The Murder Stone

Never having read Charles Todd I really didn't know what to expect. I was enthralled, not only by the historical setting but by the entangled love story that accompanied the mystery. I couldn't put it down, even though I was sure about one part of the mystery. There is a twist at the end but it doesn't detract from the story of young Francesca and her five male cousins. The epistolary chapters are an added dimension to the background of the invisible players and they flesh out the drive Francesca has to find the truth.

On every page the heroine is burdened with another load of ambivalent evidence, conflicting testimony, and all-around uncertainty. I thought I would drown in it. But she did not, and I did not.

The ending is terrific, and involves loyal retainers unwaveringly extending their loyalty across generations. By the tippy end, the parallels in the plot structure become clear, and they are pleasing.

Another suspenseful, dark and delicately woven story by one of my favourite authors. Characters are well-written and support each other as the plot weaves this way and that. A stunning ending. Once I started reading, it was painful to put it down.

Francesca who is helping the Red Cross in London during the First World War is summoned home to Rivers End because her grandfather is dying. After his death she discovers numerous things about the man she thought was her grandfather that she didn't know. Richard Leighton claims that her grandfather killed his mother, a man named Walsham claims her grandfather cheated his father out of his house, a lady claiming to be her former governess shows up and turns out to be looking for her son who was placed in an orphanage her grandfather established, an orphan turns up who is surprised that Francesca's grandfather left her nothing in his will. Francesca and Richard travel to the 2 places in Somerset and Essex that her grandfather talked about show more in his will to try to find his mother and solve other mysteries. This was a very good and enthralling book. I was expecting an Ian Crawford book but was surprised how good this book was. show less

I had really enjoyed the Inspector Rutledge mysteries by Charles Todd, and checked this book out accidentally. It is not in the Rutledge series - and while it SAYS Charles Todd is the author, it feels as if someone else wrote it. A little research revealed that Charles Todd is a mother/son writing team. One of them seems to be missing here. The story is shallow, implausible and overstated, reading rather like a script for daytime soap opera. The ending is particularly disappointing (yes, I plowed through to the end) and just is not in line with the understanding of violence in the other books.

So many details seemed familiar that I'm sure I've read this book before—yet other details were complete surprises. The book is well written, but (spoiler alert) the romance predictable. I'd read another Todd, nonetheless, before making a blanket judgement. Why do so many mysteries seem to fall back on the romance novel formula?

Not a Rutledge but set in the same era with the overwhelming angst of WW1 coloring everything. Lots of mysteries to be discovered and resolved before the heroine creates an ironic solution that escapes the past and creates a future for her self.