Book Review: The Murder Stone

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

The Murder Stone     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Charles Todd
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Historical   WW I

This is a stand alone by the author of the popular Ian Rutledge series. Also set in England during the WWI years - this book follows Francesca Hutton, a resident of Devon. All her male cousins are dead in the war, and her beloved grandfather has died, leaving her sole heir. She returns to the house in Devon from her wartime duties as an attendant to the many wounded arriving daily to the London railway stations.

Her grandfather's will holds some baffling news and puzzling instructions. There is more property in other areas of southern England which she was unaware of - and she is to move a prehistoric stone from her grandfather's garden and take it to the farthest northern reaches of Scotland. Mysterious individuals arrive at the funeral, and soon another man arrives, accusing her grandfather of complicity in the disappearance of his mother some 20 years earlier.

The book follows Francesca's quest to make sense of everything she has learned about her grandfather, and to protect and prove his good name against the accusations of the young man.

I enjoyed the basic outline of the plot, but felt that this entry from Todd was more "murky" that his Rutledge series. I often paged backwards to determine which character was which, and doing what, and why. Nevertheless, the atmospheric presentation of the long vanished England of the early 20th century always is a pleasure.

Todd's many fans will probably enjoy this. Newcomers to his fiction would be better served by starting with "A Test of Wills" or one of the other Rutledge books.

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM