Legacy of the Dead cover art

Legacy of the Dead

An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

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Legacy of the Dead

By: Charles Todd
Narrated by: Samuel Gillies
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About this listen

The weathered remains of Eleanor Gray are found on a Scottish mountainside, and her mother, the domineering Lady Maude Gray, requires delicate treatment. This is a case that will lead Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard to Scotland, where his harrowing journey to find the truth will drag him back through the fires of his past into secrets that still have the power to kill.

©2000 Charles Todd (P)2002 W. F. Howes Historical Mystery Police Procedurals Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Exciting

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This story is so skillfully written that you never know until the very end the whole picture. The narrator's reading is masterful, adding so much colour and life to all the different voices. This tale is one that I will enjoy revisiting several times more, to savour the subtler points and twists.

Gripping tale, exquisite reading

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Everything that’s good about historical detective fiction is here in these books - I shall be listening to them all

Super story

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Rutledge has to try to save Hamish's fiancee, Fiona, from being tried for murder. The many impediments from all quarters in the small Scottish Border town, and Hamish, all make it hard for Rutledge to get to bottom of this case. His dectective meanderings seem to be a trail of red herrings, but eventually, his terrier-tenacity pays off, but not without danger to Rutledge's life and his mental well-being. He has to search the past - the war, and its repercussions to see the entire picture.

The narrator, this time, seems to be less off the mark in his narration.

Too much love and too much pain

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This is one of Charles Todd’s best stories in the Ian Rutledge series. I can thoroughly recommend it.
I have minor gripes with the U S authors and their editors arising from this and other books in the series: geographical howlers (Beachy Head overlooks the English Channel not the Atlantic!); and societal mistakes (English people of any class in 1919 /20 would never say ‘gotten’ & the English have milk in their tea, never cream). Other Americanisms in the narrative are not a problem when it is not the characters who are saying them (‘out ‘ instead of ‘out of’, the door/ window, for example).
But all is forgiven when the stories and the characters are so rich in observation and detail.
These are books that are satisfying in their complexity and length, unlike so many contemporary offerings in the genre (I name no names but other reviews have made it clear I am not alone in my dissatisfaction with some popular novels and novellas masquerading as novels),
I look forward to reading the rest in the series. I try to read them in the order of the action but am frustrated by the lack of numbering of the books in the series. I have to guess from the summaries and dates of copyright and often find myself reading them in reverse order, recognising references to the previous book’s story as I read! Fortunately they are good enough for this not spoil my enjoyment.

Gripping mystery

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I enjoyed the storyline and writing day by day but the final connections of the 2 storylines and characters was too complex.

Too complicated

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I like this series, I really do but this one, set in Scotland and just happening to feature Angus’ fiancée is a bit of a dogs dinner.

Even worse, and I can only guess how this got through, at one point the author talks about a body lying in the open being at risk from coyotes and crows. WTF? If the body had been left at Edinburgh zoo I could understand it but I can assure the author and editors that there are no coyotes in Britain!!

A bit of a muddle and one huge howler

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