A Test of Wills: The First Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

I really thought I’d figured it out, right up until the very end. Good story. Great characters. I’m excited to read the next one.

I hav really enjoyed Todd’s Bess Crawford series and decided to try this one. It was slow going at first and I pushed myself to keep reading. Ian Rutledge is an interesting character. A soldier who survived WWI but not without injuries. He is tormented by the death of a subordinate he hade executed. In addition, he is trying to return to his former job as a police inspector but not without challenges. One is his boss who doesn’t want Rutledge to be successful. I have to admit that about halfway through the text I became more invested in the story . . . Enough that I’ll give the second book in the series a try.

"A Test of Wills" is the first book in the Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery series, and while this whodunit is good, it is not exceptional. The protagonist, his unique circumstances, and the period in which the novel is set, however, are most unique and make this a very special read. It is 1919 England and the Great War is over. Soldiers have returned to their homes and families. Many are maimed in mind and body. And then there are those who do not return at all. Approximately 720,000 British soldiers, (from the UK alone), were killed in WWI. Then the terrible influenza epidemic of 1918 devastated the country, and all of Europe, killing millions. Although nothing will bring back the relative innocence of life before 1914, people are slowly rebuilding their lives and a society that had been so hideously interrupted.In Scotland Yard, Inspector Ian Rutledge, who was an army officer in France, is resuming his once promising career. He is also keeping a terrible secret. After falling under direct shelling and being buried alive in a frontline trench, he suffered an emotional breakdown - they called it shell shock. He has not recovered. The doctors told him that hearing voices is not uncommon for a soldier who had undergone such a traumatic incident. It is a way for his mind to accept something of its own creation, in order to conceal what it cannot face otherwise. The particular voice that the Inspector hears is that of Corporal Hamish Macleod, a young man who had served under him. Macleod had refused to continue fighting and Rutledge ordered his execution. He knows that if he does not succeed in recovering the skills he had before the war, he may well wind up in a sanitarium for the rest of his life. He is determined to put one foot in front of the other and fight his debilitating illness before it destroys him. Superintendent Bowles, Rutledge's unscrupulous superior, is jealous of his subordinate's pre-war success and has learned of his mental instability. He is determined to see the man fail.In the village of Upper Streetham, Warwickshire, Colonel Charles Harris, an ex-Army officer, has been murdered and the Chief suspect is Captain Mark Wilton, a Victoria Cross decorated war hero, friend of the royal family, and fiance to the dead man's ward. When the local police request the aid of Scotland Yard, Bowles assigns the politically charged case to Rutledge.The Inspector actually does begins to function despite his alter ego's harassment and running commentary. He finds more than one person with a motive to murder the Colonel. The complex psychological study and mystery unfold with much suspense and, although the pace slows at times, the character study of Rutledge more than makes up for any weaknesses in the narrative. The Inspector is a really special character and it is impossible not to like and admire him. His empathy with both victims and suspects is extraordinary. Even under extreme stress, it is clear why he was such a strong leader under fire. In a way he represents a generation of emotionally fragile veterans, trying to resume life after a carnage such as the world had never seen before.Author Charles Todd writes of Rutledge: "Before the war it had been the case that drove him night and day - partly from a gritty determination that murderers must be found and punished. He had believed deeply in that, with the single-minded idealism of youth and a strong sense of moral duty towards victims who could no longer speak for themselves. But the war had altered his viewpoint, had shown him that the best of men could kill, given the right circumstances, as he himself had done over and over again. Not only the enemy, but his own men, sending them out to be slaughtered even when he had known beyond doubt that they would die and that the order to advance was madness."Todd's descriptions of post war England, the main characters and the villagers, even the scenery are extraordinary. Oddly, Mr. Todd, who writes like a native of the UK, is an American. I definitely plan to read the second book in the series. Ian Rutledge has become very real to me, as has Hamish. I am rooting for the two to merge and am certainly interested in their further activities. I give this first effort 4+ stars. Highly recommended!JANA

If you generally have a suspicious outlook, you may early on get an inkling of who might have done it. Though you may be close, I doubt you will zero in precisely. Forgive yourself, however, for the ending is exciting and perfect, both for the author and for Rutledge himself. The characters are well-developed, the psychological insights excellent. "A Test of Wills" is the first novel by Charles Todd in the series with Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard. My review of "A Fearsome Doubt," or googling Charles Todd, or reading a back cover paragraph will show that Charles Todd is the mother-son American writing team from the middle eastern coast of the U.S.They portray Ian Rutledge as not being -- or not believing -- he is his old self. Five years of World War One in the muddy, death-stinking trenches facing the Boche in France, have left him shell-shocked and unsure of himself. Can he do the job anymore? Are his skills and insights gone? He is also haunted by reminders of his wife Jean, who found him so much changed that she was frankly afraid of him and left him for another man.Adding to Rutledge's mental state was his duty to have a noncommissioned officer, Corporal Hamish MacLeod, executed by firing squad for refusing to advance the men against suicidally heavy fire on the front line. Hamish lives on as a real character throughout the novel, as a voice within Rutledge's own mind, relentlessly chiding, challenging, and, as often as not, contributing sound advice.In June 1919, Inspector Rutledge's first month back on the job, he is handed an out-of-town assignment by Superintendent Bowles, a man envious of Rutledge's upper-class origins, university success, and cultivated voice and manner, and who would like nothing better than to see Rutledge fail, wishing even that Rutledge had not survived the war.The local police of an outlying county have requested New Scotland Yard, London's metropolitan police service, to help in a sensitive investigation of a well-respected landowner's murder, perhaps by a national War Hero who is a favorite of the Royal Family. The Yard fears potential political repurcussions.Viciously murdered was relatively young, retired Colonel Charles Harris, owner of a large estate in the county. While the Colonel was on his morning ride, a point-blank shotgun blast literally blew his head off, and the horse bolted back to the stables. The chief suspect is Captain Mark Wilton, an ace airman who had won the Victoria Cross. Wilton was engaged to the Colonel's attractive young ward, Lettice Wood. The evening before the murder, Harris and Wilton were witnessed heatedly arguing. What about?Who can help Rutledge uncover why a highly regarded member of the community with no known enemies was so hated by someone? What secrets lay behind Colonel Harris? Why did he go out riding alone that morning? Why did his ward Lettice not accompany him? That same morning Wilton had gone out for a walk.Did some veteran seek out Harris to avenge a personal grudge during war service? Did Harris's estate manager Laurence Royston have reason to annihilate him? Royston and all the large staff, including Johnston the butler and Mary Satterthwaite the maid, need to be questioned.Rutledge has many persons to seek out for what they know.Before the war, Captain Wilton had courted Catherine Tarrant, a local artist with showings in London. Reverend Carfield has had his eye on Lettice Wood since coming to the local church. The Sommers sisters, one outgoing, the other shy and a virtual recluse, live near the meadow where the Colonel's body was found. Did they see anything?A little girl's doll was dropped in a hedge near where the body was found. Who was the little girl? What did she see? Mavers, a local rabble-rouser and communist sympathizer, constantly rails in public against all persons in authority, and had been a suspect in fires, livestock deaths, and a dog poisoning on the Colonel's estate.Can Rutledge, the "man from London" get a straight story from Daniel Hickam, a shell-shocked veteran and town drunk, usually roaming the streets? Or from anyone?Captain Wilton was staying with his cousin, Sally Davenant, a young, attractive widow, fond of both him and the Colonel. She says she could not imagine who would have wanted to kill Charles Harris, "a thoroughly nice man." Sergeant Davies of the local police agrees: "A very nice man. Not at all the sort you'd expect to end up murdered."Charles Todd tells an intriguing tale of life -- and death -- in the village. Who among them is guilty?

Good build up and surprising end with just enough tension to carry it off. Looking forward to the next one

So what’s not to like, this has all the ingredients of a classic British mystery. The country town had not gone through the torment of the bombing of the cities, but post-war, all the characters continue to suffer the long-term effects of the war. Personally, I would have liked a little more hint of what was to come at the end: it was rather contrived, sudden, and wrapped things up too neatly and quickly.

I found this book genrally disapponting. The writers were recommended by Louise Penny - an author whose books I rate very highly so I was expecting more - perhaps they get better? The main character and the premis were interesting but the plot plodding and dull and the ending rushed and pretty unconvincing. I realised it was written for a Canadian audience and could live with the North American spelling - but if you set a book in post WW1 England then it would be a good idea to get it checked by a native speaker first. It's not just the American words (lupines, drapes, gotten) and the use of "staff" in the singular. There is no such thing as a "not proven" verdict in English Law (it's Scots) - not a good mistake for crime writers. And the idea that any English person would put cream in tea, let alone coffee....All this sounds a bit pedantic and petty and probably wouldn't have jarred so much if the book had grabbed me more.

This is the first in the Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery series. When the highly respected Colonel Harris is shot at point blank range, the local Warwickshire force turn to Scotland Yard for help. Superintendent Bowles sends Rutledge - damaged by his time in the trenches, to investigate. The most likely suspect for killing Harris is local war hero, Captain Mark Wilton, a man who is personal friends with the Prince of Wales and has been decorated with the Victoria Cross. However, as Wilton was shortly to be marrying Lettice Wood, a young ward of Harris, and the two men were seen having a violent argument both the night before and the morning of the murder, he seems the obvious choice. Fearing fallout over the possible arrest, Bowles hopes that the case will end Rutledge's career before it has a chance to restart.Rutledge is an interesting character; a man who suffered claustophobia and shell shock and who is plagued by the voices of a dead comrade. Now he realises that he must unearth the murderer among the good folks of Upper Streetham, who have their fair share of secrets to hide. Everyone is determined to believe Wilton innocent and to hide the truth from the man from London, but Rutledge knows he must suceed, both to solve the crime and save himself. Good start to a long running series.

The central character Ian Rutledge is very appealing - a shell-shocked war veteran. I also thought the plot twist was really good and for the most part it was an enjoyable if long-winded read. I felt that a less verbose writer could have used the same plot to make a much more taut page-turner. Although it's set in a cosy English village in the 1920s, the spelling is American and the characters much much too modern. Everyone is quite happy to unburden themselves about relationships and love affairs which I just don't believe of that era. Once I discovered that the series is written by two authors a lot of the repetition and wordiness made sense - I kept getting the feeling I had read pages before whereas in fact the authors just seem to go over the same ground again and again. Not sure if I want to read another.

I have never reviewed a book before but I love murder mysteries and read every day! I had not heard of Charles Todd before and wasn't sure I would enjoy it. I couldn't put it down. I love the character of the Inspector and the ignorance about shell shock is sobering. My dislike of Bowles was immediate from the writing as was the ongoing descriptions of the suspects. All in all an extremely satisfying read and I shall certainly read the rest of the series.

Overall this was an enjoyable book to read with many twists and turns to the storyline. The reader is taken down various paths leading to the potential perpetrator of the crime yet weaving in doubt as to the likelihood that they were indeed the culprit.One small frustration, being a purist, was that there were a number of words spelt the 'American way'; tires instead of tyres for example. However, this didn't detract overall from the enjoyment of the book so would be happy to recommend it to lovers of mystery/crime novels.