Legacy of the Dead

October 2, 2000
The muddy, bloody horrors of WWI continue to haunt Insp. Ian Rutledge, back at work at Scotland Yard, but just barely. Still guilt-stricken over his wartime murder of Corp. Hamish MacLeod, who "cracked" during the Somme offensive of 1916, Rutledge hears Hamish's voice in his head as a steady, moralizing conversationalist. Now Rutledge has been dispatched to Scotland to identify the probable remains of Eleanor Gray, an aristocratic suffragette inexplicably estranged from her mother, the imperious Lady Maude. Local police theorize that Eleanor was murdered on the Highlands by beautiful, young Fiona MacDonald, who's been raising Eleanor's newborn son as her own. Unconvinced of a link between the two women, Rutledge visits Fiona in jail and immediately recognizes her as Hamish's beloved fianc e. But Fiona won't exonerate herself, refusing to identify the boy's real parents. Following the Edgar-nominated A Test of Wills (1996), this fourth installment in the series focuses narrowly on the question: is there a link between Fiona and Eleanor? Since the answer is never in doubt, there's not much to absorb suspense addicts, as Rutledge slogs through Scotland trying to break the apparently deadlocked circumstantial case. The resolution, implicating too many peripheral characters, is particularly unsatisfying. But readers will continue to be captivated by Todd's portrait of the dangerously unraveling detective, and his equally incisive evocation of the grieving postwar world. Agent, Jane Chelius.

Inspector Ian Rutledge, who is plagued by memories of his WWI service, heads to Scotland on an investigation and comes face to face with the most painful part of his past. This addition to Todd's acclaimed series about Rutledge, a veteran and Scotland Yard inspector, and Hamish, the ghost of a Scots soldier who haunts Rutledge's mind, adds intriguing new wrinkles to the ongoing plot. Deep-voiced Samuel Gillies gives Rutledge the English voice one expects, yet he narrates with a hint of a Scots accent. Unexpected, but it works. As does his fine creation of Hamish's rhythmic brogue and the many other voices and personalities in the book, both men and women. The only quibble is Gillies's tendency to end most sentences with an upswing, as if he's making an announcement. A.C.S. (c) AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine

May 1, 2003
In this fourth Ian Rutledge mystery, Ian is forced to take a journey he has dreaded since his return from the trenches of World War I-to Scotland in search of Eleanor Gray. Here he will face the ghosts of the many Scottish soldiers who died under his command. In a strange twist of fate, he will meet Fiona McDonald, who was once engaged to Hamish MacLeod, Ian's own private ghost-the ghost who has bedeviled him since he was forced to execute MacLeod for treason. Todd (Search the Dark) has the ability to show us the turmoil that Ian faces daily as he fights to create a life for himself after the devastation of war. He has created a detective who has psychological depth and intuitive skills. Samuel Gillies ably performs the varied accents-good show! Highly recommended for all public libraries.-Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ., Russellville

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