Customer Reviews

A Fearsome Doubt (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery)

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The success or failure of this book hinges entirely on character of Inspector Ian Rutledge and the believability of his fractured, WWI brain wherein resides the voice of the Scottish soldier he killed for cowardice on the battlefield and who haunts him years after the war has ended. It is a fascinating device because Hamish, the dead soldier, gives the solitary Rutledge a foil whilst investigating crimes that are intriguing but not especially unique or compelling. It is the characters that drive the Ian Rutledge series of mysteries and, for me, the characters that bring me back time and again with no disappointment.

It turns out the Charles Todd is actually a nom de plume for a mother and son who write these books together. I believe that one or both of them is especially strong on research and setting a very vivid and thorough picture of England after the war. I've never felt any doubt about the look and feel of the London of the day or the villages wherein much of the action takes place and that goes for the Kent countryside, wherein this story takes place.

Part of this story is the investigation of the murder of three war veterans and part of the story revisits a pre-war investigation by Rutledge and others that resulted in a man being hanged for murder. When circumstances seem to point to the wrong man having been hanged, Rutledge is forced to examine his conscience, his methods, and his war-damaged memory for what might have been overlooked and what might have been misinterpreted in the case. Add to this the presence of his best friend's widow in all of the attendant action and you have a ripping good little mystery!

Seven years ago, Ian Rutledge was the policeman responsible for sending Ben Shaw to the hangman for killing three elderly, bedridden women. Ian left police work to fight in France during World War I, but what he saw in the trenches almost destroyed him. He came back shell-shocked, guilt ridden and broken with his only grip on sanity being his work at Scotland Yard.

His belief in himself as a good police officer is shattered when Ben Shaw's widow comes into his office with evidence that she claims will exonerate her husband. She wants Rutledge to reopen the case but before he can come to any decisions he is sent to Marling in Kent. Three veterans of the war, all with one leg amputated have been murdered and the local police don't have a clue about who is responsible. During his investigation, Mrs. Shaw hounds Rutledge yet he is able to carry on with both cases.

The protagonist of this novel acts normal but he carries on in his head a dialogue with a soldier he ordered killed before a firing squad in France for failing to obey a direct order. At times the reader isn't sure if Rutledge actually believes Hamish is dead but there is ample evidence he is able to conduct an inquiry and make brilliant investigations from evidence he gathers. A FEARSOME DOUBT is a great mystery as well as a haunting human drama.

Harriet Klausner

The mystery begins at a blazing Guy Fawkes bonfire, as Ian Rutledge - the brilliant but flawed Scotland Yard Inspector - is trying to have some time off from a hectic schedule of sleuthing. There in the center of a charming English village (is there any other kind of English village, dear reader?) the revels are interrupted by - what? A sudden glimpse of recognition! A face in the crowd, lighted by the leaping flames! It chills Rutledge to the bone!

Is it his War-stressed imagination playing tricks on him again - making memory seem a reality? Or is this the presence of evil itself? Shudder dear reader along with Ian. Then let the tale unfold!

Charles Todd has brought his famed and admired (and to his growing company of faithful readers, beloved) detective to a new crossroads. Till now, Ian Rutledge has never second-guessed his brilliant pre-War career. That, at least, has been on solid footing, even if his post-War life seems to be built on sinking sand. However, into his assurance of things past comes an amazingly persistent woman, Nell Shaw by name, who is seeking that justice be done for her family.

Before the War, Rutledge was instrumental in her husband's conviction of murder most foul. Now, Nell is like a dog with a bone, as she brings new evidence to light that casts a large measure of doubt across the pathway of Ian's past. Was the late Mr. Shaw the serial killer that he was found to be by due process of law and hanged as a result? Or was the man framed by the real killer, still at large?

What shall Ian do? Ignore or investigate? To ignore would keep his reputation and the Yard's on a solid footing. To investigate might put his own and his super's (that nemesis!) reputation in jeopardy. And how might that eerie face of the bonfire night figure in the unfolding drama?

Of course, Ian's ghostly companion Hamish is there to help with the investigations. From his usual corner of the backseat of Ian's car; he whispers hints and opinions galore. Hamish, you see, died on the battlefield of war and is not really there-just a figment of Ian's shell shocked mind. Or is he?

Throw into the mix some sad returned veterans of the war, who begin to die at an alarming rate around that charming English village, and you have another of these complex Ian Rutledge mysteries that seem to be two very independent crimes but may very well have some connection.

One hopes that the authors will ignore those voices who say that the plot device of Hamish as Ian's detecting assistant has become tiresome. Anyone who enjoys knowing how Jane Marple compares the intricacies of murder to the local gossip of St. Mary Meade, or who relishes Poirot's banter about the little grey cells with Hastings and Miss Lemon will be glad to see Ian and Hamish interact for...well, at least the next sixty years worth of books. This is a winning combination and Rutledge has so much psychological depth to offer as the stories unfold.

If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction

This is the sixth in the Ian Rutledge series. I agree that this outing is less than the others, but when the others were so far above the genre, that says much for A Fearsome Doubt.

In this outing, Rutledge's self doubts are aggravated by the possibility that he may have aided in the wrongful conviction of a man fairly early in his career. He must unofficially investigate the allegations recently put to him that the wrong man was convicted of three elderly women. But where to start since the man convicted was executed and the main witness dead.

He is officially assigned to investigate three murders in Kent. Someone is murdering veterans who lost a limb in the war. Who would do such a thing? The murderer is clever and has left no clues as to his identity. While he is searching for clues, Rutledge runs head-long into his past.

The writing continues to be remarkable, the character is ever evolving, and the mysteries still remain mysterious. That said, there was something missing from this entry in the series. I think it was that the author had events moving at a lower pace than usual. Thus, it wasn't the page turner that others in the series had been.

I always enjoy Charles Todd's mysteries. They are so well-written, and the history of the time period after WWI is so interesting. It's hard to realize in this day and age, with America's 'war' with Iraq, how lucky we are. We as a nation will not forget those who died over in Iraq, and whether we question the President's reason for going to war or not, Saddam had to be dealt with. What is important is the number of men (and women) now who have died in this war is so small compared to the thousands of boys who died in WWI. And those who came home, were many times mortally wounded in the mind, and spent their lives like that. This is not to glorify any war, or deny that families are hurting now, but we need to remind ourselves how nasty WWI was, with the trenches, mustard gas, sarin, and the mud. I can only pray that we never go back to the days of wars like that, or the Vietnam War, and that we value our men and women who gave so much now. Todd's writing is a good reminder of how absolutely horrid that war was, and how many people were hurt. England fought to recover from the loss of an entire generation of young men, and the way the war ended was by mutual truce...but also it left Germany in such a way as to make it ready for someone like Hitler.

Back then there was little understanding of 'shell-shock', or what is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder. These men were expected to come home and take up their lives as if nothing had happened, because so little was understood about the psychological impact of this nasty time period. That Rutledge has to deal with Hamish, a Scot he had to have shot because he refused to send young boys out to be killed on the basis of rich/powerful men behind the lines playing these guys like they were a board game...it is not that unbelieveable that Rutledge has this 'ghost' with him always.

In this case Rutledge is doing better. It's been a year since the truce, and all of the sudden a woman whose husband was hung prior to the war due to his committing murders...she comes to Rutledge with what she calls proof as to his innocence. The major charge against capital punishment is the fact that too many innocent men have been put on death row by prejudice or accident. Rutledge is horrified by the idea that he might have sent a man to his death who was innocent. This in connection with another set of murders in the present day (of 1919) of veterans of war, has Rutledge torn in different directions. The fact that he holds down his fear and doubt of himself, to successful get through to the truth in both cases, and deal with a German whose face he is familiar with and thought was dead, is indication that Rutledge is finally coping with his life after the war.

A good, intelligent read (which is often to hard to find nowdays...)

Karen Sadler

This book is placed in 1919, a year after WWI has ended. Inspector Ian Rutledge is the central character, a shell-shocked veteran haunted by Hamish McLeod, a soldier Rutledge had executed for insubordination. There are dual mysteries in this book. One from 1912 when Rutledge had a man hung for murder. Now his widow is demanding the case be reopened because she has found new evidence that her husband could not have been the murderer of elderly women. The second mystery focuses on murders of WWI amputees in Kent. Rutledge is brought to Kent to solve these murders.

The book is an adequate historical mystery. It details class society in England after WWI. There is much description given to what a person of a certain stature should or shouldn't do. Even inviting a police inspector to dinner is seen as a "one down." There is much concern about keeping one's reputation and image. In the meantime, murders are being committed.

The murderer is not a central character in the book, and there are no clues written that lead the reader to deduce this person. The murders are explained away quickly in the last few pages of the book; sort of as an afterthought.

I will read more books by this mother-son writing team to see if my opinion of their skills improves. It is not a terrible book. I just don't think this was their best effort.

This is the first of Charles Todd's books I've read and it delighted me. Ian Rutledge is a fine addition to the venerable line of English detectives and I look forward to reading more about him. Excellent writing, right up to the end when Todd pulled the rug out from under me as he revealed the murderer.

One must, when reading these novels, remember that while the books come out at the rate of one a year, the chronicled events in the life of Inspector Ian Rutledge occur in consecutive months. So the incidents during the war are still immediate in the character's mind. Now the doubt referred to in the title has to do with the inspector's fear that he may have sent an innocent man to the gallows. He also is involved in the investigation of a series of poisoning deaths of three amputated veterans. The latter investigation leads Rutledge to a confrontation with a former enemy, a German veteran. All in all, there's plenty here to involve the reader.

After reading the first six of this series, one after another, I can say that I am growing a bit disenchanted with the Rutledge series - not because of the main character and his struggles - but because there is simply no ... and I mean zero ... matching of wits with the inspector when it comes to trying to figure out the murderer before the inspector does. And this one, A Fearsome Doubt, is the worst: there is not one single clue throughout the whole book that the murderer is whom it turns out to be. And, when the murderer is revealed (in the last couple of pages), it flies in the face of everything you've learned about the person in the scant few mentions in the book.

It is as if the mother-son writing team realized they'd run out of plausible characters who could be the murderer because they all had alibis and so they cast about for a secondary character...and ta-da!

You gotta' be kidding me. This is like mystery writing 101 - it's simply not believable. Frankly, I found the murderer in the previous Todd book a strain ... but still somewhat viable ... but in A Fearsome Doubt, it is as if all good sense has departed. The murderer - and their supposed justification - is not realistic, believable, or even plausible. It says something about a story when in the 3rd to last sentence of the book, the authors are still trying to explain how this person could be the murderer. It's almost as if they were trying to reconcile it to themselves.

There are good books and good storylines in the Inspector Rutledge series, but this is most definitely not one of them.

"A Fearsome Doubt: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery" by Charles Todd is superior storytelling. The characters are marvelously drawn. They come alive; you care about them. As for Inspector Ian Rutledge, you feel you are actually living in his life. His story line thread is a master lesson in flawless sequencing. The writing is outstandingly literate and intelligent.

"A Fearsome Doubt" is sixth among the ten titles Amazon lists in the "Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries," including one due in January 2008. Normally I like to read a coherent series in order. Happily, I read this one first and out of order -- and no one would make a mistake to do so -- because the book gives so much of Rutledge's crucial First World War experiences. For the rest of the series I'll likely revert to my old habit.

Throughout the book, those close to Rutledge, as one might expect, call him Ian. I'd have preferred the author to do likewise, since the character becomes so close and real to the reader. "Ian" is so much more personal and easy than "Rutledge." (Sorry, Charles Todd!) However, now I'll stick to the convention.

The story takes place in a single month, November of 1919, one year after the agreed upon Armistice of eleven o'clock in the morning, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. The end of the war. Yet, for tens of thousands the war had ended earlier, with their deaths. Thousands more were gravely wounded, many losing limbs. Rutledge himself was mentally wounded, suffering Shell Shock (read Posttraumatic Stress Disorder -- PTSD).

Rutledge served as a British officer in the stinking, muddy trenches of the Front Line in France, facing the more extensive trenches of the Germans. Another British officer refused to sacrifice any more of his men to the withering fire of the enemy, refused to require them any longer to climb up over the top of the trench walls and charge suicidally across No Man's Land. Because of the disobedience, Rutledge regretfully had to order the execution of the officer by firing squad and to administer the coup de grāce.

The executed fellow officer was Hamish MacLeod [say M'cloud], a Scotsman, whose qualities and values Rutledge respected. All the killing was too much, Hamish's killing was too much. From then on, the dead Hamish lives on as a real presence for Rutledge and as a voice inside Rutledge's head, offering alternate observations, insights, and opinions about everything. Anyone might find this strange, yet this duality in the novel is highly desirable, effective, and even essential.

Which brings me to the duality of author Charles Todd. As anyone who has searched Amazon or Google would know, Charles Todd is the pseudonym of the mother and son team of Charles and Caroline Todd. They are American writers living on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. What their real first names are, along with the surname Todd, is open to question. As is where they live. When both appear at a book sale, each will sign "Charles Todd." If you wish to hear more about them, including interviews, happy searching to you.

Home from the war, Inspector Rutledge is back at his work at Scotland Yard, faced with another duality, one in his investigative life: The reopening of a pre-War case, in which Ben Shaw was convicted and hanged. Was justice done? And three murders in Kent County of veterans who each lost a leg in the war. Most unsettling to the rural villages. These cases raise serious doubts in Rutledge about his own sanity, his perceptions, his past and present judgment, his very ability to do his job.

If you seek more plot details, Amazon's Editorial Reviews are good. You've heard my own reactions to the book.

One final note: The Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries appear roughly one a year. Each book covers just one successive month in Rutledge's investigative life. November, as I've mentioned, is Doubt's month. The previous book would have been October, the following one, December. Over the many years of publication, this allows Rutledge to retain his appealing good looks and persona . . . and age slowly.

You think these guys aren't clever? You betcha! Happy reading.