β Scribed by Todd, Charles - Bess Crawford Mystery
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Starred Review. Set in the summer of 1917, Todd's excellent second mystery featuring British nurse Bess Crawford (after 2009's A Duty to the Dead) smoothly blends realistic characters with an intricate plot. When Bess accompanies Lt. Meriwether Evanson, a severe burn victim, from the Continent to England, she's surprised to spot the pilot's supposedly devoted wife, Marjorie, crying on another man's shoulder at a train station. After returning to saving lives under German fire in France, Bess is stunned to read in a newspaper that Marjorie has been stabbed to death in London. Soon after, the depressed lieutenant commits suicide by cutting his own throat. Unable to resist involving herself in the murder investigation, Bess seeks to identify Marjorie's unknown companion, the possible killer. In addition to supplying a challenging puzzle, Todd (a mother-son writing team) does a superb job of capturing the feel of the battlefield and the emotional toll taken on those waiting back home for a loved one's return.
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In the second Bess Crawford novel (after A Duty to the Dead, 2009), the World War I battlefield nurse is escorting several injured soldiers back to England. Job done, Bess prepares to take a two-day leave, but, at the train station, sheβs startled to see the wife of one of her patients in a rather emotional situation with another man. Later, after Bess learns that Scotland Yard is very interested in locating the woman, she finds herself on the trail of a killer. Toddβthe pen name of a mother-and-son writing teamβturns in another winning performance with a smartly plotted, well-told mystery. The Crawford novels are a nice change of pace from the heavier Inspector Rutledge books, and fans of mysteries featuring strong, appealing heroines will certainly embrace this one. Highly recommendable, especially (but not exclusively) to fans of the authorβs previous books. --David Pitt
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