• An Unwilling Accomplice

  • Bess Crawford, Book 6
  • By: Charles Todd
  • Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
  • Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (414 ratings)

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An Unwilling Accomplice  By  cover art

An Unwilling Accomplice

By: Charles Todd
Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
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Publisher's summary

World War I battlefield nurse Bess Crawford's career and life are in jeopardy when a murder is committed on her watch, in this absorbing and atmospheric historical mystery from New York Times best-selling author Charles Todd.

Arriving in London on leave, Bess Crawford receives an unusual summons from the War Office. She's been requested to accompany a wounded soldier to Buckingham Palace, where he's to be decorated for gallantry by King George himself.

Though she is certain she's never met or nursed Sergeant Jason Wilkins, she cannot refuse the honor. Heavily bandaged and confined to a wheelchair, the soldier will be in her care for barely a day. But on the morning after the ceremony when Bess goes to collect her charge for his return journey, she finds the room empty. Both the Army and the Nursing Service hold Bess to blame for losing the war hero. There is a humiliating inquiry, and the incident is noted in her record.

More disturbing news complicates her already difficult situation: The Army now considers Wilkins a deserter, and Scotland Yard questions her when Wilkins is suspected of killing a man in cold blood. If Bess is to clear her name and return to duty in France, she must prove that she was never his accomplice. But the sergeant has disappeared again and neither the Army nor the police can find him.

The moral implications - that a patient in her charge has committed murder - become more important to Bess than her own future. Accompanied by her friend Simon Brandon, she heads north to find the missing man herself.

Carefully questioning suspicious locals, Bess and Simon follow a trail of clues across England. Drawn into a mystery that seems to grow darker with every discovery, they realize that this man has brought the war home to remote places far from the killing fields of France. But will uncovering the truth put more innocent people in jeopardy?

©2014 Charles Todd (P)2014 HarperCollins Publishers

What listeners say about An Unwilling Accomplice

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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Another great Bess Crawford story!

How exciting to have a new Charles Todd book! I'm a great fan of both the Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford series (which wonderfully complement each other).

In this eagerly-awaited new story, Bess, a WWI battlefield nursing sister, is sent to escort a heavily bandaged soldier to be decorated for his service at Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, the man disappears in the night, and is later believed to have committed a murder. The authorities consider Bess to have been responsible for his going missing, and as this hurts her reputation, she decides she will have to find the missing Sgt. Wilkins to clear her name and solve the murder. With the help of longtime family friend/protector Sgt. Major Simon Brandon, she sets out--without a clue-- to do just this.

Bess is combination Florence Nightingale and Miss Marple as she journeys from town to town, briefly back in France, in search of Sgt. Wilkins, helping with improvised surgery here, birth of a baby there along the way... She and Simon patiently piece together all the slowly gathered bits of information to be able to make sense of their quest for the missing man.

What's really good: this book continues the ongoing story of Bess, her parents (not so much this book), Simon Brandon and friends, all of whom are very interesting, often inspiring people. Charles Todd (a mother/son team) write very engaging stories, always with wonderful details that give a quite realistic feel for the atmosphere of WWI England and France. Each of their books develops the characters more, which keeps a good continuity in the series.

The slightly less good: at times it seemed as though the story relied over-much on coincidence in finding the right places to search, or clues were revealed in ways that stretched credulity a bit. But not to worry. That is pretty much forgiven because being drawn back into the world of these familiar, beloved characters, combined with a good mystery and great writing, more than makes up for it! Rosylyn Landor's narration is very good, all the voices clear and distinct. Was like a reunion with old friends! Highly recommend!

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9 people found this helpful

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Save yourself!

What disappointed you about An Unwilling Accomplice?

I've enjoyed reading this series, but listening to this audiobook made me realize how much I was skimming. The story could have been trimmed by 50%, easily. It's so overwritten that by the time I reached the end, I was relieved more than entertained.

Has An Unwilling Accomplice turned you off from other books in this genre?

No.

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8 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

JUST OK

I love all of Charles Todd's books, having read 5 of this series. However, this story was just too incredulous for words! It's hard to believe that a nursing sister and a military officer would go tearing around the English countryside looking for a missing injured soldier whom the Army and Scotland Yard is chasing. This, in the middle of a war, as if both of these people couldn't be better utilized elsewhere. I get that Bess wants to save her reputation since the soldier went AWOL on her watch but to waste resources like gasoline trying to outdo the criminal investigators already on the case is a bit much.

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7 people found this helpful

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Very disappointing

Although the performance was good the story was scrambled - the author was all over the place with suspects so much so that I didn't finish because I didn't care "who done it."

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4 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Tedious!!!

I really like Bess Crawford and have read all the books. I like the series. This book disappoints. The last four hours are tedious! The storyline could have been shortened and shortened to get to the same results.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Love Bess, But Boring

I love the Bess Crawford series, but this latest iteration was tedious. The mystery was predictable. I enjoyed it overall, but it was disappointing.

I do hope that the next book is post-war. I'd love to see where the post-war years take Bess. And Brandon.

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Tedious

I have been enjoying this.series but this one was confusing and tedious-sorry to have to say it. The series is worthwhile.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An unwilling accomplice in boredom

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Edit out about 50-100 pages of repetitive red-herring-chasing in the tiny villages of Upper-Middle-Lower Dyso... the fundamental premise of confusion amongst returning WWI soldiers is sound, but not delivered until the last 20 pages.

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2 people found this helpful

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LOVED IT!!!

First off: I love the series!
Second: it was fantastic!
I didn't want to pause the book for anything. Alas, it has taken me three days to finish this. But I loved it!
Will be purchasing another book shortly.

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great story

l really enjoyed this story and the amount of detail in the description was great. It really held your attention.

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