A Question of Honor by Charles Todd

• Title:  A Question of Honor: A Bess Crawford Mystery
• Author:  Charles Todd
• Genre:  Mystery
• Published:  August 2013 – Wm Morrow
• Source:  Publisher

My take:  I want to begin by saying the Bess Crawford series has become one of my favorites. I like the WWI era, the (mostly) British characters, and the mysteries that Bess seems obligated to solve. I recommend reading the series in order because bits and pieces of Bess’s past are added with each book.

In the newest book, A Question of Honor, we go back to 1908 India when her father, a colonel in the British army, was stationed there. Something occurs back in England  involving one of his regiment that could ultimately hurt the colonel’s reputation as well as leave a black mark on the entire regiment. At that time Bess was fifteen and not privy to any details of what had happened.

Fast-forward to 1918 and we find 25-year-old Bess working as a Sister (British nurse) on the front in France.  One day a dying Indian Sergeant frantically tells Bess something that leads to reopening the unsolved case from 1908. One thing leads to another and Bess is once again working to solve a mystery during her time off back in England.

Bess gets help tracking clues from her father’s assistant Major Simon Brandon as well as her parents. I’ve enjoyed these characters throughout the series. Major Brandon remains a man of mystery with just enough information revealed in this story to make me want to know still more about him. I also hope that he and Bess will realize at some point how perfect they are for one another. I liked the supporting characters, one being Rudyard Kipling, and how they factored into the mystery. The settings of India, France and England were easy to visualize from the detailed descriptions. The case is solved, of course, and I thought it interesting and believable.

If you enjoy British mysteries and this particular era you’ll want to read A Question of Honor.