Book Review: The Confession, An Inspector Rutledge Mystery by Charles Todd

I have fallen in love with these mystery books. The Confession is my third, but first from the Inspector Ian Rutledge series. I've read two out of three from the Bess Crawford series. I've ordered more from the library.

Our main character is Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard in London, England. The time period is post World War I. Rutledge is a Veteran of the war and suffers from shell shock or what we now call post traumatic stress disorder. His present commander of Scotland Yard is sensitive to this issue, but as the book transgresses Rutledge worries about his "problems" affect in his other commander's eyes. Rutledge is able to fulfill is duties as an inspector in spite of his shell shock. He is a man of determination, sacrifice, honor, and grit. He has a sister named Frances that he has an active relationship with. During this novel he did not have other active friendships, nor a girlfriend. His life is his work.

In the Essex Marshes in 1915 a male dead body in an officer uniform is found. Later we hear of a woman who went missing in 1914 and is presumed to be dead. Then a third body is found dead in London, belonging to a man who'd admitted to Rutledge that he'd committed murder. Inspector Rutledge begins his investigation in a village on the southeast coast of England, Furnham. It is immediately apparent this is a community that does not like strangers, mysteriously unfriendly and hiding something, or so I perceived this. Rutledge continues to uncover and unravel years of twists of secrets in families. Eventually by the conclusion of the book I was satisfied with the outcome.

Glad I take notes on my reading, keeping up with the various characters and whom I thought was not forthcoming in truth, or in piecing together what really happened in all 3 murders, it was quiet an undertaking. My mind was certainly kept busy.
I loved this mysterious unfriendly town of Furnham. English are supposedly known for a reserved personality, yet this town was inhospitable. It made for a page-turner in that I wanted to know what they were hiding.
Ian Rutledge is my kind of man: tough, discerning, smart, perceptive, wise, prepared, trained, and decisive. He is man of action, yet he is not unjust. 
 
Published by Harper Collins January 2012
Link @ publisher:
http://www.harpercollins.com/books/The-Confession-Charles-Todd?isbn=9780062015662&HCHP=TB_The+Confession
352 pages
Mystery Fiction/Historical Mystery Fiction/Post World War I/Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/England

Charles Todd (Mother and Son writing team)
http://charlestodd.com/