I Read, I Write

Title:  A Long Shadow (Inspector Ian Rutledge #8)

Author:  Charles Todd

Pages:  341

Year:  2006

Publisher:  William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Inspector Ian Rutledge wants nothing to do with the woman performing the séance.  She seems to know his secret.  He can’t let anyone find out about Hamish.  His war memories threaten to overwhelm him if he doesn’t escape.  Respite comes in the form of a phone call from the Yard on a minor matter, but Ian uses it as an excuse to leave the dinner party.  As he leaves, he makes an interesting discovery of a shell casing from a machine gun used during WWI.  Wonder what it is doing outside the home of his dinner hostess?

He soon is assigned a case of a former constable from the Yard being shot with a bow and arrow.  Ian leaves to investigate and stays in the small village while investigating.  His investigation keeps linking up with the name of Emma Mason.  He finds out the young girl is missing and has been for some time with no one knowing what happened to her.  The shot constable seemed unusually enamored of her, but did he have anything to do with her disappearance?  Ian finds more shell casings in his travels and has the uncanny feeling he is being followed, but he can never see anyone.  An attempt is made on his life, but he is no closer to finding out who is leaving the shell casings.  He also is no closer to finding out who shot the constable and how Emma Mason ties in with everything.  As he discovers small bits of information, he begins to put together who is responsible.  Can he bring the criminal to justice before he himself is killed by the person leaving the shell casings?

One thing I really like about this series is that I almost never figure out the guilty person!  I so enjoy the mystery and suspense and journey to the end that I don’t even mind guessing incorrectly!  This story pulled me in from the get-go.  I feel like Ian is a close friend almost.  I know his foibles, some of his faults, some of his fears and his strengths.  I enjoy each story in the series as I get to know Ian better, how he thinks, how he goes about searching for clues and arriving at an answer as to who is guilty.  There is nothing like a good British mystery and this is another feather in the cap of Charles Todd.

My rating is 5 stars.

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