Customer Reviews

Watchers of Time (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In this fifth outing, Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard is once again sent out of London to help the local constabulary investigate a murder and to placate local powers that be.

As he painstakenly uncovers each clue, Rutledge begins to put the puzzle of a local priest's murder together in spite of the local police declaring that they have found the killer. The conclusions he draws will shock the local people as well as the local policeman.

Todd has one of the four best British procedural series going (the others being Crombie, Robinson, and James). Todd's series is special, however, because he has set it immediately after World War I and his character is flawed because of his experiences in the trenches of France.

Todd's writing continues to be impressive and his plotting superb. He does not use devices that will give his detective more information than he gives his readers. He has maintained Inspector Rutledge's voice and that of his alter-ego Hamish in this outing.

Todd has written a procedural - it is not machine gun paced - it's not supposed to be. If you're looking for a book that you can read in a single setting and still figure out whodunnit, don't pick up this series. But if you enjoy going along with the detective as he/she investigates a crime step-by-step, then try this series. You won't be disappointed.

If you intend to read this series, start with Todd's first effort A Test of Wills so you get the sense of the character and his suffering.

I love this series. I think book this was an excellent "breather" from the major internal conflict of Rutledge and Hamish. Of course, I look forward to the next book returning to that conflict, but this was a very intriguing mystery. I love the world and the premise of the series. I certainly don't think the series has weakened with each subsequent book. My own favorites were the second, third, and fourth. Todd is one of the few authors I buy in hardback. I do know Brits who drink cream in their tea. I guess they aren't self-respecting. I must have been deceived...

Once again Inspector Rutledge is sent out of London to deal with a murder in a rural constituency. This time he goes out to the 'Boards' of East Anglia, which even today is a desperately poor part of England. A priest has been murdered and his Bishop has asked Scotland Yard to make sure that the local constabulary doesn't 'muck it up'.

The local chap, Inspector Blevin, is determined to prove that the person who did it was not one of his 'flock'. He quickly latches on to a suspect who he is determined to hang, so as to be done with it. The problem is that there's little or no proof that he did the deed, and has an alibi for the day of the murder.

Inspector Rutledge must work he way through a cast of characters, all of whom know some of the truth, but only the real murderer knows the whole truth. Rutledge is determined to track that person down and bring them to justice.

One of the side characters is a young lady by the name of May (Marianna) Trent who has her own secrets. She is tormented by an sevent that she doesn't remember and doesn't want to face. Sound familiar. Like many victims of shock, she has no memory of before or after the event, the sinking of the Titanic. She still has nightmares, but can't remember what happen to her elderly companion, or how she managed to get safely away. She makes the perfect mirror image for Rutledge, who more than once comments on her appearance.

The denouement is interesting but the ending (which are separate) is in itself a disappointment. It's almost as if you can see
'TO BE CONTINUED' after the last paragraph. You get the feeling that this story will be revisited at some time in the near future.

In September 1919 in Osterly, Herbert Baker is near death from congestive heart failure. Instead of demanding the appearance of his Vicar, Herbert asks for Father James to talk to him in private. The kind Father visits Herbert though they are of different religions. Not long afterward, Herbert dies. Father James never seems quite the same after his deathbed visit. A few weeks later, an assailant attacks Father James killing him with a large crucifix. The culprit arranges the crime scene to look as if Father James interrupted a robbery in progress.

Bishop Cunningham asks Chief Superintendent Bowles to dispatch a Scotland Yard detective to assure church officials that the police are running a proper investigation. Bowles sends Inspector Ian Rutledge, who starting with an interview with Monsignor Holstein begins to have doubts that robbery occurred. Advised and lectured by the deceased Corporal Hamish MacLeod, who occupies part of his mind, Ian begins to unravel a much greater tragedy than even the cold-blooded murder of a priest.

The Rutledge historical mysteries are unique because the reader does not know whether Hamish is a ghost or Ian suffers from battle fatigue syndrome. The story line of WATCHERS OF TIME, like its precursors, bring the post World War I era in England (this time the Norfolk area) to vivid life. This enables the audience to taste a bygone period of their parents and grandparents that is quickly fading into the dust of history books. The who-done-it is cleverly devised as expected by Charles Todd, but as usual the charcaters including Hamish make the novel a sub-genre stand out.

Harriet Klausner

Having read all of the Inspector Rutledge novels as they came out, I'm beginning to wonder if Charles Todd hasn't written himself into a bit of a corner, with his dependence on Hamish to provide a counterpoint to Rutledge's thoughts. Am I the only person who's beginning to wish that Todd would allow Rutledge to pull himself together a bit? I realise that those returning from the Great War underwent a shattering experience that left life-long scars; but surely allowing poor Rutledge some kind of normality in his life after five books isn't asking too much. And I do wish that some British friend or editor would point out some of the more glaring errors the American author commits, both in what characters say and the way in which they refer to things. And please: I'm tired of reading that everyone takes cream in their tea! No self-respecting tea drinker puts cream in tea. Even more glaring in THE WATCHERS OF TIME is an error regarding the TITANIC. Todd seems under the misapprehension that survivors and victims of the tragedy were taken to Ireland, when in fact survivors were taken (via the CARPATHIA) to New York, while the majority of the bodies recovered were taken to Halifax, where many are still buried. When authors fail to do their research on something as well known as the TITANIC disaster, it makes me wonder what other errors they're committing. I understand Todd is working on his sixth Rutledge novel; I can only hope he eases off on Hamish's harangues, and employs a British proof-reader.

I picked this book out of my constantly growing to-be-read stack without checking where it falls within the series. As soon as I began to read I had to go look it up because I discovered that Inspector Rutledge is recuperating from a gunshot wound. Not a very usual circumstance to find when reading period English mysteries. This is the fifth book in the series so now, of course, I must read the fourth, Legacy of the Dead (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries), to find out what happened in Scotland and how Rutledge got shot.

In this story Chief Superintendent Bowles sends Rutledge off to a small town called Osterley in Norfolk to make an appearance from Scotland Yard to show their support of the local police. A Catholic priest has been killed and all Rutledge has to do is make an appearance, assure the townsfolk by his presence that their local man has everything well in hand, and then return to London. He's not to get himself involved in the case. So, of course, he immediately does become involved.

I am a faithful fan of the writings of Charles Todd, both for the Inspector Rutledge and the Bess Crawford series. This book was another superb example of the deft hand this mother/son team has with descriptions of landscapes and weather conditions. Their characters are so deeply etched that you will remember even the barmaid and how many children she has. The plotting is intricate with multiple problems and solutions presented so as a reader I'm always kept guessing what the final outcome will be. This story contained layer upon layer of interactions between the residents of this small town both in the past and present. I liked how no one person had all the parts of the puzzle in their grasp, but had to share their portion to make the whole.

Corporal Hamish MacLeod is a presence inside Rutledge's mind. Rutledge hears Hamish talking to him and he answers him. If this is your first time to consider reading a novel in this series, please don't be put off by thinking you will not like this aspect of the book. Rutledge had horrendous experiences in World War I and he still suffers with the mental anguish of trying to understand why he survived and so many he ordered to fight did not. Hamish was one of the casualties of war, except he was not killed by a German bullet but by an action taken by Rutledge. While working through all of these problems with depression and having Hamish as a constant companion the authors are always able to bring the truth about the conditions of that war vividly into their novels. People were changed forever, Rutledge and Hamish are two of those people with stories to tell.

I highly recommend any of the novels in this series. The authors always do a very good job of bringing any new readers quickly into the picture of the time period and the problems facing Rutledge both from a psychological standpoint and from his career in Scotland Yard. Hamish plays a large part in this specific book, more so than in some of the more recently published novels. My only question is: when does Rutledge ever buy gas (petrol) for his car? If I could just see that action once, I could stop watching for it to happen!

Watchers of Time by Charles Todd is a misty, moody mystery. Scotland Yard Inspector Rutledge is sent off to Norwich to show the Yard's support of local enforcement when a priest is murdered. It's all for show and Rutledge, who is still recuperating from a gunshot wound, knows his boss just wants him out of the office. He fully intends to just go through the motions as he knows he's expected too, but things start to bother him about the case from the beginning. Hamish, who is a ghost or figment of Rutledge's troubled mind, left over from the war, doesn't help matters. Ever vigilant, Hamish carries on an almost constant dialogue with the Inspector.
It's a small, tight community and the Chief Constable cannot accept that the murderer could be a local, so he rejects any clues pointing towards the people he's known all his life. This leads Inspector Rutledge to follow a strange trail that leads him to a variety of suspects, including peculiar women, a carnival strong man and the local Lord. All through the story Rutledge tries to talk himself into just doing nothing, like he was suppose too, but new clues and suspects just keep popping up and he can't manage to ignore them. Hamish argues all sides of every question, and adds his own interesting insights. The unusual ending makes it a classic English murder mystery.

In this mystery, we find ourselves with Scotland Yard's Inspector Rutledge, traveling way off the beaten track, in Norfolk. He has not yet healed from the wounds of his last case, nor the wounds of World War I. But duty calls. His task: to determine the reason why an ordinary parish priest has been murdered.

There are so many more questions than answers.

Why would Herbert Baker, a decent, elderly Church of England sexton call for a Roman Catholic priest to minister to him at his deathbed? And what, pray tell, might that have to do with the murder of Father James, shortly thereafter? Coincidence? Or are the two somehow interconnected? It is up to Inspector Ian Rutledge to investigate - and perhaps glean the truth of the matter.

Inside his head, the ubiquitous presence of Hamish, Ian's dead sergeant, offers his share of observations about the town and the crime.

And just who are these townspeople: the confident doctor; Walsh, the carnival strongman; Sims the callow vicar; Patricia and May, the beautiful yet mysterious women; the cautious local inspector; Lord Sedgwick the friend of the King; his two sons, who comprise the parvenu family from the manor; Monsignor Holstein the priest's concerned supervisor; Peter the poor soul who came back from the Great War with his nerves shattered; how might each of them be connected to the crime? Not to mention the quiet, closed-mouthed people of the village who have little to say to an outsider?

Rutledge needs to know; we want to know. Hamish is there to help. Throughout, we see people trying to pick up the tatters of their lives as they live in the first uncertain year after the Armistice, Rutledge included.

Moreover, what other mysteries does the village of Osterly hold? The tides receded into unmanageable marshland decades ago, taking prosperity with them. Now, the people live on the edge of the marsh, struggling to get by, keeping up appearances. Will Rutledge's presence in Osterly help the situation, or will he stir up old secrets best left hidden? Will Osterly help Rutledge on his road to recovery, or will he become hopelessly enmeshed in a personal and professional disaster?

Are the suspicions unfounded? Was the murder just a random act of violence, or was it cold blooded malevolence? The mystery is shrouded in questions, even as the atmosphere is as greyly murky as a mist off the sea. Yet, somehow, Rutledge senses that there is more to be discovered. He questions, he explores, and he weighs the facts, even as he wrestles with his own ghosts of the past.

As time watches, watches, watches.

I've now read all five Charles Todd/Ian Rutledge books, and I've found each one less satisfying than the one before it. I could put up with the author's habit of ending sentences with three dots whenever he says anything portentous. (He seems to think it's a tension-heightening device, but it's actually just so annoying it made me want to scream...) And I could put up with his even more annoying attempts to render Hamish's "speech" in authentic Scots dialect (Do ye ken, yon author thinks he's sae clever?). But what finally ruined this book for me was the author's inability to tell a plausible mystery story in a way that involves the reader in its solution.

The structure of this book is similar to that of previous Todd/Rutledge books: a murder is committed, for reasons that are buried in the past. (So far, so good.) Solely for the purpose of giving Rutledge a straw man to knock down, the local authorities suspect someone whose innocence is so obvious that a child could see it. Higher-ups are concerned about the way the investigation is being handled, so Rutledge is called in. He spends a couple of hundred pages driving around the English countryside (which, admittedly, the author describes quite well) while arguing with Hamish. Finally, around page 300, he calls on his fabled "intuition" and suddenly sees the whole story that lies behind the murder. Then, with no evidence, he confronts the perpetrator, who -- after a brief attempt at denial -- says, yes, you're right, that's exactly what happened. End of story. What's frustrating about this is that the author has created an interesting character in Ian Rutledge, and he writes well (apart from that annoying stylistic tic I mentioned earlier) -- he just doesn't seem to know how to tell a mystery story.

These books have been coming out at the rate of almost one per year. Maybe if the author slowed down and wrote a book every two or three years, the plots would be more satisfying. I for one would be willing to wait.

This book was the best in the series that I have read. I only lack reading A Pale Horse & the new hardcover one. Keeps you guessing 'til the end. Also, Todd's "weaving in" of World War I info was more in depth in this book.