An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd

• Title:  An Unwilling Accomplice
• Series:  Bess Crawford #6
• Author:  Charles Todd
• Published:  August 2014 – William Morrow
• Source:  Publisher

Synopsis:  World War I Battlefield nurse Bess Crawford’s career is in jeopardy when a murder is committed on her watch, in this absorbing and atmospheric historical mystery from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.

Home on leave, Bess Crawford is asked to accompany a wounded soldier confined to a wheelchair to Buckingham Palace, where he’s to be decorated by the King. The next morning when Bess goes to collect Wilkins, he has vanished. Both the Army and the nursing service hold Bess negligent for losing the war hero, and there will be an inquiry. 

Then comes disturbing word from the Shropshire police, complicating the already difficult situation: Wilkins has been spotted, and he’s killed a man. If Bess is to save her own reputation, she must find Wilkins and uncover the truth. But the elusive soldier has disappeared again and even the Shropshire police have lost him. Suddenly, the moral implications of what has happened—that a patient in her charge has committed murder—become more important to Bess than her own future. She’s going to solve this mysterious puzzle, but righting an injustice and saving her honor may just cost Bess her life.  (publisher)

My take:  I found the newest addition to the Bess Crawford series different from the other books. It takes place almost entirely in England. She’s been put on leave while an inquiry occurs to determine her part in the disappearance of Wilkins, the war hero she’d been assigned to accompany to Buckingham Palace to receive a medal from the King.

It doesn’t take long until Bess’s family friend Sergeant-Major Simon Brandon is by her side intent on proving her innocence as well as finding Wilkins. The two travel the countryside trying to solve the mystery.

I enjoyed the setting and the interactions between Bess and Simon but I didn’t see their friendship progress much in this book. I’d been hoping :). I guess I’ll have to wait for the next book. That aside, I thought the mystery was engaging for a while but I grew a bit bored by the time the actual solution was revealed. So, I liked it but didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped to. I recommend An Unwilling Accomplice to fans of the series, historical mysteries, and Charles Todd.

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.

An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd (audio)

Title:  An Unmarked Grave (Bess Crawford #4)

Author:  Charles Todd

Narrator:  Rosalyn Landor

Genre:  Mystery (series)

Published:  2012 – Harper Audio

8 hours 31 minutes

Synopsis (from publisher) In the spring of 1918, the Spanish flu epidemic spreads, killing millions of soldiers and civilians across the globe. Overwhelmed by the constant flow of wounded soldiers coming from the French front, battlefield nurse Bess Crawford must now contend with hundreds of influenza patients as well.

However, war and disease are not the only killers to strike. Bess discovers, concealed among the dead waiting for burial, the body of an officer who has been murdered. Though she is devoted to all her patients, this soldier’s death touches her deeply. Not only did the man serve in her father’s former regiment, he was also a family friend.

Before she can report the terrible news, Bess falls ill, the latest victim of the flu. By the time she recovers, the murdered officer has been buried, and the only other person who saw the body has hanged himself. Or did he?

Working her father’s connections in the military, Bess begins to piece together what little evidence she can find to unmask the elusive killer and see justice served. But she must be as vigilant as she is tenacious. With a determined killer on her heels, each move Bess makes could be her last.

My take:  I thought the 4th book in the Bess Crawford series had a different feel to it than the others. Yes, we read about Bess’ work as a nurse at the front and her unofficial detective work back in England while she’s on leave but there’s a menacing danger in this mystery. It’s one that threatens Bess, all of her loved ones, and some unsuspecting soldiers.

Revenge is one thing. Indiscriminate killing is another.

from An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd

I had no idea who the murderer was until the reveal. This mystery took turns that completely confused me! I can accept the solution but it wasn’t what I’d expected – even though I wasn’t sure what I expected 🙂

What I enjoyed about An Unmarked Grave was that we see more of Simon Brandon and Bess’ father in this book. It made me think that the series could continue after WWI. I would definitely read more about Bess solving crimes in post-war England. I also appreciated the descriptions of the front where Bess treated soldiers who’d been wounded, suffered the effects of gas, and  those who became ill with Spanish flu.

Rosalyn Landor’s performance was great. There’s a definite distinction between male and female voices that made me question more than once if there was a male narrator as well!

Source:  I bought it (Audible)

Note:  My thanks to Jennifer at Book Club Girl blog. If not for the Read-Along I may never have met Bess Crawford. I’m so glad I did!

A Bitter Truth by Charles Todd

Title:  A Bitter Truth (Bess Crawford #3)

Author:  Charles Todd

Genre:  Mystery series

Published:  January 2011 – HarperCollins

About:  (from Goodreads synopsis) When battlefield nurse Bess Crawford returns from France for a well-earned Christmas leave, she finds a bruised and shivering woman huddled in the doorway of her London residence. The woman has nowhere to turn, and, propelled by a firm sense of duty, Bess takes her in. Once inside Bess’s flat the woman reveals that a quarrel with her husband erupted into violence, yet she wants to go home—if Bess will come with her to Sussex. Realizing that the woman is suffering from a concussion, Bess gives up a few precious days of leave to travel with her. But she soon discovers that this is a good deed with unforeseeable consequences.

My take:  Charles Todd had me guessing all the way to the end of A Bitter Truth and I still didn’t figure out the murderer! Honorable Bess finds out the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished. She becomes one of several suspects in the murder of a house guest at Lydia’s home in Sussex. Over the course of a few weeks more bodies turn up. Not a great way to spend her leave from her work as a nurse near the front in France.

Simon Brandon, Bess’s family friend, tries his best to help her discover what’s going on. I wonder when these two will figure out that they have true feelings for each other. Sooner than later, I hope. I also can’t help wondering if we’ll see more of  Sergeant Larimore in upcoming books. He’s a tall, handsome, charming Australian who seemed to really enjoy teasing Bess when she treated him in the medical tent and when they met up elsewhere. I enjoyed their interactions.

All in all, A Bitter Truth is another good mystery in the Bess Crawford series. I look forward to reading the next book: An Unmarked Grave.

Source:  I bought it.

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

An Impartial Witness by Charles Todd

Bess Crawford Mystery Series #2

Published: August 2011 – HarperCollins

Goodreads synopsis: In the early summer of 1917, Bess Crawford is charged with escorting a convoy of severely wounded soldiers from the trenches of France to England. Among them is a young pilot, burned beyond recognition, who carries a photograph of his wife pinned to his tunic. But later, in a crowded railway station, Bess sees the same woman bidding a heart-wrenching farewell to a departing officer, clearly not her husband.

Back on duty in France, Bess is shocked to discover the wife’s photograph in a newspaper accompanying a plea from Scotland Yard for information about her murder, which took place on the very day Bess witnessed that anguished farewell. Granted leave to speak with the authorities, Bess very quickly finds herself entangled in a case of secrets and deadly betrayal in which another life hangs in the balance, and her search for the truth could expose her to far graver dangers than those she faces on the battlefield.

My thoughts: Although it may seem that the synopsis is a spoiler, it isn’t. We learn that information in the first few pages.

I thought the second book in the Bess Crawford series had a different feel to it than the first. Much of it centers around upper class people. There’s an underlying uneasiness that made me think that’s how Bess felt. Bess finds out that murder actually can happen to “nice people”. She’s not as insulated from the world as she once was – even though she’s a nurse on the front she’s finding out that terrible things can and do happen close to home.

As in A Duty to the Dead Charles Todd put me in the atmosphere of the novel. I was in the crowd at the train station,  the fog in a small village, the medical tent in France. It’s one of the things I love most about the series. I can see, hear and feel the setting.

I had two possibilities for the murderer. One was right but I still wasn’t entirely certain. I’m really enjoying the series and look forward to the next book:  A Bitter Truth.

Note: I wonder if Simon will start to play a more personal role in Bess’ life.

Source:  HarperCollins via Book Club Girl for the Bess Crawford Read-Along.

Disclosure:  See sidebar. I was not compensated for my review.

A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

TItle:  A Duty to the Dead

Author:  Charles Todd

Genre:  Mystery; Series

Published:  2009 – Harper Collins

My take:  Bess Crawford is a British nurse (WWI). When one of her patients realizes he won’t recover, he asks her to memorize a message and deliver it to his brother. She allows nothing to stop her from doing so. Little does she know this will dredge up secrets the soldier’s family thought were put to rest. Bess is determined to get to the bottom of the message when she senses the family isn’t committed to honoring the soldier’s request. Or is she jumping to conclusions? Either way, things just aren’t adding up.

I’m always reluctant to get into the details of a mystery because I don’t want to spoil it for other readers. What I can say is I like Bess Crawford. She is an admirable and strong-minded young woman. I loved the setting – WWI era England. There are motorcars, trains, hospital ships, small villages, and London. The characters and plot reminded me of early Hitchcock movies – interesting plot and characters and filled with surprises. It all made for a good whodunit.

I enjoyed A Duty to the Dead and look forward to the next book in the series.

Source:  I bought it.