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“[Todd wraps] his challenging plot, complex characters, and subtle psychological insights in thick layers of atmosphere.”
— New York Times Book Review
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“Fine writing. A spectacular conclusion that rejuvenates the cliche ‘It was a dark and stormy night.’”
— Washington Post Book Review
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“A strong mystery, filled with fine characterizations [and] a superb eye for Cornwall...Wise and wily.”
— Boston Globe
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“Thoughtful and evocative, Todd’s
tale offers interesting, three-dimensional characters, even though two of them
are dead — the soldier Hamish, whose voice still sounds in Rutledge’s head,
and the poet Olivia, whose searing verses may hold the clues Rutledge seeks.”
— Barnes&Noble.com, editorial review
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“Todd’s writing is graceful and
evocative of a bygone time and place.”
— Miami Herald
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“Todd writes exceptionally about a a time when
people found not just meaning but healing in poetry, when intuition was viewed
as kind of ‘second sight,’ and when everyone was stamped by war—not just the
legless men but also the women who lost their loves and so their futures.”
— San Jose Mercury News
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“[Rutledge] makes a welcome return
in the haunting Wings of Fire…Thoughtful
and evocative, Todd’s tale offers intereting, three-dimentional characters.”
— Orlando Sentinel
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“Novelist Charles Todd now joine that growing little circle of American authors like Elizabeth George and
Martha Grimes who have made themselves at home in the exclusive field of the
British literary mystery.”
— Buffalo News
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“Truly captivating.”
— Drood Review of Mystery
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“In a brilliant return after his
introduction in A Test of Wills,
Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge is dispatched to Cornwall to investigate
three deaths…Todd’s cast is sometimes hard to keep straight, but readers will
find it hard to resist following Rutledge on this emotionally intense quest. Memorable characters, subtle plot twists, the evocative seaside setting, and descriptions of architecture, the moors, and the sea fully reward the
attention this novel commands.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
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“Splendid imagery, in-depth
characterization, and glimpses of more than one wounded psyche: an excellent
historical mystery for all collections.”
— Library Journal
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“With the help of his ‘sidekick.’
Hamish, Rutledge tries to sort out the twisted relationships between the
members of the family and thus determine which of them might have killed the
others. Not for all tastes—the mixture of fantasy and realistic detecting may
put off some—this is still a well-crafted mystery that will please those who
give it a chance.”
— Booklist
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“England’s Cornish coast proves the
perfect setting for Todd’s second Ian Rutledge novel…The atmosphere alone is enough
to hold both history buffs and mystery fans. That, plus the finely drawn
characters and a captivating plot, result in a book that is hard to put down.”
— School Library Journal
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“Rutledge, undeterred by protests
from the local doctor, police chief, family members, and retainers, tirelessly
sorts through fact and legend to reach the truth…augmented by the terser,
Scots-accented dialogue between Rutledge and his inner voice.”
— Kirkus Reviews