Wings of Fire

"Wings of Fire," the second book in the Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery series, is absolutely outstanding, both as a whodunit and as a developing character study. The protagonist, his unique circumstances, and the period in which the novel is set, are most singular and make this a truly special read. It is 1919 England and the Great War is over. Soldiers have returned to their homes and families. Many are maimed in mind and body. And then there are those who do not return at all. World War I was devastating for the British people, militarily and psychologically. "In July 1917, at the Battle of Ypres, (better known as the Battle of Passchendaele - Belgium), 70,000 British soldiers died and another 170,000 were wounded." Combined with the disastrous Battle of the Somme, fought in France just a year before, with its 420,000 British casualties (60,000 on the very first day of fighting), the Somme marked "the end of an age of vital optimism in British life that has never been recovered," wrote historian John Keegan in "The First World War." Approximately 720,000 British soldiers, (from the UK alone), were killed in WWI. Then the terrible influenza epidemic of 1918 devastated the country, and all of Europe, killing millions. Although nothing would bring back the relative innocence of life before 1914, people are slowly rebuilding their lives and a society that had been so hideously interrupted as the story opens. In Scotland Yard, Inspector Ian Rutledge, who was an army officer in France and a survivor of the Somme, has resumed his once promising career, against his doctors' advice. After falling under direct shelling and being buried alive in a frontline trench, he suffered an emotional breakdown - they called it shell shock. Rutledge has not recovered. The doctors told him that hearing voices is not uncommon for a soldier who had undergone such a traumatic incident. It is a way for his mind to accept something of its own creation, in order to conceal what it cannot face otherwise. The particular voice that the Inspector hears is that of Corporal Hamish Macleod, a young Scot who served under him. Macleod had refused to continue fighting and Rutledge was forced to order his execution. Ian knows that if he does not succeed in recovering the skills he had before the war, he may well wind up in a sanitarium for the rest of his life. He is determined to put one foot in front of the other and fight his debilitating illness before it destroys him. Superintendent Bowles, Rutledge's unscrupulous superior, is jealous of his subordinate's pre-war success and has learned of his mental instability. He is determined to see the man fail. Rudtlege has just returned from Warwickshire, where he solved a gruesome and politically charged murder, ("A Test of Wills"), his first post-war success. He finds that an unknown slasher, who had brutally attacked several women in London's White Chapel area before his trip to Warwickshire, was still on the loose and that the n

I am an avid mystery reader. I am loyal to certain writers -- so much so that I often begin to pick up on their pattern. However, I have found a special place in my heart for historical mysteries -- Anne Perry's two series and the Amelia Peabody series are examples.Ordinarily, I start to figure it out by the middle. Todd's book not only kept me guessing until the very last page, it satisfied a hunger for historical detail that is not anachronistic.This book kept me up all night. I simply could not put it down as I found myself thinking about the characters in the dark trying to fall asleep.I have two of Todd's books and will be ordering a third soon. I recommend the book and the author very highly.

I read Charles Todd's first book, A Test of Wills, and loved it. His second book was just as wonderful. A sense of place and time. The aftermath of WWI is unknown to me. What a revelation! Wonderful character. Read it.

Test of Wills and Wings of Fire are two of the best books I've read this year, especially Wings of Fire. Very well written. I can't wait for more.

Even though the war has been over for a couple years, Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge suffers deep guilt after executing Hamish MacLeod on the battlefield. By 1921, Ian concludes that Hamish's ghost is either haunting him by talking to him from within his head or that his time in the French trenches drove him insane. However, Ian has no time to deal with specters as his rival has him assigned to investigate a family tragedy in Cornwall so that the latter can dig into a series of Ripper-like murders. Ian goes to Cornwall and learns that two step-siblings committed suicide and a third half-brother accidentally died from a fall. He also finds out that one of the deceased is a renowned poet, whose works has captured the essence of war. He digs into her works to see if a clue to her death might be in one of the poems. Finally, Ian realizes that the family has been hit with a barrage of "accidents" over several decades. Ian knows that a clever killer is on the loose and he must be stopped before someone else becomes his next victim. Whoever said that "sequels suck" needs to read WINGS OF FIRE. The second Rutledge novel is a fantastic combination of atmosphere, characterization, and a brilliant who-done-it. Like his first novel, A TEST OF WILLS, Charles Todd has written a tremendous historical police procedural that stars a memorable rotagonist still scarred from a brutal war. Both of his novels are worth reading. Harriet Klausner