Search the Dark

By: Charles Todd

Narrated by: Samuel Gillies

Length: 11 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

Dorset is the latest setting for the talents of Inspector Ian Rutledge, a veteran of the First World War still haunted, literally, by his actions. Indeed, his personal ghost only serves to complicate things as his inner doubts blend into the trauma of the case. The disappearance of two children, the murder of a woman supposed to be their mother, and an unstable suspect who may or may not be guilty form the bones of Todd's latest psychological thriller, augmented by the in-depth and impressive character analysis that distinguishes his novels.

©2000 Charles Todd (P)1999 Recorded Books

The real costs of war—after it.

Badly damaged minds, souls and bidies of WWI ‘survivors’ in an almost Gothic tale of loss, madness, ambition. Could be faster-paced, sometimes the dialogue is maddeningly obtuse. Great voice reading.

A Different Slant on Things

What made the experience of listening to Search the Dark the most enjoyable?

If you are an actual combat veteran you may read this book with a different perspective. Combat strips a person down existenial essentials of life and death and there is no turning back from what you may learn about yourself. This book describes "Survivor Guilt" very clearly how you don't just get over it and move on.

Really Great Reads

Historically interesting with intriguing, twisty plots. A great series with very engaging main characters. Excellent!

Yeah, It's Dark, Scary, and Perfectly Plotted

Okay... I didn't guess who dunnit. Todd creates so many perfect suspects and so many red herrings. I love this schizzo inspector. It's very British here in its plotting but not so British as to exclude us from chewing along with Ian Rutledge on the clues swirling around like the tiny bugs in a mid-summer swarm. On occasion I sort of wish that Samuel Gillies's characters were just a tad more different to avoid a bit of confusion, but on the whole he's competent.

There's a dark anti-war shadow over this post WWI period when Britain stood between imperial greatness and modern-age coping. And Todd explores that cultural crack wonderfully in this series. So well, I've just downloaded another Ian Rutledge mystery.

fantastic story!

From the first page to the the conclusion, you will not guess the ending. Really great.

In Rutledge's shoes

with Rutledge, I never can guess more than he. So, it stays a mystery till the end. The reader I had to get used to. He can often, but not always, make distinctions between the figures. All in all, I liked it.

Good Story, Difficult to Follow Naration

Any additional comments?

The Ian Rutlage mysteries are great stories with well developed characters, but (for the early novels at least), the time, place or perspective sometimes change abruptly causing confusion without the visual ques from the actual text.

Too many sub-plots and characters. Tedious!

Story dragged and plot too convoluted that the end was anti-climactic. Far too many characters that very few were fully formed. Definitely return worthy!

Tenacity wins the day!

Inspector Ian Rutledge is presented with a mystery that could result in an innocent man's death by hanging if he doesn't find out the true story. A casualty of WWI, the man thinks he spies his wife and children on a railway platform and sets about to find them. The woman turns up dead and all assume that he is the guilty party. But where are the children? Where is the other man that was with the woman? Rutledge sees a man haunted by his experience in WWI, much as Rutledge himself is. He'll set about to find the truth and, in doing so, unearths a more complicated mystery. His superiors throw roadblocks in his way, but Rutledge is tenacious at the least. What I love most about Rutledge is his tenacity. He never gives up, always going one more time to this witness, or one more time to that witness. He is a wonderful exercise in analysis. Of course, he has some help from his ghostly nemesis, Hamish, who at times harangues him to the point of near insanity and at other times provides him with the direction he needs. I missed Simon Prebble's narration in this installment. Samuel Gillies was quite good, and I would enjoy his narration again. But Prebble is the absolute best.

AN ADDICTIVE SERIES!

Somehow I started with just one of the books in the series but soon bought all of them back to back. FYI: This book is the 3rd in the seriers. Simon Prebble, as always, is a superb narrator - much better than Samuel Gillies, who narrates like he's performing "Hansel and Gretel" to 6 year olds!

No matter how hard you try, you will never guess who will be murdered and by whom. There are so many twists and turns and red herrings that the reader is always kept guessing. The Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge is a tortured soul but a great detective. He suffers from World War I "shell shock" which is what we now recognize as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that is manifested by a dead "imaginary friend" named Hamish McCloud. This adds an interesting component into how this detective acts and reacts. Hamish is to Rutledge what cocaine is to Sherlock Holmes - a dangerous nemesis that both helps and hampers. All of the books are pretty much the same plot but just different enough in locations, people, class distinctions, and twists to make each worth reading. My suggestion is to go on Google or Wikipedia to learn the order of the series and start with the first one. Each book fills in the gaps if you start somewhere in the middle but the continuity really helps. It would be nice if Audible.com would assign chronological order to books which contain a series or prequels and sequels. )I will post this same comment on all of the Ian Rutledge books that I've read.)