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Product Description
In his latest novel, bestselling author Charles Todd brings his classic mystery series to a new level of intensity and intrigue. The year is 1919, and Ian Rutledge is a fragile yet courageous former soldier searching for his place in a postwar world. Now a Scotland Yard investigator, Rutledge is called upon to probe a small-town murder — and discovers that it may be connected to one of the greatest disasters of all time....
Watchers of Time
In Osterley, a marshy Norfolk backwater, a man lies dying on a rainy autumn night. While natural causes will surely claim Herbert Baker’s life in a matter of hours, his last request baffles his family and friends.
Baker, a devout Anglican, inexplicably demands to see the town’s Catholic priest for a last confession. The old man dies without knowing that the very priest who gave him comfort will follow him to the grave just a few weeks later — the victim of an appalling murder.
The local police are convinced the evidence points to an interrupted robbery, and have named a suspect, Matthew Walsh. But the dead priest’s bishop insists that Scotland Yard oversee the investigation. A simple task for Rutledge, a man not yet well enough to return to full duty.
The Inspector draws on years of experience and a war-honed intuition as he finds himself uncovering secrets that the local authorities would prefer not to see explored. Surely, they reason, it is better to charge an outsider — Matthew Walsh — with murder than to learn that someone in this tightly knit community would commit such a horrendous crime. And yet there are those, Rutledge soon discovers, who held grudges against the priest that had little to do with God or the Church.
No one in Osterley is aware that Rutledge hears voices — or, rather, one haunting voice: that of a soldier he was forced to execute during the War. It is with the voice of Hamish MacLeod, by turns second-guessing and taunting him, that Rutledge begins a journey toward the devastating truth that will unlock the secrets of Osterley and pare away its layers of deception.
And in piecing together a different story, Rutledge encounters a chain of events that stretches from these brooding marshes to one of the greatest sea disasters in history — the sinking of the Titanic. Who is the mysterious woman who may have boarded that ship ... and who is the secretive woman who survived it? Rutledge comes to believe that he alone can stop a killer from striking again.
Deftly capturing the anguish of a man haunted by his tragic past, Watchers of Time delves beneath a cast of unforgettable characters to examine a mystery even greater than murder: the mystery of what is right and what is wrong after the world has committed the sin of war.
From the Hardcover edition.
Watchers of Time
In Osterley, a marshy Norfolk backwater, a man lies dying on a rainy autumn night. While natural causes will surely claim Herbert Baker’s life in a matter of hours, his last request baffles his family and friends.
Baker, a devout Anglican, inexplicably demands to see the town’s Catholic priest for a last confession. The old man dies without knowing that the very priest who gave him comfort will follow him to the grave just a few weeks later — the victim of an appalling murder.
The local police are convinced the evidence points to an interrupted robbery, and have named a suspect, Matthew Walsh. But the dead priest’s bishop insists that Scotland Yard oversee the investigation. A simple task for Rutledge, a man not yet well enough to return to full duty.
The Inspector draws on years of experience and a war-honed intuition as he finds himself uncovering secrets that the local authorities would prefer not to see explored. Surely, they reason, it is better to charge an outsider — Matthew Walsh — with murder than to learn that someone in this tightly knit community would commit such a horrendous crime. And yet there are those, Rutledge soon discovers, who held grudges against the priest that had little to do with God or the Church.
No one in Osterley is aware that Rutledge hears voices — or, rather, one haunting voice: that of a soldier he was forced to execute during the War. It is with the voice of Hamish MacLeod, by turns second-guessing and taunting him, that Rutledge begins a journey toward the devastating truth that will unlock the secrets of Osterley and pare away its layers of deception.
And in piecing together a different story, Rutledge encounters a chain of events that stretches from these brooding marshes to one of the greatest sea disasters in history — the sinking of the Titanic. Who is the mysterious woman who may have boarded that ship ... and who is the secretive woman who survived it? Rutledge comes to believe that he alone can stop a killer from striking again.
Deftly capturing the anguish of a man haunted by his tragic past, Watchers of Time delves beneath a cast of unforgettable characters to examine a mystery even greater than murder: the mystery of what is right and what is wrong after the world has committed the sin of war.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As Herbert Baker (Anglican) is dying he insistently asks for a Catholic priest. When he goes to that great beyond he is sent off by both the vicar and the priest. This brings on speculations. Later the priest that questions Baker's sanity is himself dispatched. His dispatcher sets the scene to look like a simple robbery.
The local constable is content to pin the dead on an itinerant strongman (someone not local.) However as a courtesy, London has sent Inspector Ian Rutledge to support the local constabulary in its investigation. Naturedly Inspector Rutledge with the assistance or prodding of Hamish and a prying attitude comes to a different conclusion.
Staying true to the formula this is the fifth of the Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries. Instead of pointing out who Hamish is I suggest you start out reading "A Test of Wills." The mystery part of the novel is a series of overlapping stories some are red herrings others are integral to trying to out guess the characters. Aside from the mystery are the descriptions of the time and place (1919) Osterley.
The local constable is content to pin the dead on an itinerant strongman (someone not local.) However as a courtesy, London has sent Inspector Ian Rutledge to support the local constabulary in its investigation. Naturedly Inspector Rutledge with the assistance or prodding of Hamish and a prying attitude comes to a different conclusion.
Staying true to the formula this is the fifth of the Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries. Instead of pointing out who Hamish is I suggest you start out reading "A Test of Wills." The mystery part of the novel is a series of overlapping stories some are red herrings others are integral to trying to out guess the characters. Aside from the mystery are the descriptions of the time and place (1919) Osterley.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
19 reviews
30 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Still One of the Best Procedural Series
7 July 2002
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
In this fifth outing, Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard is once again sent out of London to help the local constabulary investigate a murder and to placate local powers that be.
As he painstakenly uncovers each clue, Rutledge begins to put the puzzle of a local priest's murder together in spite of the local police declaring that they have found the killer. The conclusions he draws will shock the local people as well as the local policeman.
Todd has one of the four best British procedural series going (the others being Crombie, Robinson, and James). Todd's series is special, however, because he has set it immediately after World War I and his character is flawed because of his experiences in the trenches of France.
Todd's writing continues to be impressive and his plotting superb. He does not use devices that will give his detective more information than he gives his readers. He has maintained Inspector Rutledge's voice and that of his alter-ego Hamish in this outing.
Todd has written a procedural - it is not machine gun paced - it's not supposed to be. If you're looking for a book that you can read in a single setting and still figure out whodunnit, don't pick up this series. But if you enjoy going along with the detective as he/she investigates a crime step-by-step, then try this series. You won't be disappointed.
If you intend to read this series, start with Todd's first effort A Test of Wills so you get the sense of the character and his suffering.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Intriguing but not the best effort to date
15 Sep 2006
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Once again Inspector Rutledge is sent out of London to deal with a murder in a rural constituency. This time he goes out to the 'Boards' of East Anglia, which even today is a desperately poor part of England. A priest has been murdered and his Bishop has asked Scotland Yard to make sure that the local constabulary doesn't 'muck it up'.
The local chap, Inspector Blevin, is determined to prove that the person who did it was not one of his 'flock'. He quickly latches on to a suspect who he is determined to hang, so as to be done with it. The problem is that there's little or no proof that he did the deed, and has an alibi for the day of the murder.
Inspector Rutledge must work he way through a cast of characters, all of whom know some of the truth, but only the real murderer knows the whole truth. Rutledge is determined to track that person down and bring them to justice.
One of the side characters is a young lady by the name of May (Marianna) Trent who has her own secrets. She is tormented by an sevent that she doesn't remember and doesn't want to face. Sound familiar. Like many victims of shock, she has no memory of before or after the event, the sinking of the Titanic. She still has nightmares, but can't remember what happen to her elderly companion, or how she managed to get safely away. She makes the perfect mirror image for Rutledge, who more than once comments on her appearance.
The denouement is interesting but the ending (which are separate) is in itself a disappointment. It's almost as if you can see
'TO BE CONTINUED' after the last paragraph. You get the feeling that this story will be revisited at some time in the near future.
The local chap, Inspector Blevin, is determined to prove that the person who did it was not one of his 'flock'. He quickly latches on to a suspect who he is determined to hang, so as to be done with it. The problem is that there's little or no proof that he did the deed, and has an alibi for the day of the murder.
Inspector Rutledge must work he way through a cast of characters, all of whom know some of the truth, but only the real murderer knows the whole truth. Rutledge is determined to track that person down and bring them to justice.
One of the side characters is a young lady by the name of May (Marianna) Trent who has her own secrets. She is tormented by an sevent that she doesn't remember and doesn't want to face. Sound familiar. Like many victims of shock, she has no memory of before or after the event, the sinking of the Titanic. She still has nightmares, but can't remember what happen to her elderly companion, or how she managed to get safely away. She makes the perfect mirror image for Rutledge, who more than once comments on her appearance.
The denouement is interesting but the ending (which are separate) is in itself a disappointment. It's almost as if you can see
'TO BE CONTINUED' after the last paragraph. You get the feeling that this story will be revisited at some time in the near future.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Excellent, complex mystery
14 Oct 2002
Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love this series. I think book this was an excellent "breather" from the major internal conflict of Rutledge and Hamish. Of course, I look forward to the next book returning to that conflict, but this was a very intriguing mystery. I love the world and the premise of the series. I certainly don't think the series has weakened with each subsequent book. My own favorites were the second, third, and fourth. Todd is one of the few authors I buy in hardback. I do know Brits who drink cream in their tea. I guess they aren't self-respecting. I must have been deceived...
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