A Duty to the Dead

by Charles Todd

Book Overview

The First Bess Crawford Mystery

"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...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061791776
• ISBN13: 9780061791772
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Move over Maisie Dobbs...

and make way for Elizabeth Crawford. Charles Todd - a mother/son writing team famous for their wonderful Ian Rutledge novels - have created a new character, Elizabeth (Bess) Crawford, a British nurse in WW1. The time frame of the Crawford novel is slightly earlier than that of the Rutledge novels. The Rutledge stories take place in the years after WW1, with some flashbacks to his time at war. Crawford is shown (at least so far) working during the war. I'm not going to write a lot about the story, which is excellent, but rather about the writing. I've read most of Todd's Rutledge books and think the writing is absolutely first rate. That continues on to their second series of book. (I'm assuming the A Duty to the Dead is the first in a series and not a stand-alone novel). There seems not to be a word out of place, a character introduced but not dealt with in the story, or any rambling. It's air-tight writing and editing. What I wonder about is if two writers, writing together, tend to edit each other's writing as they go along in their collaboration? Todd's Bess Crawford compares favorably with Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs. Both are fully developed characters as defined - and refined - in their writers' words. Dobbs' London is post-WW1, moving into the 1930's. Both are well worth reading, as are Todd's earlier series, Ian Rutledge. I'm looking forward to many more Bess Crawford novels.

Fantastic!

I loved this book. The setting is interesting, the characters have depth, and the mystery is complex enough to make a reader think, without being convoluted or confusing. Best of all, the writing is exceptional. I was hooked after only a few pages. I'm sure comparisons will be made between Bess Crawford and Maisie Dobbs since both worked as nurses during WW1 and are independent, intelligent, and compassionate women sleuths. However, Bess is not an imitation of Maisie. Their backgrounds, personalities, and investigative styles are quite different. I hesitate to give much of a plot summary, because I don't want to spoil anything for other readers. I was lucky enough to pick up this book without any information beyond the very basic back cover blurb, and I really enjoyed reading without any previous knowledge of where the story was going. (Even the Publishers Weekly review gives away just a bit too much, in my opinion.) So, to give only the most basic outline - the story opens on a hospital ship in the Mediterranean, where Bess works as a nurse. We learn that she was entrusted with a message to deliver to a (dead) soldier's family. The message and its reception leave Bess with an unsettled feeling and the mystery begins to unfold, complicated by the very unusual family dynamics of her hosts in Kent. "A Duty to the Dead" is a definite original and a great read. The only possible downside that I can imagine is that you will have trouble putting it down until you have reached the end.

A Duty to the Dead

This mystery is based during the first World War and takes place in Great Britain. It's a wonderfully written story, and the characters are clear and real. Nurse Bess Crawford had promised one of her patients, as he was dying, that she would give a message to his brother. After her ship, the Brittanic, sank after hitting a mine, she had to take a leave to recover. She went to the family estate and delivered the message. She was puzzled that no one seemed to be concerned. There were two remaining sons, one crippled, one recovering from a war wound. She discovers that another brother was put in an asylum when his stepmother and brothers said that he was the guilty one when a young maid was murdered. He was the oldest of the four children, and would inherit the estate, but still very young at the time. As she talks to people she finds that the case had never been tried, that most of the people concerned had died in 'accidents', that the maid's family suddenly had money to move to another country. She begins to believe that the accused son is innocent, and that his stepmother had put the blame on him to save one of her sons. The story concludes as it should! I don't want to give away the ending.

Honor, Duty and Mystery

In A Duty to the Dead Charles Todd introduces Bess Crawford, an army nurse. Assigned to a hospital ship she gets involved with a recovering soldier, Arthur Graham. When he takes a turn for the worse he begs her to deliver a cryptic message to his brother, Jonathon, asking him to set things right. She puts off the face to face meeting until she herself is wounded and sent home on leave. Gathering her courage she travels to deliver the message. The Graham family isn't what Bess expected. She is greeted by his mother and two brothers but his oldest brother is mysteriously missing. Jonathon isn't interested in acting on Arthur's request. They are more interested in what Arthur may have told her about the past. Before she can leave the questions behind; her nursing skills are needed. First the local doctor presses her into service tending a shell shocked soldier. Then the missing brother, Peregrine is returned home with a terminal case of pneumonia. Much to the disappointment of the family Bess pulls him through. She leaves town with a list of unanswered questions and the feeling that she has not done her duty to the dead. But before she can decide what to do she is taken hostage by a gunman who threatens to kill her and others if she doesn't uncover the truth and right the wrong The book is an excellent read. I could not put it down. The plot is fast paced. Bess is a strong modern woman, appropriate to the world war 1 setting. There is also enough twists and turns to keep mystery buffs guessing.