Rating: 
Summary: Splendid Gothic!
Review: Todd's novels are always excellent reading, and this departure from the Inspector Rutledge series delivers a highly enjoyable story in the best traditions of the old-fashioned gothic. It's got all the elements: the beleaguered heroine suddenly all alone in the world, the creepy old mansion, fog, an elderly dog whining at his dead master's door in the middle of the night, possible ghosts, fog, a brooding and enigmatic hero, fog, a curse -- what more could you ask for? Served up in Todd's exquisite style, this book unfolds at a gothic, not thriller, pace with very much the transitional, unsettled feel of the Edwardian period.
The story takes a few creative risks that are most enjoyable. And who cares if suspicious characters tend to come and go at contrived moments? Francesca Hatton is a gutsy, marvelous heroine, very sympathetic, and never better than at the very end of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Chilling Novel of Suspense
Review: Charles Todd ventures into this stand alone novel after critically acclaimed success with his Ian Rutledge series. In this midst of World War I, in 1916, young Francesca Hatton returns home to the Valley from London when her grandfather, Francis Hatton, has a stroke. With the death of her grandfather, Francesca is left alone, as her five cousins all previously perished in the War. And at the heart of the novel is a Murder Stone, where Francesca and her cousins played as a child, the same stone which her grandfather's will requests that she send to Scotland. When Richard Leighton descends upon the Hatton estate, claiming that Francis Hatton was responsible for the disappearance and murder of his mother when Richard was but a child, Francesca's innate defense of her beloved grandfather soon wavers, after she discovers he owned two other estates that she knew nothing about, one of which was a home for orphans. With the arrival of fortune hunters in the guise of a Mr. Walsham and a Mrs. Passmore, claiming to be Francesca's former nanny, the plot thickens, as Francesca seeks to discover more about the grandfather she adored. Fast paced twists and turns keep the reader enthralled until the novel's chilling, though somewhat unsatisfactory conclusion, bestowing upon the reader yet unanswered questions.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling Novel of Suspense
Review: Charles Todd ventures into this stand alone novel after critically acclaimed success with his Ian Rutledge series. In this midst of World War I, in 1916, young Francesca Hatton returns home to the Valley from London when her grandfather, Francis Hatton, has a stroke. With the death of her grandfather, Francesca is left alone, as her five cousins all previously perished in the War. And at the heart of the novel is a Murder Stone, where Francesca and her cousins played as a child, the same stone which her grandfather's will requests that she send to Scotland. When Richard Leighton descends upon the Hatton estate, claiming that Francis Hatton was responsible for the disappearance and murder of his mother when Richard was but a child, Francesca's innate defense of her beloved grandfather soon wavers, after she discovers he owned two other estates that she knew nothing about, one of which was a home for orphans. With the arrival of fortune hunters in the guise of a Mr. Walsham and a Mrs. Passmore, claiming to be Francesca's former nanny, the plot thickens, as Francesca seeks to discover more about the grandfather she adored. Fast paced twists and turns keep the reader enthralled until the novel's chilling, though somewhat unsatisfactory conclusion, bestowing upon the reader yet unanswered questions.
Rating:
Summary: Can't Put It Down
Review: Charles Todd's novel is not his usual detective story, but a mystery nonetheless. The themes are the impact on innocent people of one man's hatred of another, and how little we might really know the people we love. Set in World War 1, the story concerns a young lady whose grandfather died of a broken heart after his third grandson was killed in the war. A mysterious man shows up and accuses her grandfather of terrible things. The book relates how she pieces together her grandfather's true story and resolves the unfinished business of his life. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could not put it down. Believe me, that is not typical. Usually I read the first 30 pages and the last 10. If I can easily tell how the author got from one point to the other I will stop reading. This book passed that test, and I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it.
Rating:
Summary: Can't Put It Down
Review: Charles Todd's novel is not his usual detective story, but a mystery nonetheless. The themes are the impact on innocent people of one man's hatred of another, and how little we might really know the people we love. Set in World War 1, the story concerns a young lady whose grandfather died of a broken heart after his third grandson was killed in the war. A mysterious man shows up and accuses her grandfather of terrible things. The book relates how she pieces together her grandfather's true story and resolves the unfinished business of his life. I thoroughly enjoyed it and could not put it down. Believe me, that is not typical. Usually I read the first 30 pages and the last 10. If I can easily tell how the author got from one point to the other I will stop reading. This book passed that test, and I enjoyed every minute I spent reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: Strange & goofy
Review: I felt like Barbara Cartland took over the author(s). I missed Ian Rutledge that is for sure.
Rating:
Summary: A suspenseful story of family secrets
Review: In a departure from his Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge series, Charles Todd's stand alone novel is about a young woman's quest for the truth in a maze of family secrets and lies.Set in 1916 during the Great War, Francesca Hatton loses her beloved grandfather. Still grieving, a variety of strangers show up in her life all claiming in one form or other the wrongdoing Francis Hatton has done to them. Francesca cannot reconcile what these strangers say to the loving memories of her grandfather. The most series of the charges is from a dying ex-soldier, Richard Leighton, who is convinced that Francis Hatton kidnapped/murdered his mother, Victoria Leighton. He is convinced that she would never have left her then eight-year-old son. Francesca wants to clear her grandfather's name so she begins an investigation to seek the truth. THE MURDER STONE is a richly nuanced and multi-layered family story. Francesca's quest for the truth leads the reader through a narrative that becomes more compelling with each chapter. Interspersed in the story are intriguing flashbacks told by her five now dead cousins. These flashbacks move the story along and provide some insight into the times and mind of Francesca's grandfather. I enjoyed the book as I do all the Charles Todd books. I found the characters both interesting and compelling. The climax has a good twist that I was not expecting. Even though the action was not the fast-paced blood and gore variety, this book had me turning the pages until the end.
Rating:
Summary: Frustratingly close to being a really good book...
Review: In spite of page-to-page writing skill, ability to create atmosphere, and an obvious emotional connection to the post-World-War-I England of which he writes, Charles Todd fails to come up with a winner in "The Murder Stone." When a mystery enthralls, readers are willing to suspend disbelief, but here the overlong and familiar story and the underdeveloped characterizations foil involvement. By the end of the book, I didn't care who the villain was or why. What the author probably meant to be enigmatic in the conclusion, I just found irritating. Really too bad, because there are the ingredients of a good book in there somewhere!
Rating:
Summary: A superb standalone historical mystery
Review: The Ian Rutledge series is one of the strongest historical mystery series in the genre. However, it has been my impression that the series is becoming a bit tired. There is not much more than can be done, in my opinion, with the series unless in some way Rutledge changes. So it is especially refreshing to see the Todds- Charles and Mom, Caroline, going in a slightly different direction with this particularly effective and atmospheric stand alone.
In Devon, 1916 the effects of the First World War are being felt particularly hard. The young men are dying in battle and disappearing from the rural countryside. The loss is particularly harsh to Francesca Hatten who has lost five of her cousins. Now the man who raised her, her grandfather Francis Hatten, has passed away and with Francesca as his only heir, she receives everything. Among the possessions given to her by her solicitor is a hate letter to her grandfather. Why did he keep it? Furthermore, at the funeral a young man shows up and claims her grandfather murdered his mother. Could this be true?
THE MURDER STONE is a slow, ponderous and complex mystery steeped in the historical era in which it occurs. The extensive list of characters in the front of the book might indicate just how complex the book might be. However, each character is so well developed that the list is quite superfluous. (This type of list could certainly prove helpful in so many other mysteries being published today but not this one.) As with the Rutledge books, the reader spends almost the entire book in the rural countryside. Two attempts Francesca makes to get into London are foiled (the first by a Zeppelin raid and the second by an injury). So wartime London is never described. Yet, the countryside is painted so realistically that the reader will welcome the ponderous pacing of the book. It is rural England during W.W.I that the Todds do so well and this is quite evident in this superb standalone. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A disappointing Charles Todd novel
Review: The plot of this novel doesn't really hold together into an integrated whole. The book rambled on far too long. Most of the inserts by the cousins were irrelevant; the shooter episodes didn't really further the plot and the entire shooter subplot could have been eliminated without damage to the plot. Does it really matter plot-wise that one of the cousins, now a wee bit mad, has returned? Even the Murder Stone does little to hold the plot together--it's just not made that important in the novel. Furthermore,the last one third of the novel went on and on, and the book's ending stretched credulity to the limit.
Characterization, for Todd, was quite poor. Leighton was little more than a stick figure, albeit, romantic, but still never a real person. Most of the other character came off the same way, wooden sticks wending their way through the novel. Not even the villianess fared any better. Of all the characters, only Francesca and Stevens, the rector, were given human touches. On the bright side, the book is a page turner and kept me going at a good pace; it's only later on that the book runs out of steam and so do you.
I will look forward to the new Rutledge novel, hoping that it will not be as
overdone as this one is.
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