nomadreader

The backstory: A Pattern of Lies  is the seventh mystery featuring World War I nurse Bess Crawford. My reviews of the first six: A Duty to the Dead , An Impartial Witness , A Bitter Truth , An Unmarked Grave , A Question of Honor , and  An Unwilling Accomplice . The basics: The action in A Pattern of Lies  centers on the small Kent village of Cranbourne, where a gun powder mill exploded two years ago. More than one hundred men died in the explosion. The truth, never certain, has yielded to the titular patterns of lies and accusations in a town still reeling from tragedy, all are looking for someone to blame, as Bess tries to figure out the truth. My thoughts: A Pattern of Lies  is darker and presents dangerous situations (aside from the war itself) than most books in this series. It's set in 1918, and as readers know, World War I is nearly over. I'm quite curious to see where the series goes beyond the war. But in A Pattern of Lies , the War remains an increa...

The backstory: An Unwilling Accomplice  is the sixth historical mystery in Charles Todd's Bess Crawford series. Bess is a World War I nurse. Read my reviews of the first five:  A Duty to the Dead ,  An Impartial Witness ,  A Bitter Truth ,  An Unmarked Grave , and  A Question of Honor . The basics: While home in England on leave from her nursing post in France during World War I, Bess is asked to accompany a wounded soldier to Buckingham Palace, where he receives an award. Overnight after the ceremony, the soldier vanishes, and Bess immediately falls under suspicion as an accomplice. She sets out to find the soldier herself to clear her name, but the mystery soon turns darker and more dangerous. My thoughts: One of my favorite things about this series is how well Charles Todd (the mother and son writing team of Charles and Caroline Todd) capture the atmosphere of World War I. Bess is such a dynamic character, and I always learn so much about mann...

The backstory: A Question of Honor  is the fifth historical mystery in mother and son writing team Charles Todd's Bess Crawford, a British World War I nurse, series. My reviews of the first four: A Duty to the Dead , An Impartial Witness , A Bitter Truth , and An Unmarked Grave . The basics: A Question of Honor  begins in India in 1908, when Bess was living there while her father's regiment was stationed there. The regiment faces a challenge when one of their own killed five people. He's assumed dead, but as the novel shifts back to its present tense in the fall of 1918, Bess begins to seek the truth, about his possible presence in France and about what happened ten years ago. My thoughts: I adore Bess as a character, and it was a delight to spend a little time in her childhood at the beginning of this book. I tend to shy away from mysteries in which the sleuth is not actually in law enforcement or a private investigator, but Charles Todd has done quite well giving Be...

The backstory: An Unmarked Grave  is the fourth title in the Bess Crawford historical mystery series by mother and son writing team Charles Todd. I've reviewed the first three titles in this series: A Duty to the Dead , An Impartial Witness , and A Bitter Truth . The basics: The novel opens in France in the spring of 1918 when the Spanish influenza is killing many on the front lines. When a private discovers an extra body in the shed, Bess once again finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. My thoughts: One of the things I love most about this series is the character of Bess Crawford. She is both innocent and experienced. She's confident and bold, yet her behavior conforms to the societal norms of her times. Despite being mysteries set in the war, there is a gentleness to this series as Bess is a nurse not a constable. In many ways, then, An Unmarked Grave  surprised me. Almost all of the action takes place in France, where both the front lines and Spanish influe...

The backstory: Having thoroughly enjoyed the first two Bess Crawford novels by mother-son writing duo Charles Todd, A Duty to the Dead  ( my review ) and An Impartial Witnes s ( my review ), I eagerly awaited the release of A Bitter Truth . Because this mystery is set at Christmastime, I waited until December to read it. The basics:  Bess Crawford arrives home to London for a Christmas break from her job as a nurse in World War I. When she arrives at the door of her flat, there is a young woman hiding in the doorway trying to keep warm. Bess, being Bess, invites the young woman up and discovers she has marital problems and somewhat reluctantly agrees to see the young woman back home, where things get quite interesting. My thoughts: Although I loved the first two novels in this series, I was curious how I would feel as it progressed. I don't seek out cozy mysteries, and I wondered how many ways Todd could manage to make Bess a crime solver. Thankfully, it works perfectly i...

When Thankfully Reading Weekend was launched two years ago, I wasn't able to participate much because I had to work most of the weekend (oh, graduate school...) This year, I'm blessed (truly) with a five-day Thanksgiving weekend, and I'm spending much of it reading. I'm also catching up on neglected review posts. My plan Seriously, waking up today and realizing it's only now the true weekend left me feeling relaxed, thankful and blessed. Mr. Nomadreader and I have planned a Mexican lunch out (festive, right?) followed by a matinee of The Descendents  (review coming this week). I'm excited it's movie award season and all the films I'm most excited about are finally coming out. We plan to be back home and lounging on the couch before five o'clock. I'm hoping to finish Winter Garden  by Kristin Hannah tonight. Then I'm excited to start A Bitter Truth , the third Bess Crawford mystery by Charles Todd. It came out at the end of August, and I...

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine to highlight an upcoming release you can't wait to read.  My pick this week is  A Bitter Truth  by Charles Todd (a mother and son writing team). It's the third book in their Bess Crawford mystery series. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two novels in this series, A Duty to the Dead  ( my review ) and An Impartial Witness  ( my review ), so I'm looking forward to reading the latest installment in this favorite series. Here's how the publisher describes A Bitter Truth: "When battlefield nurse Bess Crawford returns from France for a well-earned Christmas leave, she finds a bruised and shivering woman huddled in the doorway of her London residence. The woman has nowhere to turn, and, propelled by a firm sense of duty, Bess takes her in. Once inside Bess's flat the woman reveals that a quarrel with her husband erupted into violence, yet she wants to go home--if Bess will come with her to Sussex....

  The backstory: I thoroughly enjoyed Charles Todd's first Bess Crawford novel, A Duty to the Dead ( my review ), so I was eager to read the second mystery in this series. The basics: An Impartial Witness is once again narrated by British World War I Army nurse Bess Crawford, a delightfully independent, intelligent, feminist woman. Granted, Bess is developing quite a habit of finding herself in the midst of murder investigations, but she's relatively smart about it. My thoughts: Simply put, I enjoyed this novel even more than the first one. It's also refreshing to discover a mystery series that doesn't need to be read in order. There are a few mentions to the Britanic sinking, but the other events from the first novel (the mystery parts) aren't alluded to. The family and friends of Bess return, but their brief descriptions are helpful reminders for readers of the first book and adequate descriptions for those new to the series. Bottom line: it doesn't m...

I've been craving mysteries lately, especially historical mysteries. I read a few glowing reviews of A Duty to the Dead , the first in a new historical mystery series by Charles Todd. The reviews were right. The novel is set in 1916, and it opens with the British hospital ship Britanic being hit. The action grabbed me right away, and I instantly felt an affinity for Bess, the narrator. She's an army nurse and an independent woman. The crux of the novel is unraveling the mysterious final message a dying solider entrusted Bess with. She has romantic feelings for him, and she takes the post- Britanic break to visit his family to deliver his dying message. Bess is smart, proper and independent all at the same time. The prose flows beautifully, and the setting is luscious. I loved this book, and I read it in less than a day. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the next Bess Crawford novel! I'm also eager to read Charles Todd's other mystery series featuring...