Proof of Guilt (Inspector Ian Rutledge Series #15)

by Charles Todd

Overview

Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge must contend with two dangerous enemies in this
latest complex mystery in the New York Times bestselling series

London, summer 1920. An unidentified body appears to have been run down by a motorcar and Ian Rutledge is leading the investigation to uncover what happened. While the signs point to murder, vital questions remain: Who is the victim? And where, exactly, was he killed?

One small clue leads Rutledge to a firm built by two families, famous for producing and selling the world's best Madeira wine. Lewis French, the current head of the English enterprise, is missing. But is he the dead man? And does either his fiancée or his jilted former lover have anything to do with his disappearance—or possible death? What about his sister? Or the London office clerk? Is Matthew Traynor, French's cousin and partner who heads the Madeira office, somehow involved?

The experienced Rutledge knows that suspicion and circumstantial evidence are not proof of guilt, and he's going to keep digging for answers. But that perseverance will pit him against his supervisor, the new acting chief superintendent. When Rutledge discovers a link to an incident in the French family's past, the superintendent dismisses it, claiming the information isn't vital. He's determined to place the blame on one of French's women despite Rutledge's objections. Alone in a no-man's-land rife with mystery and danger, Rutledge must tread very carefully, for someone has decided that he, too, must die so that cruel justice can take its course.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062199362
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	01/29/2013
Series:	Inspector Ian Rutledge Series , #15
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	10,910
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

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, they live in Delaware and North Carolina, respectively.

Editorial Reviews

The mother and son who use the Todd nom de plume continue to impress with their 15th Rutledge mystery (after 2012’s The Confession), coupling a gripping whodunit with their ongoing exploration of the aftereffects of the hell of WWI on the human psyche. In 1920, the Scotland Yard homicide inspector is still haunted by his experiences in the trenches and guilt over shooting one of his men for disobeying an order. Adding to Rutledge’s anxiety is the arrival of a new boss, who sends him to look into a suspicious hit-and-run in London’s Chelsea neighborhood. No witness saw or heard anything. Only a valuable French-made watch in the possession of the unidentified victim gives a clue to his identity. As usual, the authors toss a lot of plot balls in the air and manage to juggle them deftly. Agent: Jane Chelius, Jane Chelius Literary. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"There’s a grand design to Charles Todd’s period novels featuring Inspector Ian Rutledge....elegant mysteries."

New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

There’s a grand design to Charles Todd’s period novels featuring Inspector Ian Rutledge....elegant mysteries.

Marilyn Stasio in the New York Times Book Review.

Inspector Rutledge's 15th investigation concerns a corpse without a name. Although its injuries are consistent with being struck down by a motorcar, the body lying in a quiet street in Chelsea shows signs of having been dragged along, and all identification was removed except for a handsome heirloom watch in a vest pocket. Tracing the origin of the timepiece leads Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge (The Confession, 2012, etc.) to French, French and Traynor, wine merchants: Lewis French, grandson of the founder, inherited the watch after his older brother Michael died in the war. Mr. Lewis French is unavailable to interview. Gooding, the firm's chief clerk, says he's in Essex awaiting the arrival of his partner and cousin Matthew Traynor, who oversees the firm's production of Madeira in Portugal. But is he? His sister hasn't spoken to him recently. Nor has his fiancee, or his former fiancee. Could Lewis be the Chelsea corpse? Could it be Matthew Traynor, who has yet to arrive from Portugal? Rutledge discovers sibling squabbles and a heated encounter decades ago concerning the ownership of the Portuguese vineyards. Following this lead brings him to the doorstep of a Mrs. Bennett, whose husband is missing and whose staff is composed of prisoners and mental patients released to her care, including the manipulative Alfonso Diaz, who looks forward to returning to Portugal to die. When more unidentifiable bodies turn up, Rutledge will have his hands full putting names to them, identifying motives for their deaths and disproving his Acting Chief Superintendent's choice of villains. Sturdily if not elegantly plotted, with the ghost of Hamish, the soldier Rutledge ordered executed in the war, still haranguing him.

Kirkus Reviews