Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

The latest Ian Rutledge mystery, set in 1921, finds the Scotland Yard inspector on the trail of a man who appeared to have vanished 10 years earlier: Alan Barrington, the prime suspect in a high-profile murder. Now, it seems, Barrington has come out of hiding. But why? Soon Rutledge realizes that solving this decade-old cold case could also help him answer some pressing questions about himself and his memories of the Great War that still haunt him (and, as regular readers know, the haunting is not entirely metaphorical). The authors Charles Todd is the pseudonym used by a mother-and-son writing team have written 21 Rutledge novels, but they have never let the series settle into an easy formula, and they always keep the reader guessing. This one feels just as fresh as the early Rutledge novels (the series debuted with 1996's A Test of Wills).--David Pitt Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

An investigation into an 11-year-old murder unearths some surprising revelations in Inspector Ian Rutledge's 21st case (The Gate Keeper, 2018, etc.).Rutledge survived World War I shellshocked and living with the ghostly voice of Hamish, a comrade who died in his arms. When he helps a former soldier find his wife, the grateful man gives him a tip that might help Rutledge find one of the most wanted men in Britain, Alan Barrington, who was accused of murder over a decade earlier and hasn't been seen since. Rutledge's boss gives him the unwelcome job of following up the clue, which begins the inspector's unrelenting search for the truth. Barrington had been accused of engineering a motor crash that killed Blanche Thorne and gravely injured her second husband, Harold Fletcher-Munro. Barrington had been positive that Fletcher-Munro drove Barrington's friend Mark Thorne to financial ruin and suicide so he could marry Blanche. Rutledge starts out by investigating Barrington's friends, including his lawyer and estate agent, both of whom have known him for years. When each refuses to confirm or deny that he's still alive, Rutledge begins to consider the possibility that Mark Thorne did not commit suicide but was murdered by one of the several men who wanted Blanche. Conversations with friends and relatives of the parties involved with Blanche reveal many conflicting opinions. Each snippet Rutledge gleans leads him deeper into a complex maze, but he never considers giving up even when his own wartime demons come to the fore.Although the pace of this intricate tale is necessarily slow, the investigation and its ultimate destination are gripping. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
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Set in 1921, bestseller Todd's solid 21st mystery featuring Scotland Yarder Ian Rutledge (after 2018's The Gatekeeper) finds Rutledge defusing a hostage situation he encounters by chance in an English village. One of the people involved reports having heard of a recent sighting of Alan Barrington, a fugitive from justice. In 1910, Barrington was suspected of intentionally damaging a motorcar whose subsequent crash near the Ascot racetrack claimed the life of Blanche Fletcher-Munro and badly injured her husband, Harold. Despite a wide net cast by the police, Barrington evaded capture. Rutledge gets permission to pursue the new lead and seeks out Harold, whom Barrington held responsible for the suicide of his close friend Mark Thorne, Blanche's first husband. The inspector finds reason to question the cause of Thorne's death and the evidence against Barrington. Todd (the mother-and-son writing team of Caroline and Charles Todd) fails to make the most of a late dramatic development involving the psychologically damaged Rutledge. Still, this long-running series shows no sign of losing steam. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, DeFiore and Co. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.