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Fiction, Reviews

‘A Divided Loyalty,’ by Charles Todd

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Charles Todd, author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge series, is actually a mother-son writing team (our commenter Paul informed me of this). I found the first book in the series (the first I I read; we’re actually pretty far along in the series here) a little depressing, but I liked the positive attitude displayed toward Christians and the church. So I figured I’d try another, when a cheap download became available. Thus did I purchase A Divided Loyalty.

Inspector Ian Rutledge is an isolated man. He’s unpopular at Scotland Yard because he’s a victim of shell shock, considered a moral coward by other officers. He hangs onto his job only because they’re short of manpower, due to the losses of World War I. His shell shock takes a particularly painful form – persistent hallucination. His friend Hamish MacLeod, a wartime subordinate whom he was forced to order shot on the front lines, is forever at his shoulder, commenting on events. These comments are mostly – but not always – negative.

Avebury in Wiltshire is a famous place in England. It’s a double stone circle, not far from Stonehenge, less complete but larger. The village of Avebury nestles inside it.

A young woman was found stabbed to death in the ditch that surrounds the stones. Inspector Leslie, an older, respected officer, was the first to investigate, but he found no clues. Rutledge recently solved a similar mystery in another town, so his superior (who despises him) sends him to see if he can do any better. His real motive, Rutledge believes, is a desire to see him fail.

No clue to the woman’s identity has been found. She doesn’t “look English,” but she might have come from anywhere in the world. And what brought her here? How was she lured to the murder site?

Rutledge goes to work systematically, asking questions in a widening circle, investigating routes by which the woman might have come. Gradually a few facts – or probabilities – appear. And he begins finding indications of the culprit – indications that lead somewhere he does not want to go. However, the final twist will astonish even him.

I liked A Divided Loyalty better than I liked A False Mirror, the first book I read. It was by no means cheery, but it was less a downer than that one. And I liked Inspector Rutledge’s relentless professionalism in the face of depression and manifold obstacles.

I don’t recall any particular concerns in terms of language or themes.

Fiction, Reviews

‘A False Mirror,’ by Charles Todd

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It’s 1920. Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard is dispatched to the town of Hampton Regis, to investigate the beating of Matthew Hamilton, a prominent local citizen, a diplomat who has retired to the seaside. Suspicion immediately falls on a young man named Stephen Mallory. Mallory was engaged to Hamilton’s young wife before the war, from which he returned with shell shock. He thinks he’s been discreet about keeping a watch on the Hamilton house, to spy on the woman he still loves, but you can’t keep secrets like that in a small town.

Inspector Rutledge is inclined to suspect Mallory too. He knew him personally in the war, and considered him a coward. But he knows – better than most – that such prejudices can disrupt your judgment. He has battle fatigue himself, manifested in the form of Hamish MacLeod, his best friend, who did not survive the war – due to Rutledge’s own actions – and who constitutes a continuous presence at his shoulder now, commenting on everything that goes on when he’s not accusing Rutledge.

When Mallory barricades himself in the Hamilton house, holding Mrs. Hamilton and her maid hostage, things look black for him. But Rutledge thinks there’s more to this business than is apparent, especially when Hamilton inexplicably disappears from his bed in the doctor’s house.

There was much to like in Charles Todd’s novel, False Mirror, but I have to confess I found it hard going. It seemed to me to move slowly, but what bothered me most was the downbeat atmosphere. The book was depressing. Especially for me, as I know something about accusatory voices from the past (don’t ask).

On the other hand, Christianity comes out looking very good in this book. Remarkably good by the standards of our time.

A look at Amazon reviews told me that this is in fact a flashback book, an origin story, in a very popular series, and other readers say this book’s atmosphere is not representative of the series. So I may try another Ian Rutledge book. I did like the Christian elements.