A Bitter Truth A Bess Crawford Mystery

Another book I sort enjoyed despite Bess Crawford dim wits and her propensity to be emotionally blackmailed 

Review at Amazon by Sharon Isch 

Christmas approaches and WWI battlefield nurse Bess Crawford arrives back at her London digs on leave from France only to discover a battered wife on her doorstep. She takes her in and, at the woman--Lydia's--request, accompanies her home to the dreariest corner of Sussex just as the extended family is about to gather together for a memorial event for Lydia's deceased brother-in-law.

Murder ensues. As do rumors of an illegitimate child. Then comes another death--is this one a suicide or is it also murder? Are all these things connected? And if so, how?

I think this third entry in the newest British WWI era mystery series by the American mother and son team that writes under the name of Charles Todd works a bit better than the first two because it puts Bess smack dab in the middle of the muddle from the get-go and thus her collecting of clues and conjectures requires fewer far-out coincidences and less Miss Marple-ish busybodiness to propel the plot.

I didn't love this book--I thought the "who" in the whodunit should have been a more prominent and better developed character--but I liked it, especially the scenes that involved Bess's being back in battle-torn France where her investigations were more in character and thus more believable than in the first two books of this series. And I look forward to the next one. But I remain a bigger fan of Scotland Yard Inspector Rutledge, star of the Todds' longer running series. At least so far.

A duty to the dead A Bess Crawford Mystery

I was sooo delighted to lay my hands on the another series by Charles Todd - also set in England and the early 1900's

The only thing about Charles Todd is that he has made his detective hero Ian Rutledge a brilliant man and Bess Crawford really not brilliant

I suppose Inspector Rutledge is a professional and Bess is a nurse so its possible that that is the reason for their difference in ability - but the difference is too stark 

Its so obvious right from the start that obviously the heir would have been put in the mental asylum becasue he was the heir and because of the "wicked stepmother"

But Bess continues idiotically to wait till the very end to accept it

She also says idiotic things like"Its too horrible to believe" -

Get a brain Bess !!

Despite this I enjoyed the book for its setting and the story

Review by LM Young at Amazon 
Bess Crawford, daughter of a British Army officer and a nurse serving aboard the hospital ship Britannic, is invalided home after the ship is torpedoed and her arm is broken. This gives her the chance to fulfill a soldier's dying wish; Arthur Graham's cryptic deathbed message is to be delivered directly--no letters will do--to his brother Jonathan: "Tell Jonathan I lied. I did it for Mother's sake. But it has to be set right." Bess' letter to the family results in an invitation to the Graham home, but to her surprise, there is no reaction when she delivers the message. Jonathan and Mrs. Graham even question if Arthur was in pain or drugged when he said it. But the longer Bess remains in the Graham home, the more questions begin to arise: what did the message mean and why was it so important to Arthur but not to his family? How did Arthur's oldest brother Peregrine become confined to an insane asylum when he was only fourteen? And when Bess is called on to nurse Peregrine through a bout of pneumonia, why isn't he the dimwitted man he has been described to be?

The Red Door Inspector Ian Rutledge

Another Story I enjoyed immensely
One interesting Iam discovering is how thw author Charles Todd - uses the voice of Hamish (the soldier that the Ispector had to kill in the great war )as the voice of his subconscious

Our subconscious instincts are faster than the conscious thoughts and so Hamish is able to warn the Inspector about dangers before they happen
The Amazon Review complain that this story is overflowing with too many plots but I did not experience it in this way
I simply loved it
Review By Caroline Lim at Amazon
"A man suffering what seems to be a nervous breakdown resulting in his paralysis, disappears from the medical facility he was in. Apparently he managed to dress himself and walk out of the place without anyone noticing. Inspector Rutledge, still fighting his own demons from the war, is called in to investigate. After interviewing the family members, he gets the sense that they are keeping something from him, but every avenue he goes down seems to be a dead end. Walking along a bridge, deep in thought, he is accosted by a youth who attempts to rob him at knife point.
As oddly as he disappeared, the man reappears at the institution from which he walked away a week ago. But is everything as they seem? In the meantime, there seems to be someone on a robbing spree on the very bridge that Inspector Rutledge was on, and this time, a victim, a Member of Parliament was stabbed to death.
As if that wasn't enough for Inspector Rutledge to deal with, a woman is found bludgeoned to death behind her front door. Who could have wanted to kill a woman, who, by all accounts, had no enemies and was much liked in her village? Was there a relationship between her and the family of the man who had disappeared?
Before long, pieces of the puzzle start to fit, and certain secrets that were being kept start to emerge. But who would do anything to keep these secrets buried?
A wonderful page turner and keeps the mystery all the way to the end."