After a two-year hiatus, Charles Todd has a new novella and a new novel coming out soon. Whether you’re a long-time fan or new to their series, this is a cause for celebration – and time for a quick recap to remind you where both series left off. Warning for new readers: SPOILERS included.
For those who don’t know, Charles Todd is the pseudonym of mother-and-son team Caroline and Charles Todd, renowned authors of the Inspector Ian Rutledge series and the Beth Crawford series, both set in WWI and 1920s Britain. The authors have won the Barry Award for Best First Novel (A Test of Wills), the Mary Higgins Clark Award (The Shattered Tree), the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel (A Question of Honor), and the Macavity Award for Best Historical Novel (An Unmarked Grave).
They have been nominated for almost every writing award for mysteries in general and for historical mysteries in particular including the New Blood Dagger Award, the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, the Dilys Award, the Historical Dagger Award, the Anthony Award for Best Mystery, and the Macavity Award for Best Historical Mystery.
The awards are well-deserved. All the books are well-researched well-plotted, and well worth reading. The authors traveled to England each year to research the setting for the next book and the descriptive text evokes vivid images of the settings. I usually pause while reading to look up pictures of the setting and they are exactly what I pictured based on the detailed descriptions. My knowledge of WWI is based heavily on Downton Abbey so I have learned a tremendous amount of history from these series. While the horrors of trench warfare are not overlooked, the authors do not dwell on them and focus instead on the characters and the mystery of each story. The characters are complex and believable and plots are interesting and often deal with events related the WWI era.
They write two series: the Inspector Ian Rutledge series and the Bess Crawford series. Both series are well worth reading (and rereading).
The Inspector Ian Rutledge series includes 24 novels, one novella, and two short stories (not including the pending novella and novel). After WWI Rutledge, a veteran, returns to the police force hoping to pick up his life where he left off. But Rutledge has a secret: shell shock. In the early 20th century there was little understanding of the mental trauma war leaves behind and the public was generally unaware of the horrors of trench warfare. Veterans with shell shock were viewed with scorn, believed to have “lost their nerve” through some weakness of character; those who were physically disabled were scarcely treated better. Nor was there medical treatment for metal trauma. Rutledge knows he will lose his job if his superiors learn of his shell shock and while family would be caring and supportive, the public would not.
Rutledge’s case of shell shock is more complicated than usual. He is haunted by the voice and presence of Hamish, one of his own men whom Rutledge was forced to execute for disobeying orders. To make matters worse, Rutledge’s unit is shelled immediately after the execution, burying Rutledge alive with Hamish’s corpse. No wonder he’s shell shocked. Only his determination to keep the secret hidden protects him. Hamish appears as a voice in Rutledge’s mind, as if he’s standing just behind Rutledge’s shoulder (or from the backseat if Rutledge is driving). Hamish is not vindictive, just an always-present reminder of the trauma Rutledge has to live with. From a literary viewpoint, Hamish represents Rutledge’s conscience and symbolizes how Rutledge speaks for the murder victims he avenges by finding their killer.
Since the series is set immediately after WWI, Rutledge frequently encounters veterans who are not faring as well as he is, a constant reminder that but for the grace of God and his own determination he would be in their place, a social outcast with no future. The books often deal with themes of family, hidden secrets, and the effect they have in the long run. One of the most intriguing plots involved a woman from Hamish’s life. Not only did Rutledge have to directly interact with a woman whose life was forever altered by Hamish’s death, Rutledge had to deal with hearing Hamish in his head throughout his interactions with her.
In the course of the series, there have been three women in Rutledge’s life. The first is his fiancée Jean Gordon. Jean is horrified by the man who returned from war and Rutledge is too busy learning to deal with (and hide) Hamish to try to manage a marriage so he breaks off their engagement. He throws himself into his work and must deal with superiors who set him up to fail. He surprises them by excelling at his career, just as he did before the war.
Eventually, Rutledge meets Meredith Channing, a former field nurse who served in France during the war. Their attraction lasts for several books, with Rutledge torn between wanting a relationship and fearing he’ll have to tell her about Hamish, until (SPOILER ALERT) Meredith’s missing husband is found alive, and they are reunited.
Rutledge meets his next love interest, Kate Gordon, when she is a suspect in one of his cases. Their relationship spans several books and was left uncertain in A Game of Fear (2020) when the series came to a temporary halt after the death of Caroline Todd in 2021. The book ends with Rutledge being promoted to Chief Inspector and wishing he had Kate to share the good news with, implying that their relationship might be over.
The Bess Crawford series includes 11 novels, two novellas, and one short story. Raised in India and England, Bess is the daughter of Army Col. Richard Crawford (“Colonel Sahib” to his family) and Mrs. Crawford who have retired to Somerset, England after their years in India. Determined to serve in WWI, Bess becomes a field nurse in France. She sees terrible things but is determined to serve in the only way she can. She endures physical hardships and helps treat patients who are horribly wounded, maimed, burned, and gassed. She sits with the wounded, encouraging them, and sits with dying patients, comforting them. We see the horrors of war through her young but determined eyes. In the first book, A Duty to the Dead, Bess is serving on the hospital ship Britannic and carries out a request from a dying soldier that leads to mystery and intrigue.
Over the course of the series, the setting moves between Britain and France, wherever Bess is stationed or on leave. It’s not a safe career and retired Sergeant-Major Simon Brandon, a young man devoted to her father who now serves when and where the War Office needs him, keeps an eye on her as often as possible and shares many of her investigations. Simon joined the Army when he was very young, first serving as the Colonel Sahib’s batman and he remains very close to the Colonel and his wife. Bess suspects Simon has some secret her mother protects but doesn’t push to know her best friend’s business. He is several years her senior and while she sees him as a brother, it slowly becomes clear that Simon is in love with her.
The mysteries frequently relate to the war or to Bess’s patients and are always compelling stories. Like the Rutledge series, the authors do extensive research for each book and the themes are often related to secrets and their long-term effects, duty, family, and the effect of war on all levels of society. Bess continues nursing after the war despite a proposal from Sergeant Lassiter, an Australian she meets up with regularly during the war who is clearly smitten with her. Lassiter is remarkable for his cheerful disposition and distinctive kookaburra-like laugh. (I am strictly a Team Simon fan but was sad to see Lassiter return to Australian after the war.)
In the last two books before the hiatus, An Irish Hostage and The Cliff’s Edge, (SPOILER ALERT) Simon confesses his love for Bess and she thinks he is kidding. Once she realized he’s serious she’s horrified at having hurt his feelings and ponders her own feelings towards him. When secrets about this childhood are revealed in The Cliff’s Edge, Bess is left pondering their future.
The authors were very open about the fact that the two series will be combined. They also made it clear that they didn’t create Bess just to make her Rutledge’s girlfriend. Throughout both series it’s clear that Bess and Rutledge know each other and have mutual friends. Just exactly how the combined series will work remains to be seen but based on the previous books in both series, it will definitely be worth reading! (I don’t know if the new Rutledge novel will be the beginning of the combined series.)
New books have been delayed by the death of Caroline Todd in 2021. The last books she contributed to were A Game of Fear (Ian Rutledge #24, 2022) and The Cliff’s Edge (Bess Crawford #13, 2023). Charles is continuing both series with a novella coming for the holidays and a new novel in 2026:
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A Christmas Witness, an Inspector Ian Rutledge holiday novella, has a release date of October 21, 2025.
A Day of Judgment, Inspector Ian Rutledge #25, has a release date of February 17, 2026.
If you want to start from the beginning the first Inspector Rutledge book is A Test of Wills and the first Bess Crawford book is A Duty to the Dead. Timelines for both characters are available on the Charles Todd website. — Cathy Akers-Jordan