11/30/2020
Bestseller Todd’s so-so 23rd novel featuring Scotland Yard’s Insp. Ian Rutledge (after 2020’s A Divided Loyalty ) takes Rutledge, in the spring of 1921, to Wales after a boy’s fishing outing at a canal snags a man’s corpse. The body is unidentified, but a tattoo suggests the dead man belonged to one of the Bantam Battalions, units of undersized soldiers who served in WWI. When a label in the cadaver’s shirt yields the name of the woman who special-ordered it, Ruth Milford, Rutledge travels to Shropshire to seek her out. Ruth initially lies about her identity, but the information she reluctantly provides leads Rutledge to believe it was her husband, Samuel, who died. The Milfords’ baby daughter, Tildy, disappeared a year earlier, snatched from her carriage when Ruth briefly left her alone, and is believed dead, and Rutledge pursues the theory that Samuel’s murder is somehow connected with that earlier tragedy. The psychic scars of Rutledge’s WWI trauma are underplayed, and the whodunit plot generates little suspense. Hopefully, Todd (a mother-son writing team) will return to form next time. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, DeFiore and Co. (Feb.)
Each of Charles Todd’s engrossing novels about Scotland Yard Insp. Ian Rutledge, set post-World War I, puts a spotlight on often forgotten details about the Great War. It’s this minutia that illustrate the war’s effect on the characters and the region . . . Charles Todd are experts at subtly drawing parallels to 21st century concerns. The Great War ended more than a century ago but Ian’s personal issues and his investigations are relevant today.” — Florida Sun Sentinel
“A Fatal Lie provides an excellent book with which to walk into Rutledge’s pursuit of crime and determination to make things right . . . Those who value similar portrayals of place as character—as in Louise Penny’s Three Pines , for instance—will treasure A Fatal Lie and its Welsh backdrop. As a police procedural, also, the book’s persistent untangling of motive, means, and opportunity provides an instant classic for this mystery genre, along with an intriguing exploration of the heart’s effects on the mind.” — New York Journal of Books
“Fans of the series will want Todd’s latest historical mystery.” — Library Journal
“[A] very captivating and page-turning mystery.” — Fresh Fiction
“This is the type of classic-style mystery that we have grown to love from Charles Todd, and it never fails to deliver.” — BookReporter.com
“You’re going to love Todd.” — Stephen King
"The melancholy tone that distinguishes the Rutledge series is a reminder that war never ends for the families and friends of lost loved ones. It just retreats into the shadows.” — New York Times Book Review
"This is a series, written by a mother-and-son team under the Charles Todd pseudonym, that shows no signs of slowing down. As always, this one combines crisp plotting with stylish prose. Ideal for historical-mystery devotees." — Booklist on A Divided Loyalty
[A] very captivating and page-turning mystery.
"This is a series, written by a mother-and-son team under the Charles Todd pseudonym, that shows no signs of slowing down. As always, this one combines crisp plotting with stylish prose. Ideal for historical-mystery devotees."
Booklist on A Divided Loyalty
You’re going to love Todd.
This is the type of classic-style mystery that we have grown to love from Charles Todd, and it never fails to deliver.
“A Divided Loyalty finds Rutledge at his most vulnerable and persistent, and it is this dichotomy that gives the book its character and tense atmosphere. It is an intense ride to take with him, but one that is well worth it.
null Book Reporter on A Divided Loyalty
Each person dealt with the war differently, as Todd so poignantly shows with each character. Ian’s resilience and his complex persona continue to make him an endearing character. And Todd, the mother-and-son writing team of Caroline and Charles Todd, continue their superior storytelling with A Divided Loyalty .
null Florida Sun Sentinel on A Divided Loyalty
12/01/2020
Chief Superintendent Markham of Scotland Yard is not happy with Inspector Ian Rutledge, so he sends him to northern Wales to get him as far away from London as possible. A man's body was found in the River Dee, in early spring 1921. When Rutledge arrives, he realizes the man was pushed from the top of the aqueduct. However, no one admits to recognizing the victim. Rutledge traces him to a small community where he finds the man's widow, Ruth Milford, running a pub. Sam Milford was supposedly traveling to work with vendors, but Rutledge discovers that the couple's three-year-old daughter, Tildy, went missing a year earlier, and he suspects that Sam was looking for her. Rutledge uncovers a much more intricate case than he expected, with women and lawyers who lie and keep secrets. As he travels across Wales looking for answers, he encounters danger, violence, and cover-ups that lead to more murders. VERDICT Following A Divided Loyalty , the latest in the series is a complicated investigation that bogs down halfway through as Rutledge chases too many lies and missing people. Despite the slow pace, fans of the series will want Todd's latest historical mystery.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN
A Fatal Lie provides an excellent book with which to walk into Rutledge’s pursuit of crime and determination to make things right . . . Those who value similar portrayals of place as character—as in Louise Penny’s Three Pines , for instance—will treasure A Fatal Lie and its Welsh backdrop. As a police procedural, also, the book’s persistent untangling of motive, means, and opportunity provides an instant classic for this mystery genre, along with an intriguing exploration of the heart’s effects on the mind.
New York Journal of Books
"The melancholy tone that distinguishes the Rutledge series is a reminder that war never ends for the families and friends of lost loved ones. It just retreats into the shadows.
New York Times Book Review
Each of Charles Todd’s engrossing novels about Scotland Yard Insp. Ian Rutledge, set post-World War I, puts a spotlight on often forgotten details about the Great War. It’s this minutia that illustrate the war’s effect on the characters and the region . . . Charles Todd are experts at subtly drawing parallels to 21st century concerns. The Great War ended more than a century ago but Ian’s personal issues and his investigations are relevant today.
Each of Charles Todd’s engrossing novels about Scotland Yard Insp. Ian Rutledge, set post-World War I, puts a spotlight on often forgotten details about the Great War. It’s this minutia that illustrate the war’s effect on the characters and the region . . . Charles Todd are experts at subtly drawing parallels to 21st century concerns. The Great War ended more than a century ago but Ian’s personal issues and his investigations are relevant today.
Florida Sun Sentinel on A Fatal Lie
A Fatal Lie provides an excellent book with which to walk into Rutledge’s pursuit of crime and determination to make things right . . . Those who value similar portrayals of place as character—as in Louise Penny’s Three Pines, for instance—will treasure A Fatal Lie and its Welsh backdrop. As a police procedural, also, the book’s persistent untangling of motive, means, and opportunity provides an instant classic for this mystery genre, along with an intriguing exploration of the heart’s effects on the mind.
New York Journal of Books on A Fatal Lie
Narrator Simon Vance grabs listeners’ attention and doesn’t let go until the final credits of the 23rd Inspector Rutledge mystery by Charles Todd (a pseudonym for a terrific mother-and-son writing team). Rutledge is out of favor with his boss, again, and is sent to a remote Welsh village to investigate the death of an unidentified man who fell or was pushed into a river. As Rutledge uncovers long buried motives and secrets, Vance treats listeners to an assortment of local accents and personalities. One of Vance’s best characterizations is Rutledge’s ghost pal, Hamish. Hamish offers insights into Rutledge’s complex, brooding interior as he helps Rutledge sort out truths and keeps him out of harm’s way. In this well-written police procedural, Simon Vance makes everything even better. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
FEBRUARY 2021 - AudioFile
Narrator Simon Vance grabs listeners’ attention and doesn’t let go until the final credits of the 23rd Inspector Rutledge mystery by Charles Todd (a pseudonym for a terrific mother-and-son writing team). Rutledge is out of favor with his boss, again, and is sent to a remote Welsh village to investigate the death of an unidentified man who fell or was pushed into a river. As Rutledge uncovers long buried motives and secrets, Vance treats listeners to an assortment of local accents and personalities. One of Vance’s best characterizations is Rutledge’s ghost pal, Hamish. Hamish offers insights into Rutledge’s complex, brooding interior as he helps Rutledge sort out truths and keeps him out of harm’s way. In this well-written police procedural, Simon Vance makes everything even better. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
FEBRUARY 2021 - AudioFile
