(1999) Really like Rutledge & Hamish. Here he tries to prove that the man arrested for the murder of a woman he had seen at a train station was actually somebody else murdered by some one else. KIRKUS:It's the end of WWI and Inspector Ian Rutledge is back at his Scotland Yard job¥physically uninjured but plagued by the inner, nagging voice of dead soldier Hamish MacLeod (A Test of Wills, etc.). His first assignment takes him to the village of Singleton Magna in Dorset. There, bull-headed Inspector Hildebrand has in custody shell-shocked veteran Bert Mowbray, accused of killing a woman he'd seen on the train platform with two children, declaring the woman to be his wife. Mowbray's later search for her seems to have ended in a brutal killing, and now the search is on for the childrenÂ¥and fast becoming a dead end. It soon develops that another person in the area is missing. In nearby Charlburg, Simon Wyatt, expected to follow in his father's illustrious political footsteps, has returned from the war with French wife Aurore and no ambition except to set up a small museum of Indian and Far Fast artifacts. His onetime near fiance Elizabeth Napier has brought him her London father's competent assistant to help with the museum. Now that assistant (Margaret Tarlton) has vanished, and Hildebrand refuses to exhume Mowbray's victim's body to verify her identity. Strangely enough, a body does surface; this time it's that of Betty Cooper, a maid who worked for a local farm family but had higher aspirations. Her death provides further unneeded complicationsÂ¥until, with little effort on Ian's part, all the unlikely answers come to light. A bit livelier than the author's previous work, with plenty of suspense despite its unfocused plot, unreal people, and too- leisurely style. Best for those who like their mystery melodramas written the old-fashioned way.Pub Date: May 1, 1999ISBN: 0-312-20000-5Page Count: 288Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin'sReview Posted Online: May 20, 2010Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999

Not the best of this series so far. I'm taking a break from Inspector Rutledge. I found myself really wanting the book to be done with at about the half way mark. I guess I'm just not that interested in what happens to the Inspector and Hamish, the voice in his head.







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Rutledge is sent to Dorset to investigate the murder of a woman and to find two missing children. Although the woman's estranged husband is the logical suspect, further sleuthing proves he may not be. ( )

I came across this book by accident, hiding on my shelf and opened it to scan the first page; later that day I closed the cover and sat back feeling I have used my time wisely.

The main protagonist in this book and all the other in this series is a Scotland Yard policeman. Newly returned from the Great War, he has his own personal demons to deal with as well as helping those who are also dealing with their demons from fighting in this war. Add to that the stress of trying to find the criminals, and it could make for a very unstable and highly strung character but the Author manages to avoid this wonderfully. Instead he uses this character as a vehicle to bring the reader’s attention to the unseen horrors that many carried with them when they returned home. This character is vulnerable, unsure whilst at the same time being very capable of doing his job and bringing the wrongdoer to justice. I felt for this character as I don’t usually do in a cozy mystery, and wished there was some way I could help him find peace in his life. In this one character the Author managed not only to show the inner turmoil of those who returned from the fighting, but he also shows in the other people he encounters in his enquiries the change in society that had taken place while he was away. These range from total indifference to the way these returnees were feeling and going through, to those who wanted to cosset them and keep them wrapped up from the hurts that may come their way in everyday and finally to the group of people who refused to believe that, mentally, their loved ones would never return to normal. This book is not loaded down with a bunch of secondary characters which helps the book move along at a steady clip and keeps the reader on track to the end.

What an end it was. This is the kind of book I love. I thought I had spotted the bad guy, then no it took a twist, and another, then another until the end I had no idea who the real criminal was, and when the reveal came I was blown away as I never thought it was this person. Add to this the feeling of flying down country roads in a little old car when horses and carriages were still in good use, and it all combines to the kind of book that I just couldn’t put down.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of cozy mysteries, and those who enjoy a great read that will keep you guessing until the end. I will definitely be reading more in this series.


Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2014/09/29/review-search-the-dark-inspector-ian-rutle...





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is dead woman wife of haunted drifter or killed for other reasons? mother kills to protect her brain injured son