A Test of Wills

Good early work in series

I believe this might have been the first of the Ian Rutledge series--which has gone on to become most excellent in every respect!

In this book, Rutledge comes back after the Great War and takes back the place he gave up at Scotland Yard to enter the military. He has come back with shell shock (something he does not want his fellow detectives to know, which largely manifests as his hearing the voice of a dead comrade.) He has also faced the devastation of having his fiance break off their engagement because she cannot now bear to be married to him, suffering as he is. Getting back to work is a big challenge for him, so he desperately hopes to succeed.

However, his superior dislikes him, and sends him to handle a murder that could end his career--before it even gets going again, due to the extreme sensitivity of people involved. When Rutledge gets to the town where the murder has occurred, he has to face people who have also been involved in the war, and try to decide whether a highly respected war hero has committed a murder. This will bring up a lot of personal pain and memories for Rutledge, that he has to manage, even while handling a complicated case.

Having read all the books in the series, I can see a few things in this early work that seem to have changed in later ones, such as occasionally shifting to separate thought processes or dialogues between other characters--showing their point of view in that way. In later works it seems that CT gets away from that style, going more to the reader gaining the perspective of other characters through inference from events--much as Rutledge himself has to do (which I personally prefer).

All of this series is among the best out there (in my opinion). I have read all of them (including the Bess Crawford series which Todd has also written. ) The narrator is quite good--with only the comment that it is hard to tell the difference between speakers--but that largely was no problem at all. HIGHLY RECOMMEND anything by Charles Todd. This early book is not quite up to their style and skill that will soon emerge--but well worth reading.

22 of 23 people found this review helpful

Difficult to follow the narrator

Inspector Rutledge returns to his position at Scotland Yard after long and horrendous combat service as an officer in World War I. He has been damaged in soul and psyche, and in ways that make him one of the most fascinating detectives in the genre. This first book in the series is truly special, well written, compelling, and different.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend listening to this narration. Even though I've read the book (albeit a number of years ago), I found myself totally confused almost from the beginning as to which character was speaking. We become so used to narrators who handle multiple-character dialog well (even if they don't always sound like we think a beloved character should) that it's a shock to listen to someone with this little skill at voice differentiation. In scenes where Rutledge is conducting interviews, it's almost impossible to follow the flow of questions and answers and the vital information (the plot is fairly complicated) that emerges from these interviews.

There's nothing "wrong" with Giles's voice, he just doesn't use it well. Read the book, skip this audio.

47 of 52 people found this review helpful

Not exactly a mystery

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

To certain people, yes.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ian Rutledge of course.

Any additional comments?

I created this review to better inform people of what to expect. I don't consider it a mystery because it lacks one of the most important characteristics of a good mystery novel: namely clues laid out throughout the story, giving the reader the opportunity to figure out the mystery as the main character does. That gives you the feeling that your in it together with the characters in the book.

This book is very different. It's a story where you have no ability to figure out any of the mysteries. Everything is revealed finally in the end, but as a complete surprise. In some of the Rutledge novels you don't even know the antagonist until he is revealed. So, with that said I wouldn't call this a mystery novel. It's more like a drama with a mystery in the background.

I did enjoy it and the narration was great. Charles Todd books take what I call "active listening" to enjoy. You have to pay good attention to the story to get anything out of it. Some people consider this work and prefer a more simple story, using them something along the line of background noise while they do whatever they do. This is not one of those.

Just be aware of what you are getting. I find myself buying more and more of this series even with what I said above. Part of it is the main character (great backstory), and part of it is the wonderful narration.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Good to meet Hamish at the beginning

You can count on novels in this series to be solid historical police procedurals without egregious gore, violence, sex or language -- but this one still just misses a four star rating from me. Some of the plot elements didn't flow well, some of the language just a little too modern, and perhaps the novel is longer than it needed to be --but still, this is strong as a first novel in a period series.

Although we learn a little about Hamish in each subsequent novel, it was interesting to meet him (it?) in the first. I am accustomed to the talented Simon Prebble as narrator of later instalments, but I preferred Samuel Gilles as Rutledge (and usually I don't like Gilles).

If you're new to this series, it's worthwhile starting here, and if you're already a fan, meet Hamish again for the first time.

25 of 29 people found this review helpful

Samuel Giles is not Simon Prebble

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

We started listening to the Ian Rutledge series in the middle, so going back to the beginning for context has been helpful. As a rule, I enjoy mysteries with complex plots that may not have tremendous amounts of actions. I do think the latter books are better written but one might expect that as a series develops.

Simon Prebble is a far better narrator, however. Samuel Giles is rather flat and it is difficult to distinguish voices. I am hoping he isn't used for future Rutledge novels.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Samuel Giles?

Simon Prebble

18 of 21 people found this review helpful

First of the series

Any additional comments?

In this first novel of the series, Rutledge is just returning from fighting in the Great War to his job as an inspector for Scotland Yard. This is his first case since his return, and he is left shattered by his war experience. I started this series in the middle because the first books were not available from Audible at that time. I really like the series (and it just keeps getting better). This first book in the series is good, but, beyond that, it answered a couple of question about characters in the series that had disturbed me. I never understood how Rutledge could have sentenced Hamish to death. I also never understood why his Scotland Yard supervisor resents him so much and tries to set him up for failure. Both of those things are mentioned in the later novels but not really explained. These novels have no overly graphic descriptions of torture, rape, violence or sex -- just ordinary characters who behave as you would expect them to under the circumstances and a mystery to be solved, while Rutledge struggles to regain his sanity. It is a series I highly recommend.

21 of 26 people found this review helpful

Charles Todd at his best!

A Teat of Wills is Ian Rutledge Book 1. I've just written a 3 star review for Book 10 in the series. Charles Todd is an outstanding author of police thrillers and teamed with narrator Simon Prebble his novels are usually outstanding.

This book is really special. Rutledge has just returned from fighting in WWI where he had to execute a man for refusing to fight. He is assigned a case that is likely to turn out bad for him.

I listened to this book 2 years ago.

9 of 11 people found this review helpful

Glad these early ones were added to Audible

I too was glad to hear the 1st book. It makes understanding the later one easier. The narrators strong Scottish accent bothered me a bit. Only Hamish is Scottish.
The mystery is very well developed and enjoyable. The story could have been shorter.

7 of 9 people found this review helpful

Great book-A Test of Wills

This book keeps you on your toes, or rather keeps Inspector Rutledge on his toes. There's always more suspense around the corner. I had trouble putting it down. It really was a 'test' for the Inspector, to learn who was responsible. He ran into more problems at every turn, including the opinions of that crazy Scot in his conscience. I totally enjoyed reading this book and always look forward to another by Charles Todd.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Good story, reader detracted

Perhaps the narrator just talks like that himself and can't help it. His diction is faultless and every word was clear, but their was no expression, which was very distracting. I thought perhaps he was purposely trying to portray an upper class Englishman and overdid it. But I have listened to many English narrators that I enjoyed.
I have read or listened to this entire series and after finishing the last book, which was a prequel set before the war, I decided to experience the entire series again. It has been a long time since I began reading Ian Rutledge mysteries; it was before I became an audiobook fan. So I had read the print edition of this, but couldn't remember the plot completely. If the narrator is the same on subsequent books, I will go to print editions for them.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful