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A Fearsome Doubt
A Fearsome Doubt
A Fearsome Doubt
Audiobook11 hours

A Fearsome Doubt

Written by Charles Todd

Narrated by Samuel Gillies

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

Bestselling author Charles Todd has earned a special place among mystery?s elite writers with his acclaimed series featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge, a former soldier seeking to lay to rest the demons of his past in the aftermath of World War I. But that past bleeds into the present in a complex murder case that calls into question his own honor...and the crimes committed in the name of God, country, and righteous vengeance. A Fearsome Doubt In 1912 Ian Rutledge watched as a man was condemned to hang for the murders of elderly women. Rutledge helped gather the evidence that sent Ben Shaw to the gallows. And when justice was done, Rutledge closed the door on the case. But Shaw was not easily forgotten. Now, seven years later, that grim trial returns in the form of Ben Shaw?s widow Nell, bringing Rutledge evidence she is convinced will prove her husband?s innocence. It?s a belief fraught with peril, threatening both Rutledge?s professional stature and his faith in his judgment. But there is a darker reason for Rutledge?s reluctance. Murder brings him back to Kent where, days earlier, he?d glimpsed an all-too-familiar face beyond the leaping flames of a bonfire. Soon an unexpected encounter revives the end of his own war, as the country prepares for a somber commemoration on the anniversary of the Armistice. To battle the unsettled past and the haunted present at the same time is an appalling mandate. And the people around him? among them the attractive widow of a friend, a remarkable woman who survived the Great Indian Mutiny; a bitter, dying barrister; and a man whose name he never knew?unwittingly compete with the grieving Nell Shaw. They?ll demand more than Rutledge can give, unaware that he is already carrying the burden of shell shock? and the voice of Hamish MacLeod, the soldier he was forced to execute in the war. The killer in Marling is surprisingly adept at escaping detection. And Ben Shaw?s past is a tangle of unsettling secrets that may or may not be true. Rutledge must walk a tortuous line between two murderers...one reaching out to ruin him, the other driven to destroy him.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 22, 2014
ISBN9781490634029
A Fearsome Doubt
Author

Charles Todd

Charles Todd is the New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, Caroline passed away in August 2021 and Charles lives in Florida.

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Reviews for A Fearsome Doubt

Rating: 3.9684465728155343 out of 5 stars
4/5

206 ratings8 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow! I was guessing until the end. Just when I thought I had the 5 Ws & 1 H, I did not. Masterfully written!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The widow of a man who hanged as a result of Rutledge's testimony insists that he was wrong and harasses him to find the real killer even though several years have passed. Meanwhile the Inspector is sent to investigate the murders of injured WWI veterans in Kent, where he encounters someone he seems to remember from his own service in France.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    1912 Ben Shaw is found guilty of the murders of several elderly women and is therefore hanged.
    In 1919 Mrs Shaw approaches Inspector Rutledge believing she has proof of his innocence. But he has another case to investigate, the murder of three invalided soldiers near Marling, Kent. Can he investigate both cases and determine the truth.
    Another interesting and entertaining well-written historical mystery
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Synopsis: A woman appears on Ian's doorstep claiming that she has information that exonerates her husband who was hanged on Ian's testimony. Of course, this makes Ian call into question his methods and his judgement. However, his boss sends him to a small town to investigate the murder of former soldiers who were missing limbs. While it is pleasant for Ian to see some old friends, the possibility that the murder is among them leads to more questioning of his decisions. What also troubles him is that he is having to deal with more memories of the war.Review: I really liked the introduction of the woman, Melinda, who had traveled the world and had a wide range of experiences making her wise.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    PTSd is rampant among veterans and their families following the horrific First World War long before the term and category entered medical vocabularies. Rutledge returns to Kent to sort out the in
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    If you are looking for some really authentic-feeling crime fiction based on the issues of the social aftermath World War One, then here is a series for you. I haven't read them all, but I have in particular enjoyed the audio versions. Each of the titles seems to have a focus on an issue related to the War. The issues that emerge in A FEARSOME DOUBT are the damage done to the survivors, whether physical as in the loss of a limb, or mental as in post traumatic stress or unresolved shell shock; another issue relates to those who profited by the war, while so many lost so much.Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I couldn't put it down. In fact, I was scribbling in the margins when I thought Todd was letting a clue slip out. I was surprised by the culprit but the clues all fit.This is the sixth book of Inspector Ian Rutledge's cases. While the mystery murders are always fun to speculate upon, the most gripping aspect is Rutledge himself. I admire him as I watch this veteran of The War To End All Wars come to grips with his life after-war and after shell-shock.. The post WWI English countryside is clearly a culture shifting from agriculture to industrialization and then losing all the workers in the war. Old well-to-do families have lost their heirs in the war and the income they used to get from the land is no longer there, Crass newly wealthy manufacturers are taking over the manor houses with none of the Nobless Oblige of the past era. England of 1919 is a country in turmoil. The war is over but the peace will be hard in its own way, for everyone.Great read. I'm opening the next Ian Rutledge with anticipation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In this, the sixth Inspector Rutledge mystery, the shell-shocked detective is filled with self-doubt and depression once again, hence the almost constant presence of Hamish, his conscience and tormentor. On the first anniversary of the Armistice, Rutledge escapes the city to stay with a widowed friend in Kent, haunted by the memory of the men who did not survive the war and the accusations of a woman whose husband was sent to the gallows six years earlier, on Rutledge's evidence. With the cold case praying on his mind, Rutledge is drawn into a new investigation, forcing him to confront all his doubts and fears at once - mamed soldiers are being poisoned on the road into a pretty Kent village, seemingly without obvious motive, and one of the suspects brings back traumatic memories for Rutledge. Questioning his judgement over the man he sent to hang, and still blaming himself for the deaths of the young men under his command in the trenches, Rutledge is in danger of losing his objectivity and his sanity.There is a darker tone to this mystery, perhaps because of the date - it's one year on from the end of the war, and Rutledge must face the consequences of his actions, before, during and after going to France. The England he, and the other soldiers returned from the front, once knew is long gone, and he mourns its passing: 'This was the England he had fought for. And it was already dying.' His friendship with Elizabeth, the widow of his best friend, has also been altered by the loss they both share, and he faces losing her to - ironically enough - a German love interest. The psychological element of the story, examining the slow recovery from the hardships and loss of war, is once again far more fascinating than the actual mystery - Hamish's voice is stronger and louder than ever for Rutledge, but the whole country is still finding it hard to adjust to peacetime, from families surviving without husbands and fathers, to men returning home to half a life. Charles Todd captures this mood perfectly, tainting nostalgic lanscapes with dark deeds and repressed emotions.The only detail that lets this book down is the solution to the mystery - never one for playing detective, I had two or three 'suspects' in mind as I read, and not one of them was close to being the actual killer. There just weren't any clues pointing to the final revelation, and the motive would have fit any number of the 'red herrings' more accurately. A neat twist, but not very satisfying.