A False Mirror (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Charles Todd (Author)

Book Description

Series: Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries | Publication Date: January 9, 2007

Hampton Regis is a small harbor town on the southern coast of England, a place with an ancient history but long since passed over by its larger neighbors. There, in the year after World War I has ended, a tragedy is in the making - a woman-s husband has been attacked and badly injured and the suspect, the man she loved before he left to go to war, has taken the wife and her maid as hostages. The desperate man, Stephen, threatens to kill the hostages unless the local police bring in a man he knew in the trenches - Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge. Rutledge, still struggling with his own demons from the war, fears that in stepping into the emotional struggle of these three people, he can-t be objective. Their situation in a sense mirrors his own. As a result of Rutledge going off to fight, he too lost the woman he loved to another man. If, as Stephen claims, he didn-t try to kill his lover-s husband, then who did? And what has happened in this little town that is worth killing for? Once again, Charles Todd has placed the tormented, yet brilliant policeman into a situation that, while it brings back his haunted past, must be solved before a killer strikes again.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The complex, evocative ninth installment in Todd's series set in post-WWI England (after 2006's Long Shadow) showcases the pseudonymous author's usual subtle understatement and deft characterization. Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge, who has returned from the trench warfare of France haunted by the carnage (and in particular by his order to execute one of his own men), heads to the seaside village of Hampton Regis to defuse a hostage situation. Stephen Mallory, who served under Rutledge's command in the war and is suspected of viciously assaulting his ex-lover's husband, demands Rutledge's presence before he will release his ex-lover and other hostages. To manage the crisis, Rutledge must weather the suspicions of the local police and identify the person responsible for the assault and two subsequent murders. Todd, a mother-and-son writing team, seamlessly melds a fair-play whodunit with psychological suspense in the tradition of P.D. James's best. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Motive, motive, motive. Is it jealousy? Money? Or something entirely different? Scotland Yard Inspector Rutledge must find the answer when he's summoned to the small town of Hampton Regis at the behest of Stephen Mallory, accused of viciously attacking one Matthew Hamilton. Afraid of being railroaded for a crime he insists he didn't commit, Mallory holds Hamilton's wife and her housekeeper hostage, hoping Rutledge can prove his innocence. It's tough going for Rutledge, who is dogged by unpleasant memories of Mallory, whom he knew while soldiering in the Great War, and by the echoing voice of Hamish, also a fellow soldier, whose imagined counsel steadies the investigator as he casts about for suspects. Todd, the pseudonym of a mother-son writing team, incorporates touches of both Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie in this character-driven mystery, which builds smoothly but not simply to a climax that is likely to be a genuine surprise. Stephanie Zvirin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1ST edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060786736
• ISBN-13: 978-0060786731
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charles and Caroline Todd are a mother-and-son writing team who live on the east coast of the United States. Caroline has a BA in English Literature and History, and a Masters in International Relations. Charles has a BA in Communication Studies with an emphasis on Business Management, and a culinary arts degree that means he can boil more than water. Caroline has been married (to the same man) for umpteen years, and Charles is divorced.

Charles and Caroline have a rich storytelling heritage. Both spent many evenings on the porch listening to their fathers and grandfathers reminisce. And a maternal grandmother told marvelous ghost stories. This tradition allows them to write with passion about events before their own time. And an uncle/great-uncle who served as a flyer in WWI aroused an early interest in the Great War.

Charles learned the rich history of Britain, including the legends of King Arthur, William Wallace, and other heroes, as a child. Books on Nelson and by Winston Churchill were always at hand. Their many trips to England gave them the opportunity to spend time in villages and the countryside, where there'a different viewpoint from that of the large cities. Their travels are at the heart of the series they began ten years ago.

Charles's love of history led him to a study of some of the wars that shape it: the American Civil War, WWI and WWII. He enjoys all things nautical, has an international collection of seashells, and has sailed most of his life. Golf is still a hobby that can be both friend and foe. And sports in general are enthusiasms. Charles had a career as a business consultant. This experience gave him an understanding of going to troubled places where no one was glad to see him arrive. This was excellent training for Rutledge's reception as he tries to find a killer in spite of local resistance.

Caroline has always been a great reader and enjoyed reading aloud, especially poetry that told a story. The Highwayman was one of her early favorites. Her wars are WWI, the Boer War, and the English Civil War, with a sneaking appreciation of the Wars of the Roses as well. When she's not writing, she's traveling the world, gardening, or painting in oils. Her background in international affairs backs up her interest in world events, and she's also a sports fan, an enthusiastic follower of her favorite teams in baseball and pro football. She loves the sea, but is a poor sailor. (Charles inherited his iron stomach from his father.) Still, she has never met a beach she didn't like.

Both Caroline and Charles share a love of animals, and family pets have always been rescues. There was once a lizard named Schnickelfritz. Don't ask.

Writing together is a challenge, and both enjoy giving the other a hard time. The famous quote is that in revenge, Charles crashes Caroline's computer, and Caroline crashes his parties. Will they survive to write more novels together? Stay tuned! Their father/husband is holding the bets.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great study of characters, January 20, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A False Mirror (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Its prose tinged with memory and regret, this tenth Charles Todd novel to feature Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge, is a superbly crafted tale which, at its heart, is about relationships.

Having read the earlier novels in the series, the relationship between Rutledge and Hamish is by now a familiar one, and it's difficult to imagine one without the other. Indeed, Hamish, whatever he may be, has become a necessary tool for the excavation of Rutledge's inner, thoughts and is sometimes more acute an observer of the nuances of their surroundings than Rutledge.

Indeed, the novel's more conventional relationships, between spouses,
sweethearts, former lovers, friends and enemies, all show how our observations of one another come together to form life as we know it, and how one misreading can destroy the whole fragile framework.

Working to uncover the perpetrator of a series of murders in London's Green Park, Rutledge is surprised to be taken off the London case and ordered to Hampton Regis, a picturesque fishing village on the south coast of England.

Stephen Mallory, who served with and despised Rutledge in the war, has been accused of brutally beating a local man, Matthew Hamilton. Mallory is convinced he will never be treated fairly by the local authorities because he was engaged to Hamilton's wife before the war, and has taken his former fiancee and her maid hostage, declaring he will only negotiate with Rutledge.

Rutledge knows there is more to this situation than local authorities would have him believe--if only because Mallory has chosen him as his intermediary. When the nearly comatose Hamilton disappears from the local physician's house, leaving a dead body in his wake, Rutledge becomes convinced that Mallory is innocent, and Hamilton's beating might be at the root of something more complex than imagined.

On its surface, A False Mirror, is a conventional and highly readable English murder mystery, but a closer look reveals a complex and engrossing study of the nature of seeing and being seen that anyone who enjoys tight plotting and deep characterization will enjoy.

Armchair Interviews says: A 5-star read!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What was to like about this book?, June 1, 2008

By 

S. Radler (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A False Mirror (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I didn't think an Ian Rutledge book could get worse than the previous "A Long Shadow," but "A False Mirror" is MUCH worse. It's a 40-page short story that got dragged out to 400 pages, undoubtedly to fulfill a contract obligation. Let's see, where to start -- characters that are impossible to care about, a totally ludicrous "hostage" situation, and redundant writing (Rutledge goes back and forth between the town and the main house in the story like a ping-pong ball, and the descriptions are always the same). And for some reason, sandwiches make an appearance in almost every scene; they're as ubiquitous as tea. Hamish has faded to the point that when he does speak up, it's jarring. Overall, the plot and motives are so thin that it's a very unsatisfying murder mystery, but on the bright side, when I was done with the book I felt like having a good sandwich.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, January 19, 2008

By 

Lintywhite (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A False Mirror (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries) (Hardcover)

After eagerly awaiting this book and even having my husband pick me up a copy on a business trip to the US, I was sadly disappointed. I had noticed a downward trend in the last couple of books but the series seems to have taken a nose dive with this latest instalment. There were serious problems of logic and the plotline seemed to chase its own tail, going round in endless circles as if to stretch out the book. Many of the characters acted in an illogical and unrealistic manner and the whole hostage situation plotline was simply ridiculous. People just do not behave like that! This would have to be the worst book in the series so far.

Unfortunately, many aspects of this series are becoming repetitious. After solving so many murders one would think that Rutledge's superior, Bowles, would do away with his vendetta even if only to stop himself from looking ridiculous to others. His ongoing hostility towards Rutledge is starting to look trite.

And what about the role of Hamish? This is one aspect of the series that seems to have stalled completely. Whilst it began as an intriguing deviation on the murder mystery genre it seemed to reach it peak in `Legacy of the Dead' and has been in decline ever since. Perhaps the authors should try something different such as was hinted at in 'A Long Shadow' with the psychic Mrs. Channing.

What exactly is Hamish's role? Is he a genuine ghost, haunting his killer? Does he represent Rutledge's conscience which has become disembodied due to his war experience? Is Hamish the manifestation of Rutledge's sixth sense which makes him the superb Scotland Yard Inspector that he has become? Why not let Rutledge face his ghost and explore these possibilities, either through supernatural means such as at a séance or by scientific means involving medical therapy. Psychology was in its infancy and this in itself would provide an interesting sideline to a murder case.

There are so many aspects of this series that are yet to be explored and one can only hope that the authors do not settle for formulae writing and mediocrity. What started out as a fresh and exciting new take on an old Genre still has much untapped potential and I sincerely hope that the authors sit down, have a cup of tea and ask themselves where this series is heading.