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    A Casualty of War: A Bess Crawford Mystery
    A Casualty of War: A Bess Crawford Mystery
    A Casualty of War: A Bess Crawford Mystery
    Audiobook11 hours

    A Casualty of War: A Bess Crawford Mystery

    Written by Charles Todd

    Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    From New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd comes a haunting tale that explores the impact of World War I on all who witnessed it—officers, soldiers, doctors, and battlefield nurses like Bess Crawford.

    Though the Great War is nearing its end, the fighting rages on. While waiting for transport back to her post, Bess Crawford meets Captain Alan Travis from the island of Barbados. Later, when he’s brought into her forward aid station disoriented from a head wound, Bess is alarmed that he believes his distant English cousin, Lieutenant James Travis, shot him. Then the Captain is brought back to the aid station with a more severe wound, once more angrily denouncing the Lieutenant as a killer. But when it appears that James Travis couldn’t have shot him, the Captain’s sanity is questioned. Still, Bess wonders how such an experienced officer could be so wrong.

    On leave in England, Bess finds the Captain strapped to his bed in a clinic for brain injuries. Horrified by his condition, Bess and Sergeant Major Simon Brandon travel to James Travis’s home in Suffolk, to learn more about the baffling relationship between these two cousins.

    Her search will lead this smart, capable, and compassionate young woman into unexpected danger, and bring her face to face with the visible and invisible wounds of war that not even the much-longed for peace can heal.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 26, 2017
    ISBN9780062695147
    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 Casualty of War

    4/5

    123 ratings16 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Title: A Casualty of War (A Bess Crawford Mystery #9)Author: Charles ToddPages: 378Year: 2017Publisher: William MorrowMy rating is 4 out of 5 stars.Bess Crawford is once again called on to help a soldier in need. This time the soldier, Alan Travis, claims that a soldier in a British uniform tried to kill him, a British soldier himself and not once, but twice. The soldier looks very much like Alan’s cousin. Alan suffers a head wound that causes the aid station to doubt his claims. He is returned to active duty after being cleared by the Base Hospital. When he is returned to the aid station with a bullet wound in his back, claiming the same soldier tried to kill him again, the authorities investigate his claims. It is discovered that the man Alan claims tried to kill him is dead. Now, the hospital staff begins to doubt his sanity and perhaps the first wound to his head was more serious than they thought. He is transferred to a mental hospital until he can be further evaluated. Bess feels responsible and tells Alan she will see what she can discover.Bess is home for two weeks leave after the war is finally over. However, instead of spending the time with her parents, she ends up chasing clues as the mystery surrounding Captain Travis goes deeper than she originally thought. She has Simon Brandon at her side for protection and help, but can he truly keep her safe when a murder happens in the small village of the Travis family? Bess is convinced Captain Travis is sane and won’t rest until justice for him clears his name, freeing him, but at what cost?In her role as a nurse, Bess has been involved in quite a few mysteries so now that the war is over I am very curious to see how this series will continue. I thoroughly enjoy the time frame of this series as well as the setting. I love reading about all the small villages and their intricacies of life, how townspeople interact with one another and strangers. Bess leaves no stone unturned, even though many times she has no authority, in her investigations. She just can’t leave a mystery alone, even when she should for her own safety. I also liked seeing more of Simon in this story and would like to know more about his background. Maybe there might be a mystery with Simon and his past as the focus? I’m looking forward to seeing how Bess encounters her tenth mystery!
    • 5/5
      What did I like about this book? It felt like you were with the characters, but not in an overwhelming landslide of details, just enough to understand the story and care about it. I read it in two sittings. The narrator is wonderful, clear.
    • 3/5
      Not one of the better stories by Charles Todd. ..
    • 4/5
      A intriguing story a crime has been committed with the final days of the western front in World War I as a backdrop.
    • 4/5
      I have a longheld fascination for all things World War I, and after reading Lyn MacDonald's excellent The Roses of No Man's Land, I've found myself reading both fiction and nonfiction about the women who went to France and Belgium to nurse the wounded. Charles Todd's mysteries about Bess Crawford are very good, and A Casualty of War is no exception, although I would imagine that Bess's parents are sick of her solving mysteries instead of spending time with them on her infrequent leaves home in England.The chaos of trench warfare is a fertile ground for mysteries, and the mystery in A Casualty of War is intriguing indeed. How and why would Captain Travis's cousin want to kill him... if indeed it was him in the first place? Why are the people of the village of Sinclair so hostile to Bess? There are many questions to answer, and it's fun to attempt to find answers for them all before Bess does.Another reason why this series is so strong is that the writing team of Charles Todd does an excellent job of giving readers a real feel for the time, the attitudes of people from all walks of life, and what it was like to be a nurse at the front lines. When the end of the war is announced, Bess, the other nurses, the doctors, the soldiers all experience a feeling of relief, but also a sort of disbelief. They've been fighting for so long, and when Bess goes to England, it's plain to see that everyone will have many adjustments to make. Things aren't going to go back to normal. At least, no time soon.I like the character of Bess. I like seeing how she feels about people and the lengths to which she'll go to do what's right for them. There's also the added fillip of possible romance when Bess and Brandon spend a great deal of time in each other's company.If you like reading books with a strong female main character who solves intriguing mysteries set in a well-researched time period, I recommend Charles Todd's Bess Crawford series. They. Are. Good.
    • 3/5
      I enjoyed A Casualty of War a little more than prior Bess Crawford novels. The war has finally ended, but the nurses have many duties to perform such as the wounded still entering the hospitals. Bess begins a short leave in the search of a patient with a head injury. The man believes that a relative has attempted to kill him on two occasions, but no one believes him, except Bess. What follows is Bess and Simon Brandon locating Captain Alan Travis and hoping to discover the truth of the situation. The team comprising Charles Todd pen a detailed and well written story with the lush English countryside and the quaint English customs. The tale contains many characters and many false leads, but the ending ties all the pieces together.
    • 4/5
      A good Bess Crawford mystery. It took several pages to really get started but the second half crackled The concept of a WW I British nursing sister, home on leave, who stumbles onto crimes or WW I crimes which find her is novel Bess is level-headed but is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Keep it up Bess.
    • 3/5
      "A Casualty of War" is a tale about one man's obsessive quest to prove that a fellow British officer deliberately tried to kill him during a WWI battle in France. As it turns out, the man targeted for assassination has unknowingly become heir to a title and mansion in England even though he has never met anyone in the English branch of his family (he was born and raised elsewhere). The mother-son writing team known as "Charles Todd" tells an interesting story here, but too many of the characters are stereotypical representatives of a type, and it is sometimes difficult to take them and their actions very seriously.Still, this made for a decent audio book (the reader is absolutely excellent), and since it is my first experience with this series, I may be underestimating its impact on series fans. As regards the series, for me, this will most likely be the end of it.
    • 5/5
      I had no idea that this was part of a series and it definitely was a book you could listen to/read on its own. The CD was wonderful listening---read by Rosalyn Landor.
    • 3/5
      There was too much traipsing about, back and forth, back and forth, and trying to keep the players and their names straight was tiring.
    • 4/5
      2017, Harper Audio, Read by Rosalyn LandorPublisher’s Summary: adapted from Audible.comThough the Great War is nearing its end, the fighting rages on. While waiting for transport back to her post, Bess Crawford meets Captain Alan Travis from the island of Barbados. Later, when he's brought into her forward aid station disoriented from a head wound, Bess is alarmed that he believes his distant English cousin, Lieutenant James Travis, shot him. Then the captain is brought back to the aid station with a more severe wound, once more angrily denouncing the lieutenant as a killer. But when it appears that James Travis couldn't have shot him, the captain's sanity is questioned. Still, Bess wonders how such an experienced officer could be so wrong.My Review:“The war took most of England's young men and buried them in foreign soil …”Can’t be sure I’ve got that quote exact as I was walking and listening when I heard it – but I do remember being struck by its power and its simplicity.I was immediately intrigued with A Casualty of War opening, as it did, with the insistence of Captain Alan Travis that he’d been deliberately shot by a cousin on the battlefield – not once, but twice. As the story progresses, Bess and Simon Brandon travel to Suffolk, to learn more about the relationship between the two cousins. The Travis family matriarch is an angry, mistrustful woman, who claims to be acting as her husband would have wished, and in the best interests of her deceased son James – but this is a family with an acrimonious past. Todd complicates the plot with local crimes, including murder. Expectedly, it is Bess and Simon – not local law officers – who unravel the case.Have enjoyed this series, and Landor’s narration has been perfect throughout. Not sure whether Todd continues to write further installments, but I will watch for same.
    • 4/5
      WW ! is in its final countdown and political exigencies require that the guns continue firing. Thus casualties still flow into the forward aid stations. When one officer shows up twice, claiming that each wound was caused by a fellow officer a cousin, that he can identify. Bess gets involved during his recovery which is complicated by his being diagnosed as delusional.The man, he identified. as his assailant is found to have been a casualty before the shooting incidents occurred. Thus, it seems likely that he may truly be delusional. Visiting him where he is being held in restraints during his recovery, she becomes convinced of the validity of his claims. She pursues it to the Suffolk community of his family origins.A rancorous family history is perpetuated by its current senior member, the alleged assailant's mother. A local murder and other crimes have the community constabulary seeking a convenient stranger. the wounded officer. Bess, aided by Simon, continues to investigate and uncovers much deceit and possible embezzlement. When this is confirmed through some stealthy B & E by the Colonel Sahib and his Sergeant-Major, Bess is kidnapped by the prime suspect. Her escape and rescue precipitate a swift unraveling of the plot and its perpetrators.Another very good entry in this fine series.
    • 4/5
      Once again Bess Crawford determines to get to the bottom of a dangerous situation for one of her patients. In the final days of World War I she befriends a British soldier from Barbados. Subsequently, he becomes one of her patients, suffering from a gunshot wound that he says was inflicted purposefully by another British soldier. Nobdy believes him, even when he is shot again by the same person, and he ends up being hospitalized in a mental hospital as delusional. Not only does Bess undertake clearing his name and finding out who the shooter was, but she brings in longtime family friend Simon and eventually even her father to straighten out the very messy and dangerous tangle. This is a suspenseful novel by the Todds, and the lack of a clear resolution until the end made it a quick page-turner.
    • 4/5
      An officer Bess is nursing thinks he was shot by his cousin a fellow British soldier. Back in England Bess tries to save the officer from his own deacons and figure out complicated family ties to resolve the mystery.
    • 4/5
      Title: A Casualty of War (A Bess Crawford Mystery #9)Author: Charles ToddPages: 378Year: 2017Publisher: William MorrowMy rating is 4 out of 5 stars.Bess Crawford is once again called on to help a soldier in need. This time the soldier, Alan Travis, claims that a soldier in a British uniform tried to kill him, a British soldier himself and not once, but twice. The soldier looks very much like Alan’s cousin. Alan suffers a head wound that causes the aid station to doubt his claims. He is returned to active duty after being cleared by the Base Hospital. When he is returned to the aid station with a bullet wound in his back, claiming the same soldier tried to kill him again, the authorities investigate his claims. It is discovered that the man Alan claims tried to kill him is dead. Now, the hospital staff begins to doubt his sanity and perhaps the first wound to his head was more serious than they thought. He is transferred to a mental hospital until he can be further evaluated. Bess feels responsible and tells Alan she will see what she can discover.Bess is home for two weeks leave after the war is finally over. However, instead of spending the time with her parents, she ends up chasing clues as the mystery surrounding Captain Travis goes deeper than she originally thought. She has Simon Brandon at her side for protection and help, but can he truly keep her safe when a murder happens in the small village of the Travis family? Bess is convinced Captain Travis is sane and won’t rest until justice for him clears his name, freeing him, but at what cost?In her role as a nurse, Bess has been involved in quite a few mysteries so now that the war is over I am very curious to see how this series will continue. I thoroughly enjoy the time frame of this series as well as the setting. I love reading about all the small villages and their intricacies of life, how townspeople interact with one another and strangers. Bess leaves no stone unturned, even though many times she has no authority, in her investigations. She just can’t leave a mystery alone, even when she should for her own safety. I also liked seeing more of Simon in this story and would like to know more about his background. Maybe there might be a mystery with Simon and his past as the focus? I’m looking forward to seeing how Bess encounters her tenth mystery!
    • 4/5
      Bess Crawford is worried about one of her patients who has been shot twice and believes he was shot by a cousin he barely knows. Because of a being shot in the head he’s been assigned to a mental institution and Bess goes to check on him while on leave with her friend Simon. The conditions are terrible and she feels he’s been misdiagnosed and offers to help him by checking on the cousin. This brings her and Simon to a quaint village with a mix of unusual characters. It seemed like she and Simon were running around from here to there and back and forth through the book. She relies on Simon for idea, support and rescue. WWI has ended – what’s next for them?