"Another winner....Todd again excels at vivid atmosphere and the effects of war in this specific time and place. Grade: A."
-- Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Readers who can't get enough of Maisie Dobbs, the intrepid World War I battlefield nurse in Jacqueline Winspear's novels...are bound to be caught up in the adventures of Bess Crawford."
-- New York Times Book Review Charles Todd, author of the resoundingly acclaimed Ian Rutledge crime novels ("One of the best historical series being written today" -- Washington Post Book World ) debuts an exceptional new protagonist, World War I nurse Bess Crawford, in A Duty to the Dead. A gripping tale of perilous obligations and dark family secrets in the shadows of a nightmarish time of global conflict, A Duty to the Dead is rich in suspense, surprise, and the impeccable period atmosphere that has become a Charles Todd trademark.
"Tell Jonathan I lied. I did it for Mother's sake. But it has to be set right." In this new historical series launch by the mother-son writing team (the Inspector Ian Rutledge series), Bess Crawford, a World War I nurse, attends a dying soldier who entrusts her with his last request. Arthur Graham insists the message be delivered in person to his brother. Considering a duty to the dead to be a sacred act, Bess, on leave after being herself wounded, makes her way to Kent to the Graham family estate. She delivers the message but is not convinced that Jonathan will honor it. So Bess begins to delve into the Grahams' scandalous secrets. As the threads of the family's past of insanity and murder begin to be revealed, Bess quickly realizes that life at home and at the front can be equally deadly. Verdict Todd employs all the elements of a satisfying cozy mystery, with an absorbing plot and a charismatic heroine that will leave the reader wanting more. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 5/1/09.]-Susan O. Moritz, Montgomery Cty. P.L., MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publishers Weekly Review
The winning first in a new WWI series from the bestselling mother-son Todds (A Matter of Justice and 10 other Inspector Rutledge mysteries) introduces Bess Crawford, a resourceful British army nurse who's injured when her ship is sunk in 1916. While convalescing in England, Bess is tormented because she's put off delivering a message from Arthur Graham, a dying soldier under her care for whom she'd developed strong feelings, to his family. Her own brush with death prompts her to travel to Kent and transmit Arthur's cryptic last words to one of his three brothers. Bess becomes further enmeshed in the family's affairs after she learns the obscure message may relate to Graham's half-brother, Peregrine, who was committed to a local asylum for a girl's murder years before. The more Bess seeks to sate her curiosity, the more she suspects that the truth about the murder was suppressed. Fans of independent women sleuths like Maisie Dobbs will welcome this new addition to their ranks. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Book Review
World War I nurse keeps a burdensome promise. Relinquishing for the moment Inspector Ian Rutledge (A Matter of Justice, 2008, etc.), the Todd writing partnership presents Bess Crawford, invalided home when the hospital ship she nursed on is shot out from under her. She's bent on relaying a dying messagematters must be set rightfrom favored patient Arthur Graham to his brother Jonathan. Another matter, however, takes precedence for the Graham family: Peregrine, the Graham brother confined in an asylum since he was barely a teenager for murdering Lily the housemaid, is near death from pneumonia and needs nursing care. Providing it, Bess is struck by how rational Peregrine seems. Meanwhile, another village patient, a traumatized war victim who has fallen under her care, commits suicideor does he? When Peregrine regains his strength, he takes Bess on the run to help him recover his memory of Lily's death. A visit to the village rector reveals several other fatal calamities over the years that cast suspicion on other Graham family members: clubfooted Timothy, Mrs. Graham and, to Bess's dismay, the late Arthur himself. A gruesome denouement lays bare all the family secrets and misalliances and releases Bess from her deathbed vow to Arthur. Will readers miss Inspector Rutledge? You bet. But anyone who cares to loll in early-20th century English villages and mores and follow a plucky heroine as she confronts the stupidity of war will find solace in this old-fashioned mystery. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.