An Impartial Witness

In the second Bess Crawford novel (after A Duty to the Dead, 2009), the World War I battlefield nurse is escorting several injured soldiers back to England. Job done, Bess prepares to take a two-day leave, but, at the train station, she’s startled to see the wife of one of her patients in a rather emotional situation with another man. Later, after Bess learns that Scotland Yard is very interested in locating the woman, she finds herself on the trail of a killer. Todd—the pen name of a mother-and-son writing team—turns in another winning performance with a smartly plotted, well-told mystery. The Crawford novels are a nice change of pace from the heavier Inspector Rutledge books, and fans of mysteries featuring strong, appealing heroines will certainly embrace this one. Highly recommendable, especially (but not exclusively) to fans of the author’s previous books.