A Long Shadow

This very good series continues to provide insights into English town and village life following the War to End All Wars. Rutledge seeks to solve one mystery but others keep appearing. How is a 40-year-old corpse linked to the arrow in the back of the local constable? And, who is leaving those Mauser shells for him to find? It takes patience and many questions before the inspector resolves this one.

It's difficult enough to investigate crimes without doing it with a Scottish ghost by your side at every moment. But such is the challenge Inspector Ian Rutledge lives through each day following his return from the trenches at Sommes during WWI. It also seems someone is stalking him, leaving him empty shell casings, taking a shot at him while he's driving, even perhaps trying to run him down in a stolen lorry.

Or do the attempts on his life and shell casing mean something else instead? Is he being warned away from discovering the body of a missing teenage girl in Dudlington? And who was responsible for the rector's fall and shooting Constable Henley in the back with a poisoned arrow? With close-mouthed villagers and an evil presence in show more the nearby woods, there are long shadows indeed dogging Inspector Rutledge's every step as he tries to make sense of the plots, mysteries and secrets he's only starting to uncover. show less

The Long Shadow is the eighth Ian Rutledge mystery by mother and son team Charles Todd, about a Scotland Yard detective in the 1920s still haunted by his time at the Front. The approaching commemoration of the First World War prompted me to return to the series, but getting back into the spirit of the novels took a while this time. Rutledge is either a deeply layered character scarred by the war, or a fruitloop who really shouldn't be working any more. 'Hamish', the spirit of a (very) Scottish soldier on Rutledge's conscience/a voice in his head, is starting to evolve into a completely separate personality, warning the detective of danger and lurking over his shoulder as the 'long shadow' of the war. A great device - Sherlock and Watson show more in one man - but slightly worrying, and distracting, for the reader who is supposed to 'shadow' Rutledge during the mystery. Are we supposed to care for this enigmatic loner with a split personality?

This time, Old Bowels sends Rutledge to a small rural village (as ever) in Northamptonshire, on what could be a case with professional implications for Rutledge's superior. The local bobby has been shot with a bow and arrow in a haunted forest, and the locals think there might be a connection with the disappearance of a young girl, Emma Mason. Is Emma buried in the forest, and did the constable have anything to do with her death? To tangle the web still further, a soldier with a grudge seems to be stalking Rutledge, taking potshots and leaving empty gun shells behind, and a mysterious woman with almost psychic empathy has also latched onto the already beleaguered policeman. Who can Rutledge trust? The paranoia and creeping fear in this novel is almost palpable, with shadows in the night and everybody under suspicion.

I found the plot to be rather convoluted, but compelling all the same. The murderer has one too many crimes heaped upon their head in the final chapters, making the final revelation rather silly, but the mix-up of crimes and relationships kept me guessing. And apart from 'drapes', 'walks' and 'sweaters', the narrative and dialogue remain fitting to time and place - recognisably post-war England. show less

I am loving this series. Excellent characterizations from Ian to Hamish and all the others that make up each story. I can picture them in my mind as I read. The stories are just long enough and give you everything you need to enjoy a good murder mystery. I love the surroundings from London to Dudleyville to Northamton and can see the snow or rain or green grass or forest. The depictions are really good the descriptions vivid. A really, really, really good series. On to #9, with a quick stop at the Somme to do some reference work first. This series has made me very curious about WWI.

A Long Shadow is the eighth in the Ian Rutledge series by mother/son writing duo Charles Todd. It is the first that I have read.

Ian Rutledge is a police inspector from Scotland Yard who has recently returned from fighting in the trenches in France during World War I. While he struggles to recover from the memories and guilt haunting him, he resumes his duty of solving crimes and tries to heal a country that is just as shattered and broken as he is.

In this book, he investigates a case in a remote village of a man (the local sheriff) found barely alive, shot in the back with an arrow in the nearby woods thought to be haunted by ancient Saxon ghosts. Looking into the attempted assassination, Rutledge is drawn to an unsolved mystery show more involving the disappearance of a teenage beauty. While the cases may or may not be related, there are common factors, and in a small town, most events are related. During the investigation of the case, he confronts local prejudice and tries to maintain his sanity in spite of the constant chiding of his ever-present companion Hamish (the ghost of a fellow soldier he had to execute for refusing to fight or the manifestation of his guilt for the lives lost under his command).

The book is well-written and the descriptions evocative of a bleak yet slowly recovering country. Before reading the book, I was wary of the fact that one of the main characters is either a ghost or symptom of the detective's imagination; however, the supernatural was not overdone. The writing was done in a manner so that I could understand how his conscience and shell-shocked hallucinations were a reaction to his war experience, and that made his trauma and struggle to recover all the more palpable for me as a reader.

The mystery wasn't difficult to figure out, from fairly early in the book. But the story remained interesting and suspenseful not because everyone was a suspect but because there was a question of whether Rutledge would survive / maintain control long enough to solve the case. Starting in London and throughout the investigation, Rutledge's condition is made worse by a stalker who shadows and terrorizes him by leaving tokens demonstrating that Rutledge is vulnerable anywhere at any time.

The book is not gruesome--in fact, there is very little description of blood or gore. However, the book left me more emotionally drained than many violent stories do. I want to read another (and plan to do so) but not for a while. show less

I love these book, but they do require full attention to keep track of the characters. Well developed, wonderful sense of place and a real page-turner. Good mystery, very engaging. I look forward to the next one.

This was another good story with Ian Rutledge. The story starts with Ian accompanying his sister to a house party where there’s a séance about to take place. He’s concerned that that his secret will be revealed and uses the excuse that the Scotland has called him in. On leaving the house he spots a rifle bullet casing on the doorstep and this haunts him throughout the story. His assignment is to go to Devon to find out who shot the local constable with a bow arrow but after he arrives, he soon gets involved in solving a cold case for two women who disappeared.