A Matter of Justice

Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries

By: Charles Todd

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

After two London men end their business partnership, one of them is savagely murdered in a medieval tithe barn on his estate in Somerset.

Investigating the killing, Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge discovers that the victim was universally despised in Cambury - even the victim's wife and the town's police inspector are suspect. And yet in London circles, the man was highly regarded. What triggered his death?

Rutledge doggedly follows a well-concealed trail that finally leads him to the one person who knows the whole truth. But it's too late to stop a spreading evil and a vicious settling of scores.

As the seasoned inspector comes to understand the larger picture, he realizes he may not be able to prove what he suspects. In spite of his skill, this may be the only case in which Rutledge fails to get his man.

©2009 Charles Todd (P)2009 BBC Audiobooks America

Critic reviews

"In the stellar 11th Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery, Todd (the pseudonym of a mother-son writing team) seamlessly combines a fair-play whodunit with a nuanced look into the heart of darkness in the human soul." ( Publishers Weekly)

So many twists and turns!

Goodness! There were so many twists and turns in the story. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I had the wrong murderer. Excellent narration too. Definitely a good listen.

Not for Everybody

If you want fast paced, shootouts, and explosions, this is not the series for you. If you enjoy a detailed, well written, very British, verbal painting of a mystery wrapped around a flawed detective you should give it a shot. For this author team I personally like Inspector Ian Rutledge as a detective that is haunted with a voice in his head and vivid hallucinations from his World War I experiences, than the too perfect, unemotional Bess Crawford series. A big part of what is enjoyable to me is the misinterpretation of obscure clues and dead-ends that happen in real investigations, while being persistent and smart enough to eventually put things together. Sometimes to a conclusion that is not desired. From doing a little study of the "Great" war, you can see that this series does really good work portraying how much that terrible war affected society and individuals, both with loss and direct experience.

A Dogged Search for the Truth

When Scotland Yard was called in to the small village of Cambury where a wealthy businessman was found garishly displayed in a tithe barn, Inspector Ian Rutledge (along with Hamish MacLeod ever present in his head) arrives determined to get to the bottom of his murder. Harold Quarles was despised by all who knew him, and Rutledge couldn't find a person who grieved his death. A year or so earlier he had split with his financial partner in London, Davis Penrith, after many years of partnership. However, nothing seemed out of order there. Quarles' wife, who was independently wealthy of her own accord, loathed her husband, and they lived separately. With so many who hated the man, Rutledge still couldn't seem to find the person who had both the motive and the opportunity to kill Quarles. And the local constabulary wasn't much help. This is one of the best in the series, and it was like one tiny thread was hanging loose and it took a monumental effort to pull at it and get it started unraveling, in order to finally get to the root of the truth. Excellent story, investigation and conclusion.

Great Performance

Very good story and well constructed. It really held my interest and never gave the killer away until the very end.

Intense

From the first a terrible character is revealed. Horrifying in fact. Then the full story begins. Intense and a long journey

Intricate Mystery

I enjoyed this book even after a second listen a year after the first time. I have listened to all but the last book in the series and they are all good.

Not my favorite

I admired his protagonist more than Inspector Rutledge. Rutledge was too black and
white and followed the letter rather than the spirit of the law. I thought he was too quick
to blame others for his own failings.

Literature at its best.

Where do I start... The authors have micro-researched the era they write about. So much gentle relevant detail. The settings are picture perfect. Detail is is excellent and adds enormously to the story. Jump in anywhere in this series. You will learn the back story about Hamish, and WW1 very quickly.
A simply outstanding series.

Good story but hard to follow story because narration is fast! Haha.

I had to slow the narration down and hit the back button to keep track of all the characters and story.
Good story!

Jolly good read

Grew up as a voracious reader in my teens. Read books in all sorts of genres. Agatha Christie and P D James werebblee a lot of fun. This is a great mix of Christie and Monk (defective detective). Todd is a very good writer.

Prebble was smooth and put a great deal of empathy in Rutledge's character.