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A Test of Wills
- Narrated by: Samuel Giles
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
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Bridgestead is a peaceful spot: a babbling brook, rolling hills, and a working mill at its heart. Pretty and remote, nothing exceptional happens...until the day that Master of the Mill Joshua Braithwaite goes missing under dramatic circumstances, never to be heard of again. Now Joshua's daughter is getting married and wants to make one last attempt at finding her father. Kate Shackleton has always loved solving puzzles. So who better to get to the bottom of Joshua's mysterious disappearance?
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Fluff & Nonsense
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Grey Mask
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The first of the classic mysteries featuring governess-turned-detective Miss Silver, who investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring. Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, the hardy young man returns to the manor of his birth, where generations of Morays have lived and died. Strangely, he finds the house unlocked, and sees a light on in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime.
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The shaky first of a long, strong series
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Miranda Brand is visiting Germany for what is supposed to be a month's vacation. But from the moment that Brigadier Brindley relates the story about a fortune in lost diamonds - a story in which Miranda herself figures in an unusual way - the vacation atmosphere becomes transformed into something more ominous. And when murder strikes on the night train to Berlin, Miranda finds herself unwillingly involved in a complex chain of events that will soon throw her own life into peril.
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Why these narrators
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For years, the Stranger House has stood in the village of Illthwaite, offering refuge to travellers. People like Sam, a brilliant young mathematician, who believes that anything that can't be explained by maths isn't worth explaining. And Miguel, a historian running from a priests' seminary, who sees ghosts. Sam is an experienced young woman, Miguel a 26-year-old virgin.
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an OK read
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Charlotte Dean enjoys nothing more than the solitude of her London flat and the monotonous days of her work at a travel bookshop. But when her younger sister unceremoniously bursts into her quiet life one afternoon, Charlotte's world turns topsy-turvy. Beloved author D. E. Stevenson captures the intricacies of post-World War I England with a light, comic touch that perfectly embodies the spirit of the time. Alternatively heartbreaking and witty, The Young Clementina is a touching tale of love, loss and redemption through friendship.
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Miss Dean's Dilemma
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What could be more commonplace than grass or a world covered over all its surface with a wind-whipped ocean of grass? But the planet Grass conceals horrifying secrets within its endless pastures. And as an incurable plague attacks all inhabited planets but this one, the prairie-like Grass begins to reveal these secrets - and nothing will ever be the same again.
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Speculative & Creative, Yet well Paced and Unique
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The Bastard
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Set against the colorful tumult of events that gave rise to our fledgling nation, this novel of romance and adventure introduces Phillipe Charboneau. The illegitimate son of an English nobleman, Phillipe flees Europe and, as Philip Kent, joins the men who set our course for freedom. The Bastard is the first volume in the Kent Family Chronicles, a series of novels that details one family's journey in the early years of the American nation.
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An Amazing Tale
- By will on 11-06-13
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A Gentleman's Murder
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The year is 1924. Only a few years removed from the trenches of Flanders, Lieutenant Eric Peterkin has just been granted membership in the most prestigious soldiers-only club in London: the Britannia. But when a gentleman's wager ends with a member stabbed to death, the victim's last words echo in the lieutenant's head: that he would "Soon right a great wrong from the past". Eric is certain one of his fellow members is the murderer. But who?
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Ignore the indiscriminate ire. It’s great!
- By Denise Dalrymple on 05-15-20
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River of Darkness
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In 1921, the bloodied bodies of Colonel Fletcher, his wife and two staff are found in a manor house in Surrey. The police have put the murders down to a violent robbery, but Detective Inspector Madden from Scotland Yard has his own suspicions. In the meantime the killer is plotting his second strike.
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New Mystery Written in 1920's Style-What A Thrill!
- By Nancy J on 06-27-12
By: Rennie Airth
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What listeners say about A Test of Wills
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carol
- 01-02-13
Difficult to follow the narrator
Inspector Rutledge returns to his position at Scotland Yard after long and horrendous combat service as an officer in World War I. He has been damaged in soul and psyche, and in ways that make him one of the most fascinating detectives in the genre. This first book in the series is truly special, well written, compelling, and different.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend listening to this narration. Even though I've read the book (albeit a number of years ago), I found myself totally confused almost from the beginning as to which character was speaking. We become so used to narrators who handle multiple-character dialog well (even if they don't always sound like we think a beloved character should) that it's a shock to listen to someone with this little skill at voice differentiation. In scenes where Rutledge is conducting interviews, it's almost impossible to follow the flow of questions and answers and the vital information (the plot is fairly complicated) that emerges from these interviews.
There's nothing "wrong" with Giles's voice, he just doesn't use it well. Read the book, skip this audio.
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71 people found this helpful
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- Huckleberry
- 12-21-16
Not exactly a mystery
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
To certain people, yes.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Ian Rutledge of course.
Any additional comments?
I created this review to better inform people of what to expect. I don't consider it a mystery because it lacks one of the most important characteristics of a good mystery novel: namely clues laid out throughout the story, giving the reader the opportunity to figure out the mystery as the main character does. That gives you the feeling that your in it together with the characters in the book.
This book is very different. It's a story where you have no ability to figure out any of the mysteries. Everything is revealed finally in the end, but as a complete surprise. In some of the Rutledge novels you don't even know the antagonist until he is revealed. So, with that said I wouldn't call this a mystery novel. It's more like a drama with a mystery in the background.
I did enjoy it and the narration was great. Charles Todd books take what I call "active listening" to enjoy. You have to pay good attention to the story to get anything out of it. Some people consider this work and prefer a more simple story, using them something along the line of background noise while they do whatever they do. This is not one of those.
Just be aware of what you are getting. I find myself buying more and more of this series even with what I said above. Part of it is the main character (great backstory), and part of it is the wonderful narration.
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- Kathi
- 01-30-14
Good early work in series
I believe this might have been the first of the Ian Rutledge series--which has gone on to become most excellent in every respect!
In this book, Rutledge comes back after the Great War and takes back the place he gave up at Scotland Yard to enter the military. He has come back with shell shock (something he does not want his fellow detectives to know, which largely manifests as his hearing the voice of a dead comrade.) He has also faced the devastation of having his fiance break off their engagement because she cannot now bear to be married to him, suffering as he is. Getting back to work is a big challenge for him, so he desperately hopes to succeed.
However, his superior dislikes him, and sends him to handle a murder that could end his career--before it even gets going again, due to the extreme sensitivity of people involved. When Rutledge gets to the town where the murder has occurred, he has to face people who have also been involved in the war, and try to decide whether a highly respected war hero has committed a murder. This will bring up a lot of personal pain and memories for Rutledge, that he has to manage, even while handling a complicated case.
Having read all the books in the series, I can see a few things in this early work that seem to have changed in later ones, such as occasionally shifting to separate thought processes or dialogues between other characters--showing their point of view in that way. In later works it seems that CT gets away from that style, going more to the reader gaining the perspective of other characters through inference from events--much as Rutledge himself has to do (which I personally prefer).
All of this series is among the best out there (in my opinion). I have read all of them (including the Bess Crawford series which Todd has also written. ) The narrator is quite good--with only the comment that it is hard to tell the difference between speakers--but that largely was no problem at all. HIGHLY RECOMMEND anything by Charles Todd. This early book is not quite up to their style and skill that will soon emerge--but well worth reading.
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55 people found this helpful
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- connie
- 11-24-12
Good to meet Hamish at the beginning
You can count on novels in this series to be solid historical police procedurals without egregious gore, violence, sex or language -- but this one still just misses a four star rating from me. Some of the plot elements didn't flow well, some of the language just a little too modern, and perhaps the novel is longer than it needed to be --but still, this is strong as a first novel in a period series.
Although we learn a little about Hamish in each subsequent novel, it was interesting to meet him (it?) in the first. I am accustomed to the talented Simon Prebble as narrator of later instalments, but I preferred Samuel Gilles as Rutledge (and usually I don't like Gilles).
If you're new to this series, it's worthwhile starting here, and if you're already a fan, meet Hamish again for the first time.
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- Marie
- 12-01-12
First of the series
Any additional comments?
In this first novel of the series, Rutledge is just returning from fighting in the Great War to his job as an inspector for Scotland Yard. This is his first case since his return, and he is left shattered by his war experience. I started this series in the middle because the first books were not available from Audible at that time. I really like the series (and it just keeps getting better). This first book in the series is good, but, beyond that, it answered a couple of question about characters in the series that had disturbed me. I never understood how Rutledge could have sentenced Hamish to death. I also never understood why his Scotland Yard supervisor resents him so much and tries to set him up for failure. Both of those things are mentioned in the later novels but not really explained. These novels have no overly graphic descriptions of torture, rape, violence or sex -- just ordinary characters who behave as you would expect them to under the circumstances and a mystery to be solved, while Rutledge struggles to regain his sanity. It is a series I highly recommend.
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31 people found this helpful
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- teddy
- 02-20-13
Samuel Giles is not Simon Prebble
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
We started listening to the Ian Rutledge series in the middle, so going back to the beginning for context has been helpful. As a rule, I enjoy mysteries with complex plots that may not have tremendous amounts of actions. I do think the latter books are better written but one might expect that as a series develops.
Simon Prebble is a far better narrator, however. Samuel Giles is rather flat and it is difficult to distinguish voices. I am hoping he isn't used for future Rutledge novels.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Samuel Giles?
Simon Prebble
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- Wayne
- 01-10-16
Charles Todd at his best!
A Teat of Wills is Ian Rutledge Book 1. I've just written a 3 star review for Book 10 in the series. Charles Todd is an outstanding author of police thrillers and teamed with narrator Simon Prebble his novels are usually outstanding.
This book is really special. Rutledge has just returned from fighting in WWI where he had to execute a man for refusing to fight. He is assigned a case that is likely to turn out bad for him.
I listened to this book 2 years ago.
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- Linda
- 10-16-13
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.
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- LLL
- 01-24-18
Great book-A Test of Wills
This book keeps you on your toes, or rather keeps Inspector Rutledge on his toes. There's always more suspense around the corner. I had trouble putting it down. It really was a 'test' for the Inspector, to learn who was responsible. He ran into more problems at every turn, including the opinions of that crazy Scot in his conscience. I totally enjoyed reading this book and always look forward to another by Charles Todd.
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- t
- 10-03-13
return
Would you try another book from Charles Todd and/or Samuel Giles?
I'm not sure how the story is... I suspect a bit dry. The performance was really tough to listen to and prompted me to ask whether I could return/exchange the book after the first 20-30 min. I won't finish it.
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