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A Test of Wills

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A Test of Wills

By: Charles Todd
Narrated by: Samuel Giles
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About this listen

Ian Rutledge returns to his career at Scotland Yard after years fighting in the First World War. Unknown to his colleagues he is still suffering from shell shock, and is burdened with the guilt of having had executed a young soldier on the battlefield for refusing to fight. A jealous colleague has learned of his secret and has managed to have Rutledge assigned to a difficult case which could spell disaster for Rutledge whatever the outcome.

A retired officer has been murdered, and Rutledge, fighting the torment of his illness, goes to investigate. As he digs into the lives of the villagers, the witness who disturbs him most is a war-ravaged ex-soldier who chills Rutledge with the realization that he could become like this man.

©1996 Charles Todd (P)1999 W.F. Howes Historical Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Traditional Detectives Fiction Detective Solider
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I did enjoy this but I hope my review doesn’t sound like damnation by faint praise.

The story was twisty turny and while the ending may have been a bit of a cheat, there were some good characters and a meaty puzzle.

The reason it doesn’t get a higher rating (3 is my baseline for perfectly ok) is that the narrator just didn’t do it for me. I felt that a younger narrator would have better suited the age of the main character who would have been much more engaging with a livelier narrator.

Interesting set up let down by dull narration

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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I wouldn't recommend this book as I got bored with it.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I like the period ,1st world war,characters weren't interesting to me

Would you listen to another book narrated by Samuel Giles?

Probably not but that might depend on the subject matter.

Was A Test of Wills worth the listening time?

No

Didn't get to the end of this one.

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This is the first time I have ever given up on an audible book but I found the narrator's voice so irritating that I gave up.

A Test of my patience

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I enjoy the Rutledge stories and have heard many of them, but I am not keen of the narrator of the early books. He does not seems to have understood the importance of an RP (received pronunciation) accent which was so important until the 1960s in Britain. How could Rutledge have even the slightest provincial twang? I am sure his sister would not have one - they move in the wrong social environment for that (see "A Fine Summer's Day). If he sounded provincial as this narrator suggests then he puts Rutledge lower down social ladder than I have placed him in a very class-conscious Britain. It is also one of the things Bowles, his superior, dislikes about Rutledge.

The other thing that annoy me is the use of US words like "drapes" and "gotten". UK English may now be scattered with US English terms and pronunciation, but either "Charles Todd" is catering for an American-speaking audience of they are from the other side of the pond! It is annoying to think that "curtains" are not acceptable or valid English for a story firmly set in early 20th Century Britain.

This story is the first case for Rutledge post war when he, and the rest of the country, have to cope with their losses and nightmares or ghosts.

niggles

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I really enjoyed this story. The mystery unfolds slowly. The plot twists are developed in a believable way. The ending seemed a little abrupt, but this is a good start to a great series. The main character, Ian Rutledge, is an appealing, believable character, with an interesting back story. I look forward to more books in this series.

Excellent first in series.

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