We are Charles Todd, and we’re in the business of killing people.
That is, in the stories we tell.
As for who did it and how, well… we will leave it to you to find that out.
After all, what good is a murder if there isn’t a mystery as to the why behind it.
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AVAILABLE MARCH 2, 2027
With the Great War finally behind her, Bess Crawford has stepped away from her duties with Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, ready to embrace whatever lies ahead. But peace proves short-lived when the troubling news reaches her that a dear friend has vanished.
Elayne—once Bess’s flatmate and trusted confidante during the war—had seemed poised for a bright and happy future. The last Bess knew, she had fallen deeply in love with a soldier while returning from France. Now, with both Elayne and the man she loved missing, Bess fears that something has gone terribly wrong.
Determined to uncover the truth, Bess returns to London and soon finds herself entangled in a web of unanswered questions, bureaucratic obstacles, and lingering wartime secrets. To track down her friend, she must navigate not only the rigid constraints of the Military Nursing Service but also the guarded silence of the Army itself.
At her side is Simon Brandon, her father’s aide—a man marked by his own past and one who holds a complicated place in Bess’s heart. Together, they follow a trail that stretches across the countryside, pursuing a mystery rooted in the shadows of war and discovering that its consequences are far from over.
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Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard travels to England’s windswept coastline to investigate a murder in a place where, several years after the end of WWI, the memory of the war still runs strong …
July, 1921: England is suffering a heatwave and the coast of Northumberland, just across the border from Scotland, is filled with holiday-makers bird watching and enjoying the beaches. Pilgrims also come to visit the home of Saints Cuthbert and Aiden―the founders of Christianity in England―located on the “Holy Island” of Lindisfarne, accessible by a causeway at low tide.
When the murdered body of a local man washes ashore just south of Lindisfarne, the government and the Church of England are concerned about protecting both the reputation of the Church and the sacred sites that are a destination for hundreds of pilgrims at this time of year. With his ability to move in the highest social and political circles, Rutledge is sent by Scotland Yard to solve this crime and dispel any association with the Church.