A Lonely Death

An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

By: Charles Todd

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

Three men have been murdered in a Sussex village, and Scotland Yard has been called in. It's a baffling case. The victims are soldiers who survived the horrors of the Great War only to meet a ghastly end in the quiet English countryside two years later. Each had been garroted, with small ID disks left in their mouths.

But even Scotland Yard's presence doesn't deter this vicious and clever killer. Shortly after Inspector Ian Rutledge arrives, a fourth soldier is found dead. With few clues to go on and the pressure building, Rutledge must gamble everything to find answers - his job, his reputation, and even his life.

©2011 Charles Todd. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGO

I liked it.

I was a little hesitant to buy this thinking I might have already see it on PBS. But I had not. What a a great writer. I love writers like Todd, Tony Hilllerman, JamesLee Burke and Jacqueline Winspear that can take little visual things that are totally unrelated to story and with that description put you in the exact place that the character is at that point. I was so moved when Todd took us back to WWI battle field both as it happened and then when grass was growing there. Wonderful. A rare 5 from me.

A gripping story

Replete with twists & turns of its own. That interest in it never flags despite it not being a whodunit is a testament to the artful story-telling of Charles Todd

Second Listening… just as good!!

First of all, Simon Prebble is the best. His narration of Ian Rutledge is spot on. There are at least six different stories running in this book. Some carried over from other books. Some running parallel with the main mysteries in this one. The ending is fantastic. At the very last second I saw the end of this story within a story where it fit! Just incredible writing. No wonder the authors made such a fantastic team. So sad one of them is now gone… along with Ian Rutledge.

The perfect combination

I absolutely adore Charles Todd’s Inspector Rutledge series, but sometimes the narrator leaves me uninterested. Simon Prebble is the perfect narrator, and he brings the story to life in a way few others can.

Intriguing To the final page

I enjoyed the book AND the reader so much that I am hoping to find them together in another novel.

One of the best in the Rutledge series

I really enjoy the Ian Rutledge series, but this surpassed my expectations. Great plot, character studies and Simon Prebble does a wonderful narration. When I listen to this series, I feel as though, I am there, in England after the Great War, and Rutledge and the other key characters are so well depicted, that their thoughts and action are exactly what u would expect, given their psychology.

Vivid imagery

Vivid imagery of a much simpler time, except for investigative police officers. Ian’s imagination, with the help of his “6th sense” Hamish, makes for a fast paced mystery, or two! I enjoyed the vivid imagery of the people and places, from London to the cliffs of Dover, to the battlefields of the Somme.

Very complex, very satisfying!

I'm a big fan of the Ian Rutledge series but I'll try to avoid gushing in this review. From the very first I was hooked as the murders are very puzzling. As the book goes on, much detail is revealed about various characters and families in the region so by the end I felt like I actually knew them. Going into so much depth with even the minor characters makes the story so much more significant than many mystery novels. That's one thing that keeps me reading this series.

As usual with this series there is a secondary mystery going on that's at least as puzzling as the main story line. It is complicated and the solution was discovered in ways I felt were too far-fetched. A years old unsolved murder is finally cleared up by several accidental discoveries, one involving an old acquaintance of Rutledge who reveals the truth on his death bed. I'm not sure I like the inclusion of these sub plots as there just isn't time in one novel to lay the groundwork and develop the clues for two such complicated mysteries. Too much last minute explanation is required.

Hamish, the persona living in Rutledge's head due to trauma suffered in the war, plays a larger role in this book than in most of the others. He warns Rutledge of danger and gives him advice which is more substantial than usual and Rutledge actually seems to appreciate the help, which is also different.

I highly recommend this audiobook as a dependably satisfying post World War I murder mystery read by a superb narrator.

Best So Far.

Very suspenseful! Truly gives one pause as to the horrors of WW1. Great everything!

one of the best.

this was a very very good Ian rutledge. one of the best. I love the way the whole thing tied up in the end and the character development was spot on so that you could get attached to a variety of people as the story played out. and of course, there is no narrator better and Simon preble!