A Fearsome Doubt (Hardcover)

Back then there was little understanding of 'shell-shock', or what is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder. These men were expected to come home and take up their lives as if nothing had happened, because so little was understood about the psychological impact of this nasty time period. That Rutledge has to deal with Hamish, a Scot he had to have shot because he refused to send young boys out to be killed on the basis of rich/powerful men behind the lines playing these guys like they were a board game...it is not that unbelieveable that Rutledge has this 'ghost' with him always.

In this case Rutledge is doing better. It's been a year since the truce, and all of the sudden a woman whose husband was hung prior to the war due to his committing murders...she comes to Rutledge with what she calls proof as to his innocence. The major charge against capital punishment is the fact that too many innocent men have been put on death row by prejudice or accident. Rutledge is horrified by the idea that he might have sent a man to his death who was innocent. This in connection with another set of murders in the present day (of 1919) of veterans of war, has Rutledge torn in different directions. The fact that he holds down his fear and doubt of himself, to successful get through to the truth in both cases, and deal with a German whose face he is familiar with and thought was dead, is indication that Rutledge is finally coping with his life after the war.

A good, intelligent read (which is often to hard to find nowdays...)

Karen Sadler

Initially, the spectre haunting Rutledge held me fascinated.
Was the Rutledge nuts or haunted? However, as the series continues we get no deeper into Rutledge resolving his psychological conflicts. (It would have been better, if he was just haunted.) I assume he's going to have to visit every county in Britain, Scotland, and Ireland (at one book each) before its resolved.

Also, this book continues the author's recent perchant for making the least credible character to be the murderer.

In this outing, Rutledge's self doubts are aggravated by the possibility that he may have aided in the wrongful conviction of a man fairly early in his career. He must unofficially investigate the allegations recently put to him that the wrong man was convicted of three elderly women. But where to start since the man convicted was executed and the main witness dead.

He is officially assigned to investigate three murders in Kent. Someone is murdering veterans who lost a limb in the war. Who would do such a thing? The murderer is clever and has left no clues as to his identity. While he is searching for clues, Rutledge runs head-long into his past.

The writing continues to be remarkable, the character is ever evolving, and the mysteries still remain mysterious. That said, there was something missing from this entry in the series. I think it was that the author had events moving at a lower pace than usual. Thus, it wasn't the page turner that others in the series had been.