A Test of Wills

By: Charles Todd

Narrated by: Samuel Giles

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome.

A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge, fighting the torment of his illness, goes to investigate. As he digs into the lives of the villagers, the witness who disturbs him most is a war-ravaged ex-soldier who chills Rutledge with the realization that he could become like this man.

©1996 Charles Todd (P)1999 W.F. Howes

Not difficult to follow IMO

What made the experience of listening to A Test of Wills the most enjoyable?

This is the third Inspector Rutledge novel I've listened to in a row - I almost feel like Samuel Giles is living in MY head! I have listened to a later book with a different narrator whom I liked, but I love the way Giles talks. He doesn't give a lot of distinction between the voices but does the accents quite well.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Test of Wills?

I really enjoy it when Hamish gets going and lectures Inspector Rutledge.

What does Samuel Giles bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

As I stated earlier, he does a superb job on the various accents.

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

Not really - I don't have ten hours at a stretch to listen to a book - however, I did listen to it when ever I got the chance - driving, going for walks, doing household chores.

Very good characters

A good police story. But I don’t like that the ending comes out of the blue totally unrelated to any possible motive discussed earlier.

It went on…and on…and on….

This sounded so interesting: a good murder mystery with a troubled detective, plus a historical backdrop of WWI—all things I love. But this just droned on interminably. The narrator didn’t help; I’ve heard phone books read aloud with more emotion. The solution was good, but felt rushed and contrived after all the too-long-drawn-out red herrings.

Narration is an issue

The Rutledge stories are brilliant, all of them. However the narrator Samuel Giles appears hopelessly ignorant of pace, rhythm and intuitive flow.
Because of careful and relevant backstory details, a reader can jump in to any of these novels and still feel very satisfied. Simon Prebble is a brilliant narrator. His reading is smooth, well paced and word emphasis is always spot on.
These stories bring a small part of the horrors of the First World War to life.
PTSD was cowardice. Loss of a limb meant the man was useless.
I recommend this series wholeheartedly.
I have listened to almost every one in sequence. Each novel gets better.

Captivating

This was really enjoyable. It’s a murder mystery set in post WWI England. The inspector on the case is dealing with his own trauma and shell shock from personal experiences and has a sort of alter ego or internal dialogue. The author is a mix of Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse, minus the humor. The story itself was engaging, the main characters well developed, and the mystery was captivating. I truly didn’t know how it would end. I will certainly read more from this author.

Glad these early ones were added to Audible

I too was glad to hear the 1st book. It makes understanding the later one easier. The narrators strong Scottish accent bothered me a bit. Only Hamish is Scottish.
The mystery is very well developed and enjoyable. The story could have been shorter.

Never Read These

I read a good review of the latest Rutledge novel but thought I'd try the first one. Very glad I did. Rutledges struggles with the after effects of WW I and his relationship with Hammish will enrich the other books in the series.

A Different Story Line - Entertaining

Hard to imagine a thrilling murder mystery with the main characters being genealogists, but you have one here. It is an intriguing story with a few twists and turns. It got a little tedious at times, and my interest waned, but the story would draw it back.

an interesting mystery

this is one of the few mysteries that has the influence of World war I in it and change it took place in Great Britain it's a nice story has some contemporary meaning because of the backdrop of shell shock in the story similar to modern post-traumatic stress syndromes with a good old murder yarn and some nice twists and turns the performance was good lots of different voices but he seemed to handle it well.

creative in characters and plot. move over Aggie.

creative in characters and plot. move over Aggie. Love the series all top notch sttories.