Wed 2 Jun 2010
Reviews by L. J. Roberts
CHARLES TODD – The Red Door. Wm Morrow & Co., hardcover, December 2009; trade paperback, January 2010.
Genre: Historical mystery/police procedural. Leading character: Insp. Ian Rutledge, 12th in series. Setting: England–Golden Age/1920.
First Sentence: She stood in front of the cheval glass, the long mirror the Peter had given her on their second anniversary, and considered herself.
Inspector Ian Rutledge has two cases. First is the disappearance of Walter Teller. Rutledge finds the behavior of the missing man’s family decidedly odd. The second case is of a violent robber who attacked Rutledge and who murders his next victim. Rutledge is pressured to solve both cases, especially as deaths mount in both.
This is another instance of an author making the mistake of assuming readers have read the previous books and, thus not providing sufficient character identification or development, particularly of the secondary characters.
Ian and less so, Hamish, are well-enough accounted for. (Hamish is the voice in Ian’s head of Hamish MacLeod, the corporal whom Ian shot for desertion during the war.) However, there are two characters with similar names, and background is only somewhat provided for one, but not the other.
I am happy to say, the Teller family fares better in this regard, although there are so many of them a Cast of Characters would have been very helpful. This negative element is balanced by the positive pertaining to sense of time and place.
Todd is very good at creating atmosphere, taking us to post WWI England. For historical accuracy, I rank Todd in the same category as Anne Perry, and that’s high praise, indeed. The dialogue is very well done and reflects the period as well.
The other skill is in plot. Some may wonder at the need for the second story line. On thinking about it, however, it worked well at provided another element of doubt regarding the primary story.
It was also realistic in that most officers would handle more than one case at a time and it, again, displayed Bowles dislike of Rutledge. Even with the slight negative of character development, the book worked and Todd remains very high on my “must read” list.
Rating: Good Plus.
Editorial Comment: It is hard to believe that there are already 12 books in this series, but given that the first one, A Test of Wills, came out in 1996, or 14 years ago (!), it is surprising that I am so surprised. The Todds (Charles & Caroline) have also written two books in another series they’ve just begun, this one with Bess Crawford, a nurse working in England during World War I.
Previously reviewed on this blog:
A False Mirror (by Steve Lewis)
June 2nd, 2010 at 11:10 pm
I like this series, but like a lot of modern series it’s hard to drop into the middle. You almost have to read two or three to pick up on what’s going on.
June 2nd, 2010 at 11:28 pm
I don’t think there’s any doubt that the series is character-based rather than driven by the plots. I had to go back and read my own review of the one in the series I read before I could recall what it was about — but I certainly remember the woes of Inspector Rutledge.
Since the series is actually one long narrative, you’re right about how long it takes to catch on to what’s going on. The one I read was number ten in the series, and there was a lot of baggage to get caught up with.
— Steve