A Test of Wills by Charles Todd

A recent positive review of Charles Todd's* latest Ian Rutledge novel appeared recently in the NY Times. I was reminded that I had one of these books lying around, laid aside because it didn't appeal, so I picked it up again. It still doesn't.

I read the first in this series, A Test of Wills (1996). Rutledge, a Scotland Yard inspector, is recently returned from the Great War and still suffering shell shock. He's been called to a Warwickshire village to investigate a murder--a job foisted on Rutledge because it's politically sensitive, with one suspect having royal connections. Everyone's under suspicion, though, for one reason or another.

I expected the shell-shock theme to draw me in, since I'm fascinated by the western front and its horrors. And that was the strongest part of the book. But the investigation itself was boring, with Rutledge revisiting the same suspects and asking the same questions again, and again, and again. The mystery wouldn't be drawn out to book length if only certain characters would just answer his questions. Worse, the whodunit's resolution is as soap-opera ridiculous as it gets, the kind of thing where you just put the book down and groan.

In fact, soap operas seem to be a major influence on the book. No one can just answer a question. There must be an indrawn breath, a look of panic, a trembling, a choking back of tears. They twist their handkerchiefs, they turn in alarm, their shoulders are stiff and angry. Whatever happened to the famous sangfroid of the British upper classes? What about the drinks tray always present, to settle one's nerves?

Sheesh, the suspects are more shell-shocked than the inspector. And he at least has a good reason.

*The NY Times informs me that "Charles Todd" is the nom de plume of a mother-and-son writing team, Charles and Caroline Todd.