"Another winner.... Todd again excels at vivid atmosphere and the effects of war in this specific time and place. Grade: A."-Cleveland Plain Dealer  "Readers who can't get enough of Maisie Dobbs, the intrepid World War I battlefield nurse in Jacqueline Winspear's novels.are bound to be caught up in the adventures of Bess Crawford."-New York Times Book Review Charles Todd, author of the resoundingly acclaimed Ian Rutledge crime novels ("One of the best historical series being written today" -Washington Post Book World) debuts an exceptional new protagonist, World War I nurse Bess Crawford, in A Duty to the Dead. A gripping tale of perilous obligations and dark family secrets in the shadows of a nightmarish time of global conflict, A Duty to the Dead is rich in suspense, surprise, and the impeccable period atmosphere that has become a Charles Todd trademark.

A Duty to the Dead

Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge finds himself caught in a twisted web of vengeance, old grievances, and secrets that lead back to World War I in the nineteenth installment of the acclaimed bestselling series. On the eve of the bloody Battle of the Somme, a group of English officers having a last drink before returning to the Front make a promise to each other: if they survive the battle ahead-and make it through the war-they will meet in Paris a year after the fighting ends. They will celebrate their good fortune by racing motorcars they beg, borrow, or own from Paris to Nice. In November 1919, the officers all meet as planned, and though their motorcars are not designed for racing, they set out for Nice. But a serious mishap mars the reunion. In the mountains just north of their destination, two vehicles are nearly run off the road, and one man is badly injured. No one knows-or will admit to knowing-which driver was at the wheel of the rogue motorcar. Back in England one year later, during a heavy rainstorm, a driver loses control on a twisting road and is killed in the crash. Was it an accident due to the hazardous conditions? Or premeditated murder? Is the crash connected in some way to the unfortunate events in the mountains above Nice the year before? The dead driver wasn't in France-although the motorcar he drove was. If it was foul play, was it a case of mistaken identity? Or was the dead man the intended victim after all?Investigating this perplexing case, Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge discovers that the truth is elusive-and that the villages on the South Downs, where the accident happened, are adept at keeping secrets, frustrating his search. Determined to remain in the shadows this faceless killer is willing to strike again to stop Rutledge from finding him. This time, the victim he chooses is a child, and it will take all of Rutledge's skill to stop him before an innocent young life is sacrificed.

Racing the Devil - An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

Now published together for the first time: Charles Todd's absorbing short stories-"The Kidnapping, " "The Girl on the Beach, " "Cold Comfort, " and "The Maharani's Pearls"-featuring everyone's favorite Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge and intrepid battlefield nurse Bess Crawford. These vibrant tales transport readers from the home front in Great Britain where ominous clouds of war will soon lead to the trenches of France, to the bloody front lines where Lieutenant Rutledge must risk his life to save his men. And finally to the exotic, dangerous India of Bess Crawford's youth. Together they create a fascinating glimpse into the extraordinary backgrounds of two of mystery's most popular characters.

Tales - Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford

"A wonderful new mystery series that will let us see the horrors of World War I through the eyes of Bess Crawford, battlefield nurse."-Margaret Maron"Readers who can't get enough of Jacqueline Winspear's novels, or Hester Latterly, who saw action in the Crimean War in a series of novels by Anne Perry, are bound to be caught up in the adventures of Bess Crawford."-New York Times Book ReviewThe critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of the Ian Rutledge mystery series, Charles Todd once again spotlights World War I nurse Bess Crawford in An Unmarked Grave. Gripping, powerful, and evocative, this superb mystery masterwork unfolds during the deadly Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1918, as Bess discovers the body of a murdered British officer among the many dead and sets out to unmask a craven killer.

An Unmarked Grave - A Bess Crawford Mystery

1919. Un an que la Grande Guerre a pris fin. Rutledge, inspecteur de
Scotland Yard, n'en est toujours pas remis. Comment oublier l'enfer oe
Les remords n'arrangent pas les choses quand on a dû exécuter soi-même
un caporal pour insoumission. Or voilà qu'il apprend que la
fiancée du disparu, Fiona McLeod, a été arrêtée sur les affirmations
d'un «corbeau» : son fils ne serait pas, comme elle le prétend, l'héritage
d'un amour foudroyé mais l'enfant d'une femme qu'elle aurait
assassinée...
Profondément troublé, Rutledge se rend sur place, dans un trou
perdu d'Écosse. Aucun doute : Fiona est innocente. Mais le dénonciateur
a si bien agencé son plan que sauver la jeune femme de la
potence semble impossible. C'est pourtant le défi que Rutledge,
résolu à solder ses comptes avec sa conscience, se lance à lui-même.
Sans se douter qu'un nouvel enfer l'attend...

Heritage mortel

"Seamless in its storytelling and enthralling in its plotting."-Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel"Dark and remarkable.. Once [Todd] grabs you, there's no putting the novel down." -Detroit Free PressThe Winston-Salem Journal declares that, "like P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Charles Todd writes novels that transcend genre." A Long Shadow proves that statement true beyond the shadow of a doubt. Once again featuring Todd's extraordinary protagonist, Scotland Yard investigator and shell-shocked World War One veteran, Inspector Ian Rutledge, A Long Shadow immerses readers in the sights and sounds of post-war Great Britain, as the damaged policeman pursues answers to a constable's slaying and the three-year-old mystery of a young girl's disappearance in a tiny Northamptonshire village. Read Todd's A Long Shadow and see why the Washington Post calls the Rutledge crime novels, "one of the best historical series being written today."

A Long Shadow - An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

L'inspecteur Ian Rutledge, de Scotland Yard, aurait sans doute préféré ne jamais retourner à Marling, une petite ville du Kent qui ne lui a pas laissé que de bons souvenirs... C'est là, entre autres, qu'en 1912 il a envoyé à la potence un certain Ben Shaw, pour l'assassinat de plusieurs vieilles dames. Sept années plus tard, Mme Shaw, disposant d'éléments nouveaux, demande la révision du procès pour réhabiliter la mémoire de son défunt mari. Un doute s'empare alors de Rutledge : et s'il était responsable d'une erreur judiciaire ? Reprenant l'enquête, il se heurte à la bourgeoisie de Marling, qui n'a pas pour habitude de livrer facilement ses secrets, surtout à quelqu'un qu'elle connaît bien. Et avec qui il lui reste certains comptes à régler... A la manière du commissaire Maigret, qui s'inspire de l'atmosphère des lieux et cherche plus à comprendre qu'à pourfendre, Rutledge, hanté par les réminiscences de la Grande Guerre, devra aussi affronter les fantômes de son passé pour mener à terme son enquête.

Un Doute effrayant

Though the Great War has ended, Bess Crawford finds herself caught in deadly circumstances on a remote Welsh headland in this tenth entry from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author. The fighting has ended, the Armistice signed, but the war has left wounds that are still agonizingly raw. Battlefield Nurse Bess Crawford has been assigned to a clinic for amputees, and the Welsh patients worry her. She does her best to help them, but it's clear that they have nothing to go home to, in a valley where only the fit can work in the coal pits. When they are released, she fears that peace will do what war couldn't-take their lives. Their officer, Captain Williams, writes to describe their despair, and his own at trying to save his men. Bess feels compelled to look into their situation, but the Army and the clinic can do nothing. Requesting leave, she quietly travels to Wales, and that bleak coal mining village, but she is too late. Captain Williams' sister tells Bess he has left the valley. Bess is afraid he intends to kill himself. She follows him to an isolated, storm-battered peninsula-a harsh and forgotten place where secrets and death go hand in hand. Deserted by her frightened driver, Bess is stranded among strangers suspicious of outsiders. She quickly discovers these villagers are hiding something, and she's learned too much to be allowed to leave. What's more, no one in England knows where she is. Why is there no Constable out here? And who is the mysterious Ellen? Captain Williams and his brother's widow are her only allies, and Bess must take care not to put them at risk as she tries to find answers. But there is a murderer here who is driven to kill again and again. And the next person in his sights is Simon Brandon, searching for Bess and unaware of his danger.

A Forgotten Place - A Bess Crawford Mystery

"Bess is among the most compassionate and intelligent characters." -The Sun-Sentinel From the New York Times bestselling author of the Bess Crawford mystery series, a short story that unravels dark secrets from her close friend Simon Brandon's past. Years before the Great War summoned Bess Crawford to serve as a battlefield nurse, the indomitable heroine spent her childhood in India under the watchful eye of her friend and confidant, the young soldier Simon Brandon. The two formed an inseparable bond on the dangerous Northwest Frontier where her father's Regiment held the Khyber Pass against all intruders. It was Simon who taught Bess to ride and shoot, escorted her to the bazaars and the Maharani's Palace, and did his best to keep her out of trouble, after the Crawford family took an interest in the tall, angry boy with a mysterious past. But the Crawfords have long guarded secrets for Simon and he owes them a debt that runs deeper than Bess could ever know. Told through the eyes of Melinda, Richard, Clarissa, and Bess, A Hanging at Dawn pieces together a mystery at the center of Bess's family that will irrevocably change the course of her future.

A Hanging at Dawn - A Bess Crawford Short Story

In the latest mystery from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd, World War I nurse and amateur sleuth Bess Crawford investigates an old murder that occurred during her childhood in India, and begins a search for the truth that will transform her and leave her pondering a troubling question: How can facts lie?In 1908, when a young Bess Crawford lived in India, an unforgettable incident darkened the otherwise happy time. Her father's regiment discovered it had a murderer in its ranks, an officer who killed five people yet was never brought to trial. A decade later, tending to the wounded on the battlefields of France during World War I, Bess learns from a dying man that the alleged murderer, Lieutenant Wade, is alive and serving at the Front. According to reliable reports, he'd died years before, so how did Wade escape India? What drove a good man to murder in cold blood? Bess uses her leave to investigate. But when she stumbles on the horrific truth, she is shaken to her very core. The facts reveal a reality that could have been her own fate.

A Question of Honor - A Bess Crawford Mystery

On a deserted road, late at night, Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge encounters a frightened woman standing over a body, launching an inquiry that leads him into the lair of a stealthy killer and the dangerous recesses of his own memories in this twentieth installment of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling series. Hours after his sister's wedding, a restless Ian Rutledge drives aimlessly, haunted by the past, and narrowly misses a motorcar stopped in the middle of a desolate road. Standing beside the vehicle is a woman with blood on her hands and a dead man at her feet. She swears she didn't kill Stephen Wentworth. A stranger stepped out in front of their motorcar, and without warning, fired a single shot before vanishing into the night. But there is no trace of him. And the shaken woman insists it all happened so quickly, she never saw the man's face. Although he is a witness after the fact, Rutledge persuades the Yard to give him the inquiry, since he's on the scene. But is he seeking justice-or fleeing painful memories in London?Wentworth was well-liked, yet his bitter family paint a malevolent portrait, calling him a murderer. But who did Wentworth kill? Is his death retribution? Or has his companion lied? Wolf Pit, his village, has a notorious history: in Medieval times, the last wolf in England was killed there. When a second suspicious death occurs, the evidence suggests that a dangerous predator is on the loose, and that death is closer than Rutledge knows.

The Gate Keeper - An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard must contend with two dangerous enemies in New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd's Proof of Guilt. Can Rutledge solve the apparent murder of a top wine merchant while dealing with interference from his superior, the new Acting Chief Superintendent?Readers of Charles Todd's Bess Crawford books and London-based Ian Rutledge mysteries will be thrilled with Proof of Guilt, clue by clue.

Proof of Guilt - An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

In the ruins of Yorkshire's Fountains Abbey lies the body of a man wrapped in a cloak, the face covered by a gas mask. Next to him is a book on alchemy, which belongs to the schoolmaster, a conscientious objector in the Great War. Who is this man, and is the investigation into his death being manipulated by a thirst for revenge?Meanwhile, the British War Office is searching for a missing man of their own, someone whose war work was so secret that even Rutledge isn't told his real name or what he did. The search takes Rutledge to Berkshire, where cottages once built to house lepers stand in the shadow of a great white horse cut into the chalk hillside. The current inhabitants of the cottages are outcasts, too, hiding from their own pasts. Who among them is telling the truth about their neighbors and who is twisting it?Here is a puzzle requiring all of Rutledge's daring and skill, for there are layers of lies and deception, while a ruthless killer is determined to hold on to freedom at any cost. And the pale horse looming overhead serves as a reminder that death is never finished with anyone, least of all the men who fought in the trenches of France.

A Pale Horse - A Novel of Suspense

« Il y a dix ans, pendant la Grande Guerre, j'ai assassiné mon cousin... » déclare l'homme qui vient de se présenter à Scotland Yard. Une dernière confession pour soulager sa conscience ? Quelques jours plus tard, son corps est retrouvé flottant dans la Tamise. A la recherche de réponses, l'inspecteur Ian Rutledge découvre que le mort n'est pas celui qu'il prétendait être. Quel est son véritable nom ? Ses prétendus « aveux » et son assassinat sont-ils liés ? Seul indice : un médaillon autour du cou du cadavre qui conduit Rutledge jusqu'à un village de la campagne anglaise. Un village dont les habitants protègent jalousement les secrets de leur passé... Meurtres, trahisons, vengeance : le passé ressurgit toujours.

La Mort en Confession

Charles Heavitree Todd, né le 7 juillet 1826 à Islington et mort le 29 janvier 1910 à Adélaïde, est un astronome et télégraphiste australien du XIXe siècle.
Charles Todd construisit la première ligne télégraphique transcontinentale australienne entre Darwin et Adélaïde en 1872.
Alice Springs a été nommée en l'honneur de sa femme, Alice Gillam Bell.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Todd

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