Rating: 
Summary: Good series
Review: This book is the weakest in the series but still very readable.My only other comment as a reader in the UK is that occasionally the supposedly English and Scottish characters start talking in American - which kind of destroys the illusion if you know what I mean.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Series Around
Review: This is the third of five written so far in this series. It features Inspector Ian Rutledge, a survivor of the trenches of France during WW I. His is a troubled soul - troubled by what he saw during the war and troubled by what he did. His return to Scotland Yard was seen by his sister and doctor as too soon, but Rutledge could not afford to sit around listening to the voice in his head. In this outing, Rutledge is sent to deal with Lady Maude who has been offended by previous police visitors. Rutledge's task is to mollify Lady Maude and to determine whether her daughter is missing. In Scotland, there is a woman accused of murder in Duncarrick, but did she kill the woman whose bones have been found hidden in the hills - and do those bones belong to Lady Maude's daughter? As with the earlier entries in this series, the evidence is revealed to the reader as Rutledge uncovers it - piece by piece. And the reader has the advantage of hearing what Rutledge and the voice in his head think of the evidence. This is procedural at its very best. The author is a talented writer who makes the reader feel the anguish and hear the bagpipes in the hills. If you are thinking of reading this series, I recommend that you read the first entry before taking on the others for it was in the first entry that we learn of the voice in Rutledge's head and who it belonged to and why it's there. Mysteries just don't get any better than this series!
Rating:
Summary: Best Series Around
Review: This is the third of five written so far in this series. It features Inspector Ian Rutledge, a survivor of the trenches of France during WW I. His is a troubled soul - troubled by what he saw during the war and troubled by what he did. His return to Scotland Yard was seen by his sister and doctor as too soon, but Rutledge could not afford to sit around listening to the voice in his head. In this outing, Rutledge is sent to deal with Lady Maude who has been offended by previous police visitors. Rutledge's task is to mollify Lady Maude and to determine whether her daughter is missing. In Scotland, there is a woman accused of murder in Duncarrick, but did she kill the woman whose bones have been found hidden in the hills - and do those bones belong to Lady Maude's daughter? As with the earlier entries in this series, the evidence is revealed to the reader as Rutledge uncovers it - piece by piece. And the reader has the advantage of hearing what Rutledge and the voice in his head think of the evidence. This is procedural at its very best. The author is a talented writer who makes the reader feel the anguish and hear the bagpipes in the hills. If you are thinking of reading this series, I recommend that you read the first entry before taking on the others for it was in the first entry that we learn of the voice in Rutledge's head and who it belonged to and why it's there. Mysteries just don't get any better than this series!
Rating: 
Summary: Good strong and well-written mystery
Review: Todd has written another provocative and well-written mystery-one which will keep you interested until the end.
Ian Rutledge, a shell-shocked veteran from World War I, is called upon to investigate the mysterious events in a Scottish village. A young woman has been accused of murder and kidnaping a child. The accusations begin with a series of anonymous letters and quickly escalate as bodies are discovered and it becomes clear that the child the woman claims is her son cannot possibly be her own. This story is given an extra twist-Rutledge is haunted by the ever-constant presence of his former, corporal Hamish Macleod, who died under his orders during the war. The young woman accused of murder and kidnaping is Hamish's fiancee. Solving the mystery may, or so the reader hopes, help Rutledge deal with his own guilt over Hamish's death and his-Rutledge's-survival. My only complaint with this series is a minor one-Hamish is sometimes too stereotypically Scottish. He constantly speaks in dialect (interestingly enough, Todd's other Scottish characters do not speak in dialect) and he seems at times to veer on a stage version of a Scotsman. This may be intentional on Todd's part (after all, Hamish is a part of Rutledge's memory-and as such he isn't real) but it can get annoying after a while. That said, I still recommend the book strongly. You won't be sorry you read it.
Rating:
Summary: Good strong and well-written mystery
Review: Todd has written another provocative and well-written mystery-one which will keep you interested until the end.
Ian Rutledge, a shell-shocked veteran from World War I, is called upon to investigate the mysterious events in a Scottish village. A young woman has been accused of murder and kidnaping a child. The accusations begin with a series of anonymous letters and quickly escalate as bodies are discovered and it becomes clear that the child the woman claims is her son cannot possibly be her own. This story is given an extra twist-Rutledge is haunted by the ever-constant presence of his former, corporal Hamish Macleod, who died under his orders during the war. The young woman accused of murder and kidnaping is Hamish's fiancee. Solving the mystery may, or so the reader hopes, help Rutledge deal with his own guilt over Hamish's death and his-Rutledge's-survival. My only complaint with this series is a minor one-Hamish is sometimes too stereotypically Scottish. He constantly speaks in dialect (interestingly enough, Todd's other Scottish characters do not speak in dialect) and he seems at times to veer on a stage version of a Scotsman. This may be intentional on Todd's part (after all, Hamish is a part of Rutledge's memory-and as such he isn't real) but it can get annoying after a while. That said, I still recommend the book strongly. You won't be sorry you read it.
Rating:
Summary: Good strong and well-written mystery
Review: Todd has written another provocative and well-written mystery-one which will keep you interested until the end.
Ian Rutledge, a shell-shocked veteran from World War I, is called upon to investigate the mysterious events in a Scottish village. A young woman has been accused of murder and kidnaping a child. The accusations begin with a series of anonymous letters and quickly escalate as bodies are discovered and it becomes clear that the child the woman claims is her son cannot possibly be her own. This story is given an extra twist-Rutledge is haunted by the ever-constant presence of his former, corporal Hamish Macleod, who died under his orders during the war. The young woman accused of murder and kidnaping is Hamish's fiancee. Solving the mystery may, or so the reader hopes, help Rutledge deal with his own guilt over Hamish's death and his-Rutledge's-survival. My only complaint with this series is a minor one-Hamish is sometimes too stereotypically Scottish. He constantly speaks in dialect (interestingly enough, Todd's other Scottish characters do not speak in dialect) and he seems at times to veer on a stage version of a Scotsman. This may be intentional on Todd's part (after all, Hamish is a part of Rutledge's memory-and as such he isn't real) but it can get annoying after a while. That said, I still recommend the book strongly. You won't be sorry you read it.
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