable's slaying and the three-year-old mystery of a young girl's disappearance in a tiny Northamptonshire village. Read Todd's A Long Shadow and see why the Washington Post calls the Rutledge crime novels, "one of the best historical series being written today."

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical, British Literature, Crime

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 3, 2006

About the author

Charles Todd was the pen name used by the mother-and-son writing team, Caroline Todd and Charles Todd. Now, Charles writes the Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford Series. Charles Todd ha spublished three standalone mystery novels and many short stories.

Reviews

[TXGAL1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done.

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
I just loved this book in the series! So far I've enjoyed them all, they're wonderful entertainment.

[Joanne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Rutledge breaks my heart. On the surface, he's an upper class British officer returned from the front after WWI to resume his position as an inspector at Scotland Yard. Underneath the handsome facade, he is the ultimate casualty of a terrible war-- tortured by his memories, haunted by a decision made in the heat of battle and abandoned by his fiancée, he throws himself full force into solving the cases he's assigned. Instead of a partner or a sidekick, Rutledge has only the ghostly specter of a dead colleague and brother-in-arms, Hamish McCleod, to help him sort out the details. Smart and original.

[Janete on hiatus due health issues · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I DNF this book when it had 14 pages to finish. Scribd.com's English text, and translation for Portuguese + audio in English from Google Translate. Continuing the Project Learning English by myself.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the eighth adventure of Ian Rutledge, a “shell-shocked” World War I veteran, back at his pre-war job at Scotland Yard, investigating and solving murders. (The books take place in 1919.) Ian is also haunted – literally- by the ghost of a Scottish soldier who reported to him during his time in the trenches. Hamish – said ghost – is not just an ephemeral lurking presence but a constant character. After eight books, Hamish has become more than tiresome; he’s aggravating, much a like a neighbor’s barking dog. In addition this series has become both stale and repetitive.

The authors – I use the plural, as Charles Todd is actually a mother/son duo – follow a very similar outline for each of the Rutledge books. Although Ian is based in London, he spends little time there. His superior, a one dimensional bureaucrat and blowhard, assigns Rutledge to cases out in the English countryside. This is perfectly fine with the loner Ian, who hops into his “motor-car” and travels to some distant small village or hamlet to solve a murder.

When Ian reaches his destination he is always greeted with suspicion by the small-town folk, he drinks copious amounts of tea and sleeps little; he encounters a very obvious red-herring, i.e. a member of the community who must be guilty except he or she is not because that would be too obvious. And there is always a woman – usually a young widow – who kindles a romantic spark within Ian. Rutledge always solves the case just before he can truly fall in love and just in time for his superior to assign him to another case in another remote location.

And oh yeah, there’s always Hamish the Obnoxious Ghost, yammering in his impenetrable Scottish burr in the not so distant background.

A Long Shadow follows this template. It differs from its predecessors in that the solution of the case – actually cases – is incredibly weak, particularly the identity of the murderer. Also Rutledge has attracted a stalker in this book, the point of which I missed.

I was drawn to this series because it has all the earmarks I usually enjoy. Unfortunately to say the Rutledge books are similar is an understatement. They’re all the same book. If you’ve read one, you’ve read them all.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

AROUND THE WORLD OF CRIME AND MYSTERY
USA - 2007 - I own this book, and was getting ready to read "A False Mirror", but that "Mirror" book blurb talks about Rutledge meeting someone from his past. In "Shadow", not all is explained, so I took another dive into "Long Shadow" first. Besides, in my first review (below) I mention this feels like two books, so maybe it continues with "Mirror".
CAST - 4 stars: Rutledge and his other self, Hamish, are fascinating. A very mysterious Mrs. Channing opens the novel with a seance: Ian is terrified Hamish will show up. Mrs. Ellison is the town snob, Emma is her granddaughter who disappeared at age 17. A Mr. Keaton is an unfriendly pub owner: why? Constable Hensley is shot in the back with an arrow in an impossibly thick wooded area. Grace Letteridge is heartbroken. A 16 y/o boy keeps talking about a dead soldier in said woods. Very interesting cast.
ATMOSPHERE - 4 stars: A seance, to start with. Then Firth's Wood, a haunted darkness. A town afraid, living on the edge.
PLOT - 4: This one has an interesting structure: 3 characters are harmed badly, and one or more is already dead. Death itself, happening, stays pretty much out of sight.
INVESTIGATION - 2: The plot needs for Rutledge to live in a house without a lock. Someone is coming and going at odd hours. He doesn't put a lock on the door, cause if he does, then an important part of the plot doesn't work. I'd lock up! And just when Rutledge needs to ask THE question, he has to go climb a bell tower...or something. Irritating sometimes. But many crime authors are guilty of this.
RESOLUTION - 3: There are resolutions for some, but not for Ian, and this story may continue in the next installment.
SUMMARY - 3.4 stars. I'm looking forward to Rutledge #9: I think it could be a continuation of this story.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Inspector Rutledge, arguably, is the face of all veterans returning from war: some have horrible memories they can deal with, some have memories that haunt them hourly (Rutledge) and some drift into insanity. There are creepy scenes here: Rutledge attends a seance; there is a discovery Rutledge refuses to view; and at the end Rutledge comes face to face with what could be his own destiny. I'm reading these in order and this one could have been much better had it been two novels: are publishers again paying by page/word count? After all, I don't mind a 175-page Dame Christie or M.C. Beaton at all (although neither explored a character so psychologically shattered).

[Caitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the books by Charles Todd are a pleasant read with nice accurate tie-ins to the post World War I period in England, including the transitional difficulties to civilian life of the main character, Inspector Rutledge, and others who survived the war. Rutledge's transition is more difficult because he has no visible wounds, but suffers from what is now recognized as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In this particular installment, the author (Charles Todd is actually a mother-son writing team) once again makes post World War I a substantive part of the mystery. There are two separate threads in the story: both of the mystery of who is stalking the Inspector, and the main story which is the attack on the local Inspector, a long-missing teenager, and the mystery of Firth's Woods.

If you enjoy 20th century accurate historical fiction as well as mysteries this series will be enjoyable to you.

[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

This tale reaches back into the past. Unsettling and unmoored. The end is right,y accounted and yet Inever felt more sorry for Rutledge. A lonely life with only a ghost to keep him company.

[Ed]

Perhaps someone other than me can explain how a story that has very little action, populated by post WW I Brits, and whose protagonist carries someone he was forced to execute in his head can transfix me from start to finish. Must be the writing, right?

The irony is that the author(s), a mother and son team are Americans and live in different cities. Must be empathy and telepathy, right?

Whatever it is, they authored an outstanding mystery in this volume, the 8th in the Inspector Rutledge Series. Rutledge is dispatched by his enemy, Superintendent Bowles, to investigate the wounding by an arrow of Constable Hensley, an ex-London Bobbie, now posted to Dudlington, a very small village North of London. As he works the case he uncovers a number of unsolved disappearances that only he sees as possibly connected to Hensley's attack in the Firth Forest, a forbidding thicket outside of town, usually avoided by the locals.

Eventually we meet most of the people in the town, almost all of whom, resent Rutledge's very presence to say nothing of his inquiries. The characterizations are very well done. Not everyone dislikes Rutledge. He befriends the local Doctor and Rector and gets on well with Hensley's superiors.

There is also a sub-plot involving the mysterious appearance of Maxim machine gun cartridges and Rutledge's feeling he is being shadowed.

In the end, Rutledge, solves the mystery in a surprising conclusion and finds the guilty party in the disappearances. He also finally meets the person who's been leaving the cartridges as he is winding up the Hensley case and the disappearances.

The finale is complicated but satisfying. I can hardly wait to get to volume 9.

[Larraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whenever I read a Charles Todd novel, I am always delighted by the depth and breadth of the writing. This book is surprising in it's complexity even for a Todd novel. When Ian Rutledge is sent to a small village to investigate the shooting by bow and arrow of the village constable, Hensley, he is surprised until he is told by his mercuric supervisor, Bowles, that Hensley was a good man, and he wants this shooter found and punished. Rutledge can't help but wonder why this is so important. When he gets to the village, he discovers that there is much more to the story. A young girl had disappeared two years before. Some in the village assume that Hensley was responsible for the death of the young woman. Others think that she went to London looking for her mother who had disappeared years before. Meanwhile, Rutledge is finding shell casings left for him. Then someone shoots at him, but it appears to be more of a warning shot. Honestly, this one went in so many directions with so many red herrings, it really kept me guessing. I'm not ashamed to admit I wasn't expecting the ending. This is a terrific book.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Northhamptonshire after WWi, this author brings home the effects of trench warfar and poison gas attacks and doesn’t let it go quietly away. For years afterwards, the effects linger.

This puzzler opens in 1919 winter, in Frith Wood near the small village of Dudlington, not far from Hertford and Peterborough. In these haunted woods, ancient Saxons once beheaded scores of men, and - only three years ago - a girl vanished. Constable Hensley is biking past the woods to town and senses someone watching.

Celebrating at Maryanne Browning’s New Year’s Eve party, at the turn of 1920, someone suggests a séance, which idea terrifies the haunted Inspector Rutledge. Saved by the bell, he gets a call from the Yard. As he leaves, he finds a brass Maxim machine gun cartridge casing on the Browning’s pavement, similar to countless others he’d seen on the battlefield. It wasn't there when he arrived at the party.

Soon there are more cartridges, purposely placed where he is sure to discover them. Unexpectedly drawn away from London to a small Northamptonshire village, he investigates the strange case of a local constable shot in Frith Wood — an arrow in his back.

Characters:
Spelling is a guess. I listened to this book.

Hamish is the ghost who haunts Rutledge. He is a recurring character in every books. He lives in Ian’s head. I grow tired of his interjections.

Ian meets Meridith Channing at the New Year party. He’s attracted to the young widow, but also discomfited by her perception, and still half in love with Elizabeth Fraser, from book 7 A Cold Treachery. Meredith (Mrs Channing) is attracted to Ian, finds him “tall and handsome” but she senses his ghosts.

Ian’s lovable sister Frances and his capable and well-connected family friend Melinda in Kent.

Chief Superintendent Bowles — aptly derided as “Old Bowels” — he needs to retire, or better yet, Home Office should fire the man. I was hoping it might happen in this book…

Sergeant Gibson at the Yard. He gets information for Ian and hates Bowles.

Harkness family owns Frith Wood land near Dudlington. Mrs. Mary Ellison, née Harkness, is old and cold, a snobby crone. A widow, the last Harkness. She is Emma Mason’s grandmother. She raised Emma until she disappeared at age 16. Emma’s mother Beatrice was an artist who apparently left her child (Emma) in her mother’s care in Dudlington. Mrs Mary Ellison says her daughter Beatrice has never come back to Dudlington, and died in France or Belgium.

Constable Hensley — constable in Dudlington. He walked in Frith Wood, secretly. Hensley was a policeman in London previously. He was Bowles’ creature before Bowles became CS at Scotland Yard.

Baylor brothers. Only Ted is left — he keeps cows. Robbie died at war. Joel is dying from wrecked lungs, poison gas attacks in WWI. Ted loves Barbara Melford but feels duty-bound to take care of Joel.

Inspector Cain oversees the villages of Fairfield, Dudlington, and Letherington . Other policemen in the region : Chief Insp Kelmore, an older married man. Inspector Abbot, previous, retired.
Sergeant Thompson. Inspector Smith in Hertford, where Ian dined at White Feathers Inn (why curse your inn with such a shameful name?)

Mr. Towson - the white-haired kindly old rector in Didlington.

Postmistress in Dudlington - Mrs. Arondahl (sp?)

Dr Eustace in Hertford treats Ian when he gets slight but stinging cuts on his face

The Massingham’s estate is briefly mentioned

Emma Mason - the vanished girl. She disappeared three years ago.

Tommy Crowell — older boy, villager, a little “simple” in the verbiage of the day. He is accused by an inspector, the incompetent.

Dr Middleton - local doc in Didlington.

Grace Letteredge or Letheridge — in Dudlington. She was friends with Beatrice Ellison and befriended her daughter, Emma. She thinks constable Hensley knows the secret of Emma’s disappearance.

Hilary Timmons - house cleaner for various people, including the old rector. She works in The Oaks kitchen, too

Mr. Keating, balding man of about 45 years, runs The Oaks, an inn and restaurant in Dudlington. Hates cops so Rutledge can’t get a room there, so he stays at Constable Hensley’s house, who is in hospital.

young widow Barbara Melford, Hensley’s neighbor, is paid to feed Hensley, and so she also feeds Rutledge. She is in love with Ted Baylor but he has to take care of Joel Baylor.

Mr Mannering is an expert in identifying old bones, from Scotland Yard.

A mystery man, Mr Sandridge or Sandringham. We find out who he is at the end.

a mystery soldier from Great War, who is terrorizing Rutledge.

[Thomas Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Todd, Inspector Ian Rutledge series
https://www.orderofbooks.com/authors/...

Charles Todd is the pen name of an American mother-and-son writing team: Caroline Todd, died 2021.08.28 (book 24 already sent to the publisher) and Charles Todd.

Our hero is Inspector Ian Rutledge, shell-shocked after WWI, routinely hears the voice of his dead corporal, Hamish McLeod, in his head. The two of them are good characters; their relationship develops over the series from antagonism to a kind of partnership.

Rutledge is the Rodney Dangerfield of Scotland Yard: no respect from his higher-ups, no respect from the public, none from the local police he's sent to help.

Especially early in the series, they end abruptly.

They don't have to be read in order.

To orient the stories in time and place:

General areas of each book: https://www.charlestoddmap.com/

1857 Melinda Crawford survived Indian Mutiny (she's 72 in 1919; she lives on the Kent/East Sussex border https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ken... )
c. 1890 Ian Rutledge born
c. 1892 Ian's sister Frances born
1912 Rutledge was a (New) Scotland Yard inspector
1914.08 WWI began
1916.07 Captain Ian Rutledge put Corporal Hamish McLeod to death for refusing an order to lead more men to their deaths, on the Somme.
1916 - 1919 Influenza epidemic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish...
1918.11.11 WWI ended
1919.02 Shell-shocked WWI survivor Rutledge's fiancée, Jean, ended their engagement.
1919.06.01 Rutledge returned to work at (New) Scotland Yard after recuperating from WWI. New Scotland Yard: https://www.google.com/maps/place/51%...

Simon Prebble is the best audio narrator: books 10-16, 18-22.

Tales -- Short Stories 0.5 and 12.5, Kindle ✅ ★★★

2013 0.5 Cold Comfort -- Kindle, in Tales, Short Story ✅ ★★★

2015 0.6 A Guid Soldier -- Kindle, Short Story ✅ ★★★

1994 1 A Test of Wills -- Kindle, Audible ✅ ★★★

1998 2 Wings of Fire -- Kindle, Audible ✅ ★★★★
Suspicious deaths in the house of fictional poet O.A. Manning. Cornwall. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cor...

1999 3 Search the Dark -- Kindle, Audible ✅ ★★★
1919.08 Dorset. Ends rather badly.

2000 4 Legacy of the Dead -- Kindle, Audible ✅ ★★★
1919.09 Scotland. Features Fiona MacDonald, fiancée of the late Corporal Hamish McLeod.

2001 5 Watchers of Time -- Kindle, Audible ✅ ★★★
1919.10 Norfolk https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nor...

2002 6 A Fearsome Doubt -- Kindle, Audible ✅ ★★★
1919.11 Kent. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ken... farther from London than Maidstone https://www.google.com/maps/place/Mai... (33%)
Rutledge remembers a little of what happened 1918.11.11-1919.02.

2005 7 A Cold Treachery -- Audible ✅ ★★★★
1919.12 Cumbria https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cum... Lake District near Kendal https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ken...

2006 8 A Long Shadow -- Audible ✅ ★★★★
1919.12 - 1920.02 We meet Mrs. Meredith Channing. This one has an exciting ending.
Northamptonshire https://www.google.com/maps/place/Nor...

2007 9 A False Mirror -- Kindle, Audible ✅ ★★★
1920.02 - 1920.03 We hear Rutledge's nasty boss, Bowles's, thoughts about how to destroy Rutledge. Some very stupid suspects. Dorset. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dor...
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Westo...

2007 10 A Pale Horse -- Kindle, Audible, first book narrated by Simon Prebble ✅ ★★★★

2008 11 A Matter of Justice -- Audible: Simon Prebble, library large print, ✅ ★★★★
Starts in the Boer War (11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902). Good story.

2009 12 The Red Door -- Libby ebook, Audible: Simon Prebble ✅ ★★★★

2010 12.5 The Kidnapping -- short story, Kindle ✅ ★★★

2011 13 A Lonely Death -- Audible: Simon Prebble, large print ✅ ★★★★

2011 14 The Confession -- Audible: Simon Prebble, Kindle ✅ ★★★

2013 15 Proof of Guilt -- Libby audio: Simon Prebble; Libby ebook ✅ ★★★★

2014 16 Hunting Shadows -- Audible: Simon Prebble ✅ ★★★; Kindle

2015 17 A Fine Summer’s Day -- Libby audio ✅ ★★★★; large print
1914.06.28 - 1914.12.26. This one has Inspector Rutledge's backstory as a Scotland Yard inspector in the months before he goes to war. The fine summer's day is the day the Austrian archduke is murdered in Serbia.

2016 18 No Shred of Evidence -- Libby audio: Simon Prebble ✅ ★★★★★; Libby ebook

2017 19 Racing the Devil -- Audible: Simon Prebble ✅ ★★★★

2017 19.5 The Piper -- Kindle ✅ ★★★

2018 20 The Gate Keeper -- Audible: Simon Prebble; Kindle ✅ ★★★★

2019 21 The Black Ascot -- Audible: Simon Prebble; Kindle ✅ ★★★★

2020 22 A Divided Loyalty -- Audible: Simon Prebble; Kindle ✅ ★★★★

2021 23 A Fatal Lie -- Audible; Kindle ✅ ★★★★★
Has an overage of unpleasant characters. Early 1920s, Wales and Shropshire.

2021.08.28 Caroline Todd died (book 24 already sent to the publisher)

2022 24 A Game of Fear

Trivia:
Book 5: Watchers of Time:
https://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work...

[Jill H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of the Inspector Ian Rutledge books I have read and, although I liked it, I think I should have read the ones preceding it to get an overall understanding of the main character. Throughout the book, Inspector Ian Rutledge, tormented by his time in the trenches in WWI, holds conversations with the spirit of Hamish (who I assume was his batman) who died in that war....but circumstances surrounding his death are sketchy and appear to be somehow the fault of Rutledge. That may be have been explained in the earlier books.
That aside, the story is well done as Rutledge finds an engraved cartridge casing identical to the ones he saw in the war......and when others appear, he wonders if he is being stalked. He is then sent to an isolated village to investigate the shooting of a constable with an arrow (!) and finds himself involved in more than he bargained for.....and the cartridges continue to show up. There are plots within plots and are all tied together rather tidily in the end. Enjoyable but sometimes puzzling.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Inspector Rutledge! I feel so sorry for him and wish he could find peace and a woman to love. Only thing is, when he does find peace and Hamish is gone, then the series will most likely be over, and I don't know if I want that.

[Andree · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one I rather liked. I thought it was well told. Rutledge is isolated, but not entirely. I liked the claustrophobia of the small village, and the otherworldliness of Firth Wood. I thought Frances (his sister) was well-used here. I liked how some of the sub-plots were actually resolved in novel, and not just dropped. And I quite liked Mrs. Channing as potential friend, and an incredibly intuitive observer. She was an interesting character.

Also, I gathered that it was very possible to skip book 7, once you got past the first couple of chapters.

[Will Byrnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 8th novel in a series centering on Inspector Ian Rutledge. That presents some difficulty, mostly in having to cope with a large number of characters who are all new to me as a first-timer. But readers of the series will face less of a challenge as many of the names here will already be familiar.

It is 1919, and the inspector is about to testify in a case in Hertford. He begins to find machine gun shell casings with patterns carved in them, first a single, then two, then three. The third was accompanied by a gunshot through the windshield of the car he was driving. Is he being warned to not testify? Is there something else going on? In another town a constable who has been doing some investigating in a spooky local woods is shot in the back with an arrow, narrowly averting death.

Todd gives us some flavor of the time. Rutledge suffers from shell shock, what we would call today post traumatic stress disorder. He is haunted by the image of a young man he dispatched in the field in order to spare him further suffering. A soldier at a social gathering is missing a limb. (The parallels to contemporary times are unavoidable). There is also an occult fad in the land, epitomized by Mrs Meredith Channing, who is supposed to be able to raise spirits.

There are many, many characters. I confess I found it a challenge to keep them straight, but it was a fun read. This is no one’s notion of literature, but it was enjoyable, light, entertaining. It made me interested to read more books in the series. A good book to read while sitting in the back yard of one’s Cotswolds cottage on a spring day.

[Laura Edwards · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favorite in the series thus far. Right off the bat, two negatives. A storyline which seemingly involved a spiritualist. Thank heavens, she did it more as a lark and the story wasn't bogged down in mysticism. The second disappointment. Any hopes of a developing relationship between Ian and Elizabeth Fraser are shot to pieces in the first scenes with Rutledge. Either give him a love interest or don't. Quit with the teasing! And if that's not enough, the very ending also shoots any lingering hopes with Elizabeth right out of the water. Boo!

And from the excerpt on the book jacket, I thought Frances was going to play a bigger part in the story. Another disappointment. I just did not enjoy the mystery at all. Either of them. Rutledge seemed to be bumbling along, completely clueless. The one thing which might have saved this particular book was if he had found evidence to implicate Bowles in some wrongdoing, but even that proved a disappointment. I certainly hope the next book is better and a little more creative. The Bess Crawford series seems to be more nuanced, whereas Ian Rutledge has grown a little too formulaic. I'd like to see some growth or healing or something here. Have Ian do something which will surprise me instead of the same old thing.

[LJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A LONG SHADOW (Police Procedural-England-1919) – VG
Todd, Charles – 8th in series
William Morrow, 2006-Hardcover
Inspector Ian Rutledge, still haunted by his past and the spirit of Hamish, keeps finding cartridge shells, etched with poppies, left for him, first in London and still after he is sent to a remote country village where local Constable Hensley has been shot in the back with an arrow and left in a wood shunned by the locals. But Rutledge wonders whether the attack is revenge and associated with the disappearance of Emma Mason, a young local woman.
*** This is not a slap-bang procedural, but dogged, follow-the-clues investigation by Rutledge who stands for the dead. He is a complex, realistically drawn character whose past and the impact of WWI plays a major role in his present. The supporting characters are just as strong, each with their own history woven together into an atmospheric story with excellent sense of place, very good suspense and unexpected twists at the end. Highly recommended, but start with the first book.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of the series

Without a doubt this is my favorite Inspector Rutledge book. And the most creepy! Well crafted story covering murders that happened over almost 40 yrs, and leaving one last character mysterious to the end.

[Garth Mailman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The eighth Rutledge Mystery gives us at least three for the price of one. Ian has been finding machine gun casings left where he will find them including on top of his bed. Then someone takes a shot at his motorcar smashing the windshield and barely missing Ian.

An officer is found shot with a bow in a woods with an evil reputation and when Ian is sent to investigate the officer claims to have no memory of the event or how he got there. But Ian is invited to use his home while in town.

The officer’s bedroom window overlooks the bedroom opposite occupied by a girl raised by her grandmother who mysteriously disappeared three years ago. In a town where gossip is the norm nobody wants to talk to Ian, the Innkeeper claims not to have a room for Ian in an empty Inn, and the local barkeep all but throws him out of the local pub.

And why did a London cop complete with commendations move to the sticks. As usual Bowels expects a quick resolution to the case.

Taunted that the Yard was expected to find a quick solution Rutledge replies:

“The Yard works with information. Apparently in Dudlington there’s none to be had.”

[Sienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this series. In this book Rutledge's relationship with Hamish becomes even more real, which is strange & funny. "You'll be as dead as I am, if I'm wrong," Rutledge tells him at one point. Some long-reaching elements seem to start in this book, so I'll be getting the next book soon to find out what happens.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one. 2 mysteries in one although I will say that the 2nd mystery plot didn’t end as satisfactory as I would have liked. Actually, now that I think of it there were really 3 plots. Anyway, Rutledge is again traveling to solve a crime. He meets several likely suspects, including a mysterious woman who follows him from London.

[Ruth Cook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed all the Ian Rutledge books that I’ve read/listened to.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Inspector Rutledge, you troubled, haunted man. I love this character! His trauma from the war permeates every aspect of his life, including his job. It's heart-wrenching. And he fights it right alongside the cases he's working. Such good writing!

[Warren Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I actually struggled with deciding whether I liked this book or not. I have enjoyed earlier books in the series and do find Ian Rutledge to be an engaging character. I initially was inclined to give this book three stars but, on further thought, knocked off a star. This book does do somethings well. I found the plot around Rutledge's stalker to be engaging. This provided the most suspense.

However, the main mystery here was not quite as engaging. For me, a major reason for this was that the series is becoming increasingly repetitive. Each book follows the same basic set-up, i.e. a crime is committed in a rural community and Rutledge has to venture out there alone to get the facts. He is faced with reluctant and suspicious citizens and an often hostile local police force. Meanwhile, he tries to deal with the sometimes helpful but often biting and sardonic voice of the dead Corporal Hamish McLeod. He is also trying to keep his grip on sanity and deal with his PTSD.

Many of those he encounters start to feel like the same characters from previous novels with their names changed leading to a sense of déjà vu. As someone who finds the best fiction has strongly defined and engaging characters, this is a major problem. Some of the characters who have been in the series since its inception still seem to be one-dimensional. I take no pleasure writing this review, as I do believe the Todds (it's a mother and son duo) are good writers and can create interesting characters and stories. I'm planning on giving this series one or two more books based on what I feel the authors do well, i.e. show the impact of WWI on all aspects of British society, strongly evoke settings, provide a vivid picture of Rutledge that draws my attention and makes me want to know what is going to happen to him.

In conclusion, let me suggest a setup that I would find more engaging for a future novel. Unfortunately, from a quick glimpse at some future novels this does not appear to have happened. Anyone is free to correct me on that. Here we go. Rutledge does not go off to a rural village alone and is forced to work closely with his colleagues in London on a massive complicated case. While trying to do this, he is still struggling with his PTSD and its associated symptoms, e.g. Hamish, claustrophobia, flashbacks etc. If he can't handle it he may be killed, get fired or be re-institutionalized. Just writing that description makes me excited for that novel.

[Rusty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ian Rutledge is an awesome character who brings all the emotion from WWI and its horrors with him into his post war job. He has returned to his position at Scotland Yard where he investigates murders. The impact of the war comes across throughout the novel in the voice of Hamish McCleod, a friend and soldier, lost in the war, helping him investigate.

In this particular story there are two mysteries to solve. First, who is stalking Rutledge? Second, what happened to a missing teenager who disappeared? The locals believe that she is buried in Firth's Woods, a dense, depressingly thick and dark area that people avoid because of tales about ghost hauntings. In reality, the Inspector has been sent to investigate an attack on another policeman who is critically injured in the woods. Somehow though, he feels, the cold case about the missing girl may be part of it. Thus, Rutledge needs to discover not just who tried to kill the policeman but also what happened to the missing girl and who is stalking him. In essense, Rutledge finds himself in a most complex situation that unfolds layer by layer as his investigation proceeds.

[Sheila Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another GREAT book by two of my favorite authors. It is so easy to identify with Ian and his tenacity. I love how his mind works and of course Hamish keeps him safe.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading the previous book in this series, A Cold Treachery, I was interested to see where Inspector Ian Rutledge's cases would take him next and I decided to jump right in and read the next book in the series. After all, it was already on my Kindle waiting for me, just a click away.

We first encounter the inspector here on New Year's Eve, 1919, only a short while after the end of his last case. He accompanies his sister, Frances, to the house of mutual friends for a dinner party. At the party, one of the guests is alleged to have some psychic powers and she is asked to hold a seance, an activity that is very popular in the London of the day. This makes Inspector Rutledge, who has an intimate knowledge of and relationship with the dead from the recent war, very uncomfortable, and he is relieved to receive a phone call from Scotland Yard which gives him an excuse to leave.

As he is leaving, he finds a brass cartridge casing on the steps outside. He picks it up and sees that there is an engraving on it. He puts it in his pocket and goes on his way, but soon he's finding other such engraved casings. Someone seems to be following him around and leaving the casings for him to find. For a man already on the knife's edge of mental collapse because of PTSD, this seems a deliberate attempt to unsettle and threaten him.

Mercifully, he is called away from London to a small Northamptonshire village where the local constable has been shot and seriously wounded by a bow and arrow, while in woods that the locals consider to be haunted. Trying to find out what has happened proves difficult for Rutledge because the local folk are extremely taciturn and close-mouthed.

Rutledge learns that there are other mysteries which the villagers seem intent on hiding for some reason. For example, a teenage girl disappeared from the village some three years earlier and has never been found. Her grandmother, with whom she lived, says she must have gone to London to look for her missing mother. But did she? And was the constable looking for her grave in the woods when he was shot?

It soon becomes apparent to Rutledge that there is a connection between the missing girl and the wounded constable, but just what that connection is is not at all clear.

Meanwhile, distressingly, Rutledge continues to find engraved cartridge casings in odd places and then while he is out in his motorcar one day, a bullet smashes his windscreen, barely missing his head. Who is this unknown adversary who appears to be stalking him?

To complicate the situation further, the psychic from the New Year's Eve party shows up in the village and expresses concern about Rutledge, but is her concern genuine or is she somehow connected to the stalker?

In order to solve the mysteries, Rutledge must find a way to break the silence of this unfriendly and secretive village and he must find the motive behind the disappearance of the teenager and the wounding of the constable and discover the connection between the two.

This is another eloquent story of suspense told in absorbing prose with an emotional depth that gives the reader a sense of Ian Rutledge as a very real and sympathetic, if flawed, character. He is a character that we can care about, one about which we can look forward to reading more.

[Pris robichaud · Rating 4 out of 5]

and Tormented Inspector, 11 Feb 2006


"I don't want you to die," she said bluntly. "I've seen enough of death and destruction. I want to hold my séances and bring back dead kings and silly jesters and the ghost of Hamlet's father. There is no harm in that and it makes people laugh. And, it keeps my mind from dwelling on what it should not be remembering. You were the soldier, Inspector but I put soldiers back together. Or tried to help others do that. I don't know which is worse."
In the New Year of 1919, Scotland Yard's Inspector Rutledge has gone to a dinner party with his sister. While there he finds a spent brass cartridge casing as he is leaving the party to answer an emergent call. Then a while later he finds another. What do these spent cartridges foretell, and why do we care?

Inspector Rutledge is sent by his superiors to a tiny hamlet called Dudlington. He is to investigate the attempted murder of an ex-inspector Hensley. As he arrives Inspector Rutledge feels an odd aura that he suspects is a fore warning of what is to come. The hamlet is suspicious of this Scotland Yard man and is not as welcoming as they could be. But as events unfold Inspector Ian Rutledge makes a name for himself, and the towns people begin to believe that maybe this man can solve some of the mysteries that have just begun. A young girl is missing and their Constable attacked. A Mrs Charlston, a soldier who had misfortunes, a pub owner and others who all come into play and Inspector Ian Rutledge will put the clues all together, and then find out who may be stalking him.

Charles Todd is the mother/son team of Charles and Caroline Todd. Inspector Rutledge mysteries are set in post World War I England. "A Long Shadow" is the eighth novel for this team. In the previous seven novels we learn that Inspector Rutledge was in the Great War and, as many before him have, he suffered 'shell shock'. He is hiding this and it is a heavy secret. One of the most unusual aspects of this series is that Inspector Rutledge has a friend or a voice who is with him almost constantly, Hamish MacLeod. A young Scotsman who plays a large part in this Inspector's history; now and then.

The Charles Todd duo's new mystery series is a must read for anyone who love English Mysteries and a thriller. A real find for me and recommended by a friend. Highly Recommended. prisrob 2-10-06

[Willynillyster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another well-crafted mystery by Charles Todd. Ian Rutledge has to be one of my most favorite detectives--and Hamish, too!