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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
COMPELLING, ATMOSPHERIC, SUSPENSEFUL, Nov 20 2009
The mother and son writing team known as Charles Todd has written 11 highly acclaimed Ian Rutledge mysteries, each recognized for scrupulous attention to historic detail, careful plotting, well developed characters, and riveting psychological suspense. The same is true of A DUTY TO THE DEAD in which Todd introduces a new series featuring Bess Crawford.
While Bess lived in 1916 she's more than a match for any contemporary mystery heroine. The daughter of a highly principled and equally highly disciplined officer she inherited these qualities in large doses. It is 1916 and Bess follows in her father's footsteps by serving as a nurse in the Great War. During training she is cautioned about becoming too fond of her patients. "They are yours to comfort, yours to heal, but not yours to dream about." Nonetheless, Arthur Graham found a special place in her heart, and she made a deathbed promise to him, a vow to take a brief, rather cryptic message to his brother, Jonathan.
However, it is some time before she can keep that promise as when our story opens she is aboard the ill-fated hospital ship Britannic. Todd's description of the explosion that rocks the ship and the ensuing sinking is intense, gripping. Bess suffers a broken arm but does manage to find a place in a lifeboat and is eventually sent to England for recoveryr. It is then that she goes to Arthur's home in Kent.
While at first she is welcomed warmly Bess is astute; she recognizes a sorely fragmented family. There is Arthur's widowed mother, a domineering matriarch. Jonathan is a lieutenant who has suffered a facial wound, another brother, Timothy, who was born with a clubfoot and appears bitter because he could not join the service. A third brother, Peregrine, is at the heart of the mystery; he has been held in a mental asylum since the age of fourteen - a confinement that we learn was arranged by his mother. To compound matters there is the mysterious Robert, a cousin, who is omnipresent.
While a guest in the Graham's home Bess is confronted with numerous challenges, not the least of which is assisting the local doctor in caring for a shell shocked soldier. She learns the matrix of small village life - secrets kept, gossip rampant, an aversion to strangers.
A DUTY TO THE DEAD is an atmospheric rendering of wartime England, a sterling suspense tale and an unforgettable picture of the horrors of war.
- Gail Cooke
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome Bess, Jan 26 2010
Bess is a wonderful change from Ian, the detective in the other Tood novels, she is fresh and has an innocence about her. I was impressed that Charles Todd managed to create a completely different character while maintaining the historical detail for which they are known. I very much enjoyed the book, I like a mystery wherein I cannot guess the ending - I did not guess and only began to suspect when Bess herself was realizing who the villian of the piece was. Good pacing, writing that flows beautifully, a lively mystery. I'll read more.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
3.5 Stars - One has a duty to the dead, Jan 4 2010
First Sentence: At seathe morning sun is lovely and warm.
Bess Crawford is an independent, upper-middle-call British gentlewoman who takes after her father. She became a nurse and travelled to the battlefields of France. On her way back to England aboard the Britannic, the ship strikes a mine and sinks. Bess suffers a badly broken arm but becomes fond of Lt. Arthur Graham who, right before dying, extracts a promise from her to deliver a message to his brother in England. Keeping that promise embroils her in a family surrounded by tragedy and secrets.
It is always interesting when an author you love begins a new series. Sometimes it works; sometimes not. In this case, it definitely worked.
Bess is a great new character. She is representative of many woman of her class; smart, independent; strong and with a belief that woman can be as capable as men. She has seen the results of war and knows the impact it has on the men who fight. It is also typical of the time that Bess is constantly asked whether she was in love with each young many of her acquaintance as people cant otherwise understand the courses of action she takes.
Todd provides a very strong sense of time and place with just a hint of a gothic feel. At the same time they make strong statements about the impact of war and the lack of understanding of those who stay at home. Their writing is very effective and can go straight to the emotions and the heart.
There were a couple small false steps. The story was a little slow getting started and Bess reaction to the sinking of the ship seemed a bit too detached. There were a few portenta writing element I really dislikeand a characters who had been locked in an asylum since being a young boy was much to intelligent and street-smart to be quite believable.
I very much enjoyed Bess and hope to see ore of both her and her father, whom I very much liked. I look forward to more books in this series.
A DUTY TO THE DEAD (Hist Mys-Elizabeth (Bess) Crawford England-WWI/1916)- G+
Todd, Charles 1st in series
William Morrow, 2009, US Hardcover ISBN: 9780061933844
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by Charles Todd
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