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| Like Many Tales, This One Begins at the Somme |
By Mike Hanlon, Editor/Publisher
World War One veterans Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge and deceased soldier Hamish Macleod are the main figures in a two dozen-volume collection of mystery novels I'm addicted to. Their creator, "Charles Todd", actually a dual-pseudonym for a mother-son team of writers, Caroline and David Watjen, lived and wrote in North Carolina. Caroline passed away in 2021, which seemed to have ended the critically acclaimed series. Recently, however, the David half of Charles has produced two additional Rutledge works, a Christmas-themed novella, and another case for Rutledge set in 1921.
I was lucky to discover this series with the publication of the first of the novels in the mid-1990s and have been regularly reading them ever since. I've lost track of which of the subsequent volumes I've read. This has caused me to overlook some of the adventures and re-read some.
The stories are all set in post-WWI England, and the cases Rutledge is assigned—like another big favorite series of mine, the early Maisie Dobbs mysteries—are all connected to the war somehow. A major contrast in these two successful series, though, is that Masie has remained sensible and level-headed, while Rutledge is, well, possessed. This requires some explanation.
After recovering from his wartime injuries, Inspector Rutledge returns to his old job, despite secretly still suffering from shell shock. Captain Rutledge had commanded a group of sappers of the Royal Engineers up through the Battle of the Somme. Postwar, he remains haunted by the voice of a fellow soldier, one of his subordinates. He, of course, must hide this information from those around him in order to avoid the social stigma which accompanies odd psychological disorders, especially among coppers.
During the Somme, his man Corporal Hamish Macleod had refused to follow orders to join a foolish attack and was sentenced to death at his court martial. As Macleod's commanding officer, Rutledge was obliged to carry out the execution of Macleod and did so. Rutledge, however, was almost immediately buried alive with the man's corpse when an artillery shell exploded near the burial site.. After being rescued, Rutledge learned that it was an air pocket created by Hamish's corpse that had kept him (and no one else) alive underground.
The source of this interesting information is a voice/counter-spirit/super-ego (whatever) that has now taken permanent tenancy in Rutledge's mind—at times sadistically tormenting him over his moral insufficiencies, puncturing his self-righteousness (MacLeod is quite witty about this), and suddenly and at unpredictable time helping to solve the crimes, despite his implacable hostility. Also, they form a tacit alliance against Rutledge's envious boss, who is continually undermining him. Together, they manage to form a formidable mystery-solving team, comparable in many ways to you-know-who. What I've written so far applies to the 14 or so books of the series I've read. I've seen in reviews that suggest as the cases move beyond 1920, Rutledge starts putting his war trauma behind him, and MacLeod's presence starts to fade away. I don't know if I'll enjoy the stories as much when I get to those volumes.
Let me suggest a starter set of four Rutledge books, if I've succeeded in interesting you in reading these mysteries. They are books I've read myself and enjoyed—in order of the inspector's postwar cases chronologically, not by publication date. The sequence of cases is not that significant, though, but the early development of the Rutledge—MacLeod relationship is.
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| Order HERE |
Book # 1, A Test of Wills begins in June 1919, introducing the war-damaged Scotland Yard Inspector with PTSD named Ian Rutledge. After returning home to England, Rutledge has put his life back together and is thrown into a baffling murder case.
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| Order HERE |
Book # 2, Wings of Fire (July 1919) rolls right into a new case in July 1919 in Cornwall, Southern England, when Inspector Rutledge investigates the sudden deaths of three members of the same eminent family.
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| Order HERE |
Book # 3, Search the Dark (August 1919) takes place in August 1919, Dorset, England during which a dead woman and two missing children, followed by a second murder, bring Rutledge’s quest to find answers up against both the locals and Londoners whose privileged positions and private passions work to prevent it.
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| Order HERE |
Book # 4, Legacy of the Dead (September 1919) takes you to Scotland in September 1919 when Rutledge takes on a murder investigation involving a young mother accused of committing the crime. She turns out to be the former fiancée of Hamish MacLeod, whom Ian had executed during the war.
Sources: Charles Todd website, Wikipedia entries, The Charles Todd Website
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