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An
Unwilling Accomplice by
Charles Todd is a great read. Not only does it have a riveting
mysterious plot but it also has details about English society
during World War I. Since this month marks the 100th anniversary
of the war people might want to read this book to immerse
themselves in that era.
The plot begins with World War I nurse Bess Crawford on leave
to accompany a wounded soldier, Sergeant Jason Wilkins, to
Buckingham Palace, where he’s to be decorated by the
King. Her duties include escorting him back to the hotel and
prepping him for his journey back. The next morning she checks
in on him only to find he has disappeared. Bess is baffled
because the missing Sergeant was presumably badly injured,
confined to a wheelchair, and unable to walk out of the hotel
by himself. A soldier is then found murdered outside of London
a few days later and someone has recognized Sergeant Wilkins
as the perpetrator.
Bess must face a number of ramifications for the Sergeant’s
actions. Both the Army and the nursing service hold her negligent
for losing the war hero. Scotland Yard comes calling to Bess’s
door, and accuses her of irresponsibly for leaving her patient,
allowing him to go AWOL, and possibly murder someone. She
enlists her good family friend Simon to help solve the mysterious
disappearance, restore her reputation, and clear her name.
She is somewhat hampered by what she can do and how to gain
access to information. The authors show, through the characters,
the restrictions on women. A woman during that era was not
free to travel alone. They were basically subservient to men
including having to turn over any of their own property when
married.
Another interesting part of the book is the comparison with
that era and current times. How easily people take for granted
the way detectives solve crimes today. During that period
intuition, questioning, and connecting the dots were the tools
used instead of DNA, ballistics, and fingerprints.
Readers are able to see the differences between serving then
and now. The Todds explained, “During World War I everywhere
you went there were wounded. Think about the statistic that
in England alone five million people died, and that number
does not include those wounded. There was much more of a connection
between the civilians and the military. That is why we put
in the book, ‘Everyone was in uniform. Even the wounded
had special ones to wear while recuperating to show the world
they had done their duty.’ The wounded had special blue
uniforms to show that they had served proudly and should be
treated with respect. Consider that and compare it to the
poor Vietnam vet who was treated so shamefully.”
They also commented, “Since this book deals with the
subject of deserters, readers need to understand that during
those times they were shot, pure and simple. People who did
not carry out their duties were considered disgraceful. They
were shunned by their family as much as the country. Women
handed out white feathers to cowards who were not serving
in the military. Even Rutledge who suffered from PTSD did
not tell anyone how he felt because he was afraid he would
be seen as a coward.”
An Unwilling
Accomplice not only has an enthralling plot but also provides
historical insight into the time period. As always there are
wonderful plot twists, and an ending you might not expect.
This book is a mystery, historical novel, and psychological
thriller all rolled into one.
The authors
also hope that fans will attend the Military Book Fair on
November 8th on the USS Midway in San Diego, California. “We
are looking forward to it. This family loves ships and has
seen a lot of World War II vessels. It is going to be nice
to meet people from the military who read our books, since
military issues are the background of our novels. We hope
people will come by and at least say hello.”
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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