A Bitter Truth

A Bess Crawford Mystery

By: Charles Todd

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Trying to help a woman in distress, World War I nurse and accidental sleuth Bess Crawford learns that no good deed goes unpunished.

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' flat, the woman reveals that a quarrel with her husband erupted into violence, yet she wants to return home - if Bess will go 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.

What Bess finds at Vixen Hill is a house of mourning. The woman's family has gathered for a memorial service for the elder son, who died of war wounds. Her husband, home on compassionate leave, is tense, tormented by jealousy and his own guilty conscience.

Then, when a troubled houseguest is found dead, Bess herself becomes a prime suspect in the case. This murder will lead her to a dangerous quest in war-torn France, an unexpected ally, and a startling revelation that puts her in jeopardy before a vicious killer can be exposed.

©2011 Charles Todd (P)2011 HarperCollinsPublishers

Slow start

This one started out really slow, and I was somewhat bored until the second half of the story got moving. In this age of DNA, I found it somewhat disingenuous to deal with one of the major themes -- that a 2-year-old child born in a different country MUST be the illegitimate child of one of the male characters, simply because she closely resembled his sister, who died at the age of six, with no other apparent connection between them.

A Bitter Truth

Story captivating, characters colorful and identifiable narration brilliant and like being talked to directly.

I would recommend this to family, staff and to anyone who lives solid writing

Neither Bitter nor Sweet

I have really enjoyed the Ian Rutledge series by Todd and so tried this. I realize I didn't start with the first in the series, and perhaps that diminished my enjoyment of Bess Crawford. The story starts well, but I never really felt attached to Bess or her personal story. The plot here begins in an intriguing way but peters out to a very so-so conclusion. Most of the characters and settings never come to life.

If you like historical mysteries (and especially the WWI period), I'd recommend the early Maisie Dobbs books by Jacqueline Winspear over the Bess Crawford series. Winspear is better at characterization and atmosphere.

Great Mystery--love the history

Would you consider the audio edition of A Bitter Truth to be better than the print version?

I can only guess, as I did not read the print version---the audio version was great as the characters came alive through Rosalyn's reading.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoy mysteries, but I especially enjoy historical fiction.

What about Rosalyn Landor’s performance did you like?

She is able to make even the male characters believable as well as doing a good job of accents.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes!

Any additional comments?

Love the fact that this writer does not see a need for fowl language or detailed sexual encounters. I have listened to all the Bess Crawfords mysteries and have moved on to Todd's other mystery series.

Love this!

The story is great! BUT... Rosalyn Landor is exceptional! I could picture all the characters so vividly. Rosalyn's performance and Charles Todd's words makes a WONDERFUL combination!

Love this series!

Satisfying mysteries without gratuitous sex and violent mayhem. Likable, well developed characters, soothing & entertaining narrator, what’s not to love!

Excellent

This took a little getting into but what a journey! Love the Aussie! A study in emotions, denial and hidden secrets. Author is amazing and with this narrator wonderful

Beloved Bess

A friend recommended that I try reading Charles Todd and at that time A Duty to the Dead (the first Bess Crawford novel) had just come out. So that's where I started and I got hooked. I like Bess; she's a strong, single woman serving as a nurse during World War I in France. Somehow she manages to get in the middle of murder mysteries and we get to go along with her to the solution.

This third installment is a solid addition. Bess's compassionate heart won't let her ignore a woman huddling in her London doorway and what results is her becoming fully engaged in the woman's family troubles and murder.

All of the Bess Crawford novels are narrated by Rosalyn Landor, whose soothing British may seem too soothing for a good listen, but she reads it very well. Since these novels are in the first person, she is Bess's voice.

I know fans of the Ian Rutledge novels are disappointed with the Bess Crawford novels a bit. But since this is where I started with Todd, I'm a happy reader/listener.

Not my favorite Bess Crawford book

The story is just all over the place and has no footing. I have read enough Bess Crawford books to understand her compassionate spirit, but this storyline is way out there with no feeling of landing. It is wholly unbelievable from start to finish.

Meddler!

First two stories in this series were genre pieces WWI British nurse in occupied France. On leave from France, she solves murders.
In this story, she meddles with the lives of others while ignoring her own family. Her leave from France seems interminable while she gets involved with matters that are none of her business back in England.
Privileged busy body uses her uniform and connections to look for a love child in a French orphanage, of unclear parentage, though one thing is sure, the child's future adoptive mother is borderline and the father has anger issues.