It has been one year, this week, since the beginning of the pandemic. As we look back on what our world was like before the pandemic and what it is now it is easy to focus on wearing masks, not eating at restaurants or gathering with friends and family as what we has changed, but there are more subtle changes that we haven’t even yet thought about that will soon become apparent as we begin to move out from under the restrictions of the pandemic and try to find a new normal. 

In Todd’s, A Test of Wills, the main character, Ian Rutledge, is also trying to negotiate a new world and a new normal after the end of WWI. Rutledge who fought in the war, suffers from shell-shock, (PTSD) which at the time was an under appreciated illness that was often mistaken for cowardice. Rutledge returns to his job at Scotland Yard, where he must not only try to hide his illness, but also negotiate the politics and rivalries that come with the job.

Rutledge is sent to investigate the murder of an army colonel, who was shot at such close range that his head was nearly blown off. The colonel who was well known and admired by his fellow soldiers, neighbors and the villagers who were under his care. He also had a beautiful ward who was engaged to be married to a decorated war hero who had connections to the Royal Family. Unfortunately, the servants and the villagers had observed the colonel arguing vehemently with his ward’s fiancée shortly before the murder and he is the prime suspect. Rutledge, however is not so sure, especially after talking with the town drunk, another shell shock victim, whose rambling and rather incoherent statement casts doubt on the evidence. As Rutledge sifts through the evidence, a lost doll, a little girl who suffers from hysterical muteness, a beautiful ward who seems to be hiding a painful secret, an insufferable vicar, an agitator who accused the colonel of exploiting the working class, and two sisters who recently moved to the village arousing the suspicions of the nosey villagers, he realizes that this case is much more complicated than he imagined. As pressure mounts from his spiteful supervisor in London to close the case, Rutledge must find a way to overcome the confusion and the noise and bring the the murderer to justice.

Charles Todd, is actually a mother and son writing team-Charles and Caroline Todd. This book was nominated for both an Edgar and an Anthony Award and is the first in the series of some 20 books following the career of the flawed but heroic, Ian Rutledge. I was especially intrigued by how much this book resonated with me as Rutledge returns from the war, still carrying the grief and woundedness of that experience, as he reenters a world that, although it looks the same, is very different from the one he left. I am also excited to find another author who like Ruth Rendell, Martha Grimes and Elizabeth George, who while providing wonderful entertainment also observes and celebrates the human condition in all its manifestations.

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 Stars Out of 5 Stars) 

Recommend this book to: Sharon and Marian

Book Study Worthy? Yes

Read in ebook format.