Rating: 
Summary: Running out of steam
Review: Having read all of the Inspector Rutledge novels as they came out, I'm beginning to wonder if Charles Todd hasn't written himself into a bit of a corner, with his dependence on Hamish to provide a counterpoint to Rutledge's thoughts. Am I the only person who's beginning to wish that Todd would allow Rutledge to pull himself together a bit? I realise that those returning from the Great War underwent a shattering experience that left life-long scars; but surely allowing poor Rutledge some kind of normality in his life after five books isn't asking too much. And I do wish that some British friend or editor would point out some of the more glaring errors the American author commits, both in what characters say and the way in which they refer to things. And please: I'm tired of reading that everyone takes cream in their tea! No self-respecting tea drinker puts cream in tea. Even more glaring in THE WATCHERS OF TIME is an error regarding the TITANIC. Todd seems under the misapprehension that survivors and victims of the tragedy were taken to Ireland, when in fact survivors were taken (via the CARPATHIA) to New York, while the majority of the bodies recovered were taken to Halifax, where many are still buried. When authors fail to do their research on something as well known as the TITANIC disaster, it makes me wonder what other errors they're committing. I understand Todd is working on his sixth Rutledge novel; I can only hope he eases off on Hamish's harangues, and employs a British proof-reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, complex mystery
Review: I love this series. I think book this was an excellent "breather" from the major internal conflict of Rutledge and Hamish. Of course, I look forward to the next book returning to that conflict, but this was a very intriguing mystery. I love the world and the premise of the series. I certainly don't think the series has weakened with each subsequent book. My own favorites were the second, third, and fourth. Todd is one of the few authors I buy in hardback. I do know Brits who drink cream in their tea. I guess they aren't self-respecting. I must have been deceived...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, complex mystery
Review: I love this series. I think book this was an excellent "breather" from the major internal conflict of Rutledge and Hamish. Of course, I look forward to the next book returning to that conflict, but this was a very intriguing mystery. I love the world and the premise of the series. I certainly don't think the series has weakened with each subsequent book. My own favorites were the second, third, and fourth. Todd is one of the few authors I buy in hardback. I do know Brits who drink cream in their tea. I guess they aren't self-respecting. I must have been deceived...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, complex mystery
Review: I love this series. I think book this was an excellent "breather" from the major internal conflict of Rutledge and Hamish. Of course, I look forward to the next book returning to that conflict, but this was a very intriguing mystery. I love the world and the premise of the series. I certainly don't think the series has weakened with each subsequent book. My own favorites were the second, third, and fourth. Todd is one of the few authors I buy in hardback. I do know Brits who drink cream in their tea. I guess they aren't self-respecting. I must have been deceived...
Rating: 
Summary: Just gets better and better...
Review: I was intrigued by the author's premise in the first Ian Rutledge novel, A Test of Wills, and surprised to find a mystery with little physical action but complex characters with equally complex motives. I've since followed Rutledge from Warwickshire, to Cornwall, to Dorset, to Scotland and now to Norfolk. Few authors manage to create such a complete sense of place, a world that fades in time even as you read, and characters both familiar and distant. I'd waited with great anticipation for Watchers of Time, and it was the exception that proves the rule because the novel was actually better than I expected it to be (and I expected it to be very good)...It was raining and dark as I finished the last chapters (of the somewhat ambiguous ending) and for a moment I heard a voice muttering behind my shoulder. How long to find out what's next????
Rating:
Summary: Once-promising series continues to go downhill
Review: I've now read all five Charles Todd/Ian Rutledge books, and I've found each one less satisfying than the one before it. I could put up with the author's habit of ending sentences with three dots whenever he says anything portentous. (He seems to think it's a tension-heightening device, but it's actually just so annoying it made me want to scream...) And I could put up with his even more annoying attempts to render Hamish's "speech" in authentic Scots dialect (Do ye ken, yon author thinks he's sae clever?). But what finally ruined this book for me was the author's inability to tell a plausible mystery story in a way that involves the reader in its solution.The structure of this book is similar to that of previous Todd/Rutledge books: a murder is committed, for reasons that are buried in the past. (So far, so good.) Solely for the purpose of giving Rutledge a straw man to knock down, the local authorities suspect someone whose innocence is so obvious that a child could see it. Higher-ups are concerned about the way the investigation is being handled, so Rutledge is called in. He spends a couple of hundred pages driving around the English countryside (which, admittedly, the author describes quite well) while arguing with Hamish. Finally, around page 300, he calls on his fabled "intuition" and suddenly sees the whole story that lies behind the murder. Then, with no evidence, he confronts the perpetrator, who -- after a brief attempt at denial -- says, yes, you're right, that's exactly what happened. End of story. What's frustrating about this is that the author has created an interesting character in Ian Rutledge, and he writes well (apart from that annoying stylistic tic I mentioned earlier) -- he just doesn't seem to know how to tell a mystery story. These books have been coming out at the rate of almost one per year. Maybe if the author slowed down and wrote a book every two or three years, the plots would be more satisfying. I for one would be willing to wait.
Rating:
Summary: Just gets better and better...
Review: In September 1919 in Osterly, Herbert Baker is near death from congestive heart failure. Instead of demanding the appearance of his Vicar, Herbert asks for Father James to talk to him in private. The kind Father visits Herbert though they are of different religions. Not long afterward, Herbert dies. Father James never seems quite the same after his deathbed visit. A few weeks later, an assailant attacks Father James killing him with a large crucifix. The culprit arranges the crime scene to look as if Father James interrupted a robbery in progress.
Bishop Cunningham asks Chief Superintendent Bowles to dispatch a Scotland Yard detective to assure church officials that the police are running a proper investigation. Bowles sends Inspector Ian Rutledge, who starting with an interview with Monsignor Holstein begins to have doubts that robbery occurred. Advised and lectured by the deceased Corporal Hamish MacLeod, who occupies part of his mind, Ian begins to unravel a much greater tragedy than even the cold-blooded murder of a priest.
The Rutledge historical mysteries are unique because the reader does not know whether Hamish is a ghost or Ian suffers from battle fatigue syndrome. The story line of WATCHERS OF TIME, like its precursors, bring the post World War I era in England (this time the Norfolk area) to vivid life. This enables the audience to taste a bygone period of their parents and grandparents that is quickly fading into the dust of history books. The who-done-it is cleverly devised as expected by Charles Todd, but as usual the charcaters including Hamish make the novel a sub-genre stand out. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A refreshing and different kind of mystery
Review: In September 1919 in Osterly, Herbert Baker is near death from congestive heart failure. Instead of demanding the appearance of his Vicar, Herbert asks for Father James to talk to him in private. The kind Father visits Herbert though they are of different religions. Not long afterward, Herbert dies. Father James never seems quite the same after his deathbed visit. A few weeks later, an assailant attacks Father James killing him with a large crucifix. The culprit arranges the crime scene to look as if Father James interrupted a robbery in progress.
Bishop Cunningham asks Chief Superintendent Bowles to dispatch a Scotland Yard detective to assure church officials that the police are running a proper investigation. Bowles sends Inspector Ian Rutledge, who starting with an interview with Monsignor Holstein begins to have doubts that robbery occurred. Advised and lectured by the deceased Corporal Hamish MacLeod, who occupies part of his mind, Ian begins to unravel a much greater tragedy than even the cold-blooded murder of a priest.
The Rutledge historical mysteries are unique because the reader does not know whether Hamish is a ghost or Ian suffers from battle fatigue syndrome. The story line of WATCHERS OF TIME, like its precursors, bring the post World War I era in England (this time the Norfolk area) to vivid life. This enables the audience to taste a bygone period of their parents and grandparents that is quickly fading into the dust of history books. The who-done-it is cleverly devised as expected by Charles Todd, but as usual the charcaters including Hamish make the novel a sub-genre stand out. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Still One of the Best Procedural Series
Review: In this fifth outing, Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard is once again sent out of London to help the local constabulary investigate a murder and to placate local powers that be. As he painstakenly uncovers each clue, Rutledge begins to put the puzzle of a local priest's murder together in spite of the local police declaring that they have found the killer. The conclusions he draws will shock the local people as well as the local policeman. Todd has one of the four best British procedural series going (the others being Crombie, Robinson, and James). Todd's series is special, however, because he has set it immediately after World War I and his character is flawed because of his experiences in the trenches of France. Todd's writing continues to be impressive and his plotting superb. He does not use devices that will give his detective more information than he gives his readers. He has maintained Inspector Rutledge's voice and that of his alter-ego Hamish in this outing. Todd has written a procedural - it is not machine gun paced - it's not supposed to be. If you're looking for a book that you can read in a single setting and still figure out whodunnit, don't pick up this series. But if you enjoy going along with the detective as he/she investigates a crime step-by-step, then try this series. You won't be disappointed. If you intend to read this series, start with Todd's first effort A Test of Wills so you get the sense of the character and his suffering.
Rating:
Summary: Still One of the Best Procedural Series
Review: In this fifth outing, Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard is once again sent out of London to help the local constabulary investigate a murder and to placate local powers that be. As he painstakenly uncovers each clue, Rutledge begins to put the puzzle of a local priest's murder together in spite of the local police declaring that they have found the killer. The conclusions he draws will shock the local people as well as the local policeman. Todd has one of the four best British procedural series going (the others being Crombie, Robinson, and James). Todd's series is special, however, because he has set it immediately after World War I and his character is flawed because of his experiences in the trenches of France. Todd's writing continues to be impressive and his plotting superb. He does not use devices that will give his detective more information than he gives his readers. He has maintained Inspector Rutledge's voice and that of his alter-ego Hamish in this outing. Todd has written a procedural - it is not machine gun paced - it's not supposed to be. If you're looking for a book that you can read in a single setting and still figure out whodunnit, don't pick up this series. But if you enjoy going along with the detective as he/she investigates a crime step-by-step, then try this series. You won't be disappointed. If you intend to read this series, start with Todd's first effort A Test of Wills so you get the sense of the character and his suffering.
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