Bess Crawford Series # 3
Charles Todd
Wm. Morrow
2011 / ISBN 9780062015709
Historical Mystery / England /France / 1917/WWI
Reviewed
by L J Roberts
First Sentence:
A cold rain had followed me from France to England, and an even
colder wind greeted me as we pulled into the railway station in
London.
Returning from
the battlefields of France to England for Christmas leave, WWI nurse
Bess Crawford encounters a desperate woman, rain-drenched and bruised
in her building s entry. Offering her shelter, Bess slowly learns
the woman, Lydia Ellis, had been struck by her husband during an
argument. Lydia begs Bess to return to the family s house in Sussex
with her and, fearing Lydia may have a concussion. Bess agrees,
entering a home filled with tension and, ultimately, murder with
Bess being an initial suspect.
The mother
and son team of Charles Todd write some of the most evocative descriptions
creating a wonderfully strong sense of time and place. The alternating
settings of London, and English country house and the stark reality,
cruelty and death of war are deftly handled. Even more, they deal
with the front and the wounded in a manner which is strongly impactful,
yet not overly graphic.
The dialogue
is so well done; it is atmospheric. The forest is, I don t know
not haunted, but most certainly, it broods with a well-placed sense
of irony and occasional wry humor. The language doesn’t work
hard at reflecting the period, but the sense of it is still there,
particularly with the use of the old collective noun a crocodile
of children.
Bess is a character who has grown on me with each successive book.
She is a dedicated nurse, but the authors have restrained her from
coming across as prissy. The relationship with Simon, her father
s ex-Sergeant Major and now assistant, is one handled with proper
decorum and appropriateness to the period, but one rather hopes
to see grow as the series progresses. Lydia, the wife in trouble,
is very well constructed as a character who is difficult to like,
but one who elicits one’s sympathy.
There were a couple weaknesses to the book. It did become tiresome
that some of the characters were continuously referred to by their
full names and, although I suppose necessary for the plot, I did
have a problem with on significant decision made by Bess to not
tell the police about a piece of evidence. Both of these are minor
points, however, when weighed against the book s strengths.
A Bitter Truth is the best, so far, of the three books
in the Bess
Crawford series. How lucky are we readers to have two such good
series from Charles Todd.
Reviews of other titles in this series
Duty to
the Dead, #1 [review]
Impartial Witness, #2 [review]
Bitter Truth, #3 [review
1] [review
2]
An
Unmarked Grave, #4 [review]
A Question of Honor #5 [review]
An Unwilling Accomplice #6 [review]
A Pattern of Lies #7 [review]
The Shattered Tree # 8 [review]
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