A Game of Fear
by Charles Todd
It’s spring, 1921. Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge has been sent to a small village near the southeastern coast of England on a peculiar case. A woman says she witnessed a murder, but no body has been found. She says she recognized the killer, but gave a name of someone who died some time ago. Rutledge doesn’t believe in ghosts and wonders why the case hasn’t been left to the locals to sort out, but apparently the Chief Constable knows the witness’ family and feels obligated to investigate.
Thus begins the 24th in the long-running mystery series featuring Ian Rutledge. After serving as an officer in World War I, Rutledge returned to his job as a Scotland Yard detective but has to keep secret the fact that he is suffering from posttraumatic stress (or “shell shock”) as a result of his war experiences. Those include barely surviving an explosion which buried him alive along with the body of Corporal Hamish Macleod, who Rutledge had reluctantly executed for refusing to follow orders. A key symptom of Rutledge’s PTSD is hearing Hamish’s voice in his head, speaking as if he’s just behind Rutledge’s shoulder.
The story gets more complicated. The “ghost killer” and disappearing body prove to have been staged for effect, but soon actual murders are uncovered, with roots reaching back into the war and earlier. The placid life of the small village is disrupted, and Rutledge has to find a killer, who’s hiding behind an alias, before he kills yet again.
As with all the books in this series, the picture of life in an English village a century ago—replete with details such as there being hardly any available telephones, or having to crank a car to start it—is spot on and satisfying, while the mood darkens and danger mounts. Rutledge himself is a very relatable figure, with a superior officer who can’t stand him and a romantic interest in a woman who is out of his reach. Investigating on his own, with occasional input from others (including the ever-present Hamish), Rutledge finds his way through to a gripping conclusion.
“Charles Todd” is a pen name for a mother-and-son writing duo, Caroline and Charles Todd. (And—adding another layer— those names are pen names as well, masking the real names of Carolyn Watjen and David Watjen.) Together the duo has published 38 novels, beginning with A Test of Wills in 1994. Apart from two standalone novels, their books fall into two series, one with Ian Rutledge and the other featuring Bess Crawford, a battlefield nurse (and amateur sleuth) in the Great War.
Though American and living in the eastern US, their books primarily take place in remote villages in England or battlefield settings in France, during or just after WWI.
Sadly, Carolyn Todd died of a lung infection August 2021. She was 86. After her death, Charles put the finishing touches on their final two co-written books: A Game of Fear and another Bess Crawford novel still to come, succeeding An Irish Hostage published in 2021. Though Charles (or David) has said they had discussed plans for a new Rutledge book after Game of Fear, he hasn’t announced whether he’ll continue either series without Carolyn.
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