Wings of Fire: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

Complex and atmospheric like all of the Rutledge books. Sometimes the large number of characters makes keeping them straight in the reader's head a little difficult but all in this series are wonderful reads.

"Wings of Fire," the second book in the Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery series, is absolutely outstanding, both as a whodunit and as a developing character study. The protagonist, his unique circumstances, and the period in which the novel is set, are most singular and make this a truly special read. It is 1919 England and the Great War is over. Soldiers have returned to their homes and families. Many are maimed in mind and body. And then there are those who do not return at all.

World War I was devastating for the British people, militarily and psychologically. "In July 1917, at the Battle of Ypres, (better known as the Battle of Passchendaele - Belgium), 70,000 British soldiers died and another 170,000 were wounded." Combined with the disastrous Battle of the Somme, fought in France just a year before, with its 420,000 British casualties (60,000 on the very first day of fighting), the Somme marked "the end of an age of vital optimism in British life that has never been recovered," wrote historian John Keegan in "The First World War." Approximately 720,000 British soldiers, (from the UK alone), were killed in WWI. Then the terrible influenza epidemic of 1918 devastated the country, and all of Europe, killing millions. Although nothing would bring back the relative innocence of life before 1914, people are slowly rebuilding their lives and a society that had been so hideously interrupted as the story opens.

In Scotland Yard, Inspector Ian Rutledge, who was an army officer in France and a survivor of the Somme, has resumed his once promising career, against his doctors' advice. After falling under direct shelling and being buried alive in a frontline trench, he suffered an emotional breakdown - they called it shell shock. Rutledge has not recovered. The doctors told him that hearing voices is not uncommon for a soldier who had undergone such a traumatic incident. It is a way for his mind to accept something of its own creation, in order to conceal what it cannot face otherwise. The particular voice that the Inspector hears is that of Corporal Hamish Macleod, a young Scot who served under him. Macleod had refused to continue fighting and Rutledge was forced to order his execution. Ian knows that if he does not succeed in recovering the skills he had before the war, he may well wind up in a sanitarium for the rest of his life. He is determined to put one foot in front of the other and fight his debilitating illness before it destroys him. Superintendent Bowles, Rutledge's unscrupulous superior, is jealous of his subordinate's pre-war success and has learned of his mental instability. He is determined to see the man fail.

Rudtlege has just returned from Warwickshire, where he solved a gruesome and politically charged murder, ("A Test of Wills"), his first post-war success. He finds that an unknown slasher, who had brutally attacked several women in London's White Chapel area before his trip to Warwickshire, was still on the loose and that the newspapers were resurrecting old Jack the Ripper stories to terrify an already frightened public. When his nemesis, Bowles, asks to see him, Ian expects to be assigned to the slasher case. On the contrary, with all the new publicity, Bowles wants the limelight for himself, and so assigns Rutledge to a seemingly unimportant case in Cornwall. The inspector, exhausted, looks forward to being by the sea.

So he travels south on what is thought to be a fool's errand, to Borcombe on the Cornish coast. A brother and sister from the area's most prominent family had committed double suicide there, in the beautiful country house overlooking the ocean where they had lived together all their relatively short lives. Both were in their 30's at the time of death. Olivia Marlowe had been crippled with poliomyelitis as a child, and although her half brother, Nicholas Cheney, fashioned a brace for her to enable her to get around, sometimes she had a great deal of pain. Another half brother, Stephen FitzHugh died just a few days after the suicides, in the same house, from an accidental fall. Lady Ashford, a politically connected cousin to all three diseased persons, felt there had been a "hasty judgement, and that insufficient consideration had been given to the likelihood of murder" - three suspicious deaths over a period of a few days. She asked Scotland Yard to reopen the case.

From the first, the local constable tells Rutledge that there is absolutely no evidence to support foul play in any of the deaths. Olivia, a reclusive spinster, had been in pain, and although Nicholas was only in his early thirties, he had been gassed at Ypres and suffered terribly at times because of his damaged lungs. Stephen, the third dead family member, had been retrieving some paperwork from the upstairs study and in his rush to leave, he fell down the steps, breaking his neck. He had lost a foot in the war and his balance was off because of it. It is during this discussion that Rutledge learns Olivia Marlowe is, in fact, O. A. Manning, a famous poet whose war poetry had touched him deeply. Her verse had meant so much to him in his darkest hours. Her true identity as the writer had just came to light with her demise. Only Nicholas knew the truth. Rutledge is seriously disturbed by this information, wondering how the woman who wrote such magnificent poems could have killed herself.

Guided by the voice of Hamish, the man he unwillingly had executed on the battlefield, (which is, of course, Rutledge's own unconscious mind), Ian begins to uncover the haunting truths of murder and madness within a family. He realizes how his findings had so effected the entire family for so long, and now will forever change the future of the surviving kin. Here are people who struggled for years against an evil they could not defeat, until one man finally brings them all closure. What haunts Rutledge, and left me so moved, is that he arrived so late to the scene.

Todd's descriptions of post war England, the main characters, the villagers, even the scenery are extraordinary. I also want to mention that bits and pieces of poetry are included in the novel, supposedly Olivia Marlowe's/ O. A. Manning's work. It seems to have been written by Charles Todd. I think it is very good verse - worth taking note of anyway.

Don't be daunted by the number of half brothers, sisters and family history involved in this superbly wrought mystery. There was one mother who married three times. Author Todd does a good job of explaining it all. Oddly, Mr. Todd, who writes like a native of the UK, is an American. I definitely plan to read the third book in the series. Ian Rutledge has become very real to me, as has Hamish. I am rooting for the two to merge and am certainly interested in their further activities. I gave the debut novel 4+ stars. This one is an easy 5. Highly recommended!

JANA

After having devoted my time and attention to what I had hoped would be an interesting sequal to Todd's first Rutledge mystery, I was very disappointed. Unanswered were the questions, Why interview the townsfolk and not let the reader know what they said (was the interview process even relevant?); why didn't the principals who knew the murderer's identity for DECADES never go to the constables and identify him/her; and what was the motivation for suicide?

I had very high hopes for the second "Rutledge" novel after reading the first. As I wended my way through the thickets of overblown writing and multilayered plotting, compounded with melodramatic thunderstorms at every turn, I thought, "where is the simplicity and clarity that so swept me up in the first story? Rutledge was marvelously brought to life in the first novel; please bring him back!"

Wings of Fire was filled with drama. Wanting to keep the family mystic at the same time protecting the family name. This kind of drama is exhausting and a slow read. In the end a good book but a slow read.

I like the character of Ian Rutledge and the story premises are good, but reading them is like slogging through molasses because the action in so slow and repetitive. Nevertheless, I have read two of the books and will probably read another one on some slow, rainy afternoon.

Ian Rutledge is a sympathetic main character, damaged by the war and holding onto life by a thread. Still, he manages despite his demons, to unravel some vey convoluted situations. You won't know which way the plot will turn until the very last pages.

Charles Todd has yet again created a great Inspector Rutledge story. With twists and turns galore, it keeps you entertained from start to finish. I would recomend it to anyone who enjoys a good murder mystery.

This is the second of Charles Todd's Inspector Rutledge series, but the first one I read. Having gone back to the first, "A Test of Wills," I can honestly say that this isn't a series I'm going to continue with. Todd's ideas aren't bad, but he draws the stories out endlessly, with Rutledge interviewing and re-interviewing and re-re-interviewing suspects again and again...and not really getting anywhere. And in both books, Rutledge's irrascible Chief Inspector (himself a tired cliche) assigns him the case hoping that he'll screw up and get kicked off the force. Talk about repetitive plotting; in some ways it felt like reading the same book twice. Perhaps this series gets better in subsequent installments, but with so much else to read out there, I won't be finding out.

In Wings of Fire by Charles Todd, Ian Rutledge is a damaged Scotland Yard inspector, recently returned from the horrific conditions of World War I. He's something of a pariah in the stuffy bureaucracy, suffering from a debilitating case of "shell shock."

I must confess I did not fully grasp how horrific World War I was until one of my students did a report on it. You've heard of mustard gas, but that's just the beginning. Apparently, World War I was the conflict that ushered in trench warfare. It is what I learned about trench conditions that gives me nightmares. I'll spare you. But knowing what I do, I am not surprised Ian Rutledge returned a haunted man.

Yet Rutledge is haunted by more than memories. It was his duty to court-martial and execute one Hamish MacLeod, a man who proclaims his innocence and has now taken the form of a ghost inside Rutledge's head. The remarkable part of this series is that Hamish observes Rutledge's detecting, offering criticism as well as guidance. I find it fascinating to witness their inner dialogue. Though he regularly upbraids Rutledge for his death, Hamish is an insightful ghost, empathetic toward crime victims and families.

In Wings of Fire, Rutledge has been dispatched to the countryside, (banished a more apt description), to rubber stamp the official determination of three deaths, including that of poet O.A. Manning whose work helped Rutledge through his struggles with post traumatic stress disorder. But Scotland Yard, in league with the village police, has made a mistake. Rutledge is not a rubber stamper. Instead, though he burns from the slight, he pursues the truth even as he offends many in Barcombe of Cornwall. That's because many in Barcombe have motives for murder. Was it the renowned poet herself in a homicide-suicide? Was it the disinherited step-brother? The widow? Perhaps the butler?

Wings of Fire is a thoughtful novel that I recommend to readers who enjoy history, mystery, and...ghosts. Best start with the first book in the series though--A Test of Wills.

Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent to investigate an apparent double suicide, followed by another murder all in the same family. His boss wants him out of the way and wants to satisfy an important person by sending someone to investigate these supposed crimes. He is also hoping Inspector Rutledge will fail in this endeavor.
Ian Rutledge has been sent to the small village of Borcombe. He really isn’t sure why he has been sent to investigate these closed cases, but he will follow orders. He begins asking questions, but doesn’t see any fault with the local police outcome of the deaths. He can’t help wondering why though. Why would a young, talented, famous poet take her own life? Why would her stepbrother also commit suicide? Was it a murder/suicide scenario? He keeps digging and soon catches the scent of murder, but the trick is how to prove it. There has to be someone who knows something. There are so many deaths in this particular family over the last several years that there has to be a witness somewhere. Were these deaths accidents or cleverly disguised murders? Who in the family might be capable of such twisted evil? Ian also has his ever-present assistant Hamish who warns, hinders, cajoles and lambasts the inspector at just about every turn.
While this is an oldie, it is still a goodie. There is some profanity in the story just so readers are aware. This one took a few chapters to grab my attention, but once it did, the pages flew by. The authors really know how to get into a character’s head and draw the reader along with them. This is not a fluff story, but one that makes readers think. This is my third book in the series and each book thus far has maintained the mystery and thrills of a great story. This plot had a great climax that occurs on a dark and stormy night! This is British mystery writing at its best.

In the doghouse with his supervisor, Inspector Rutledge is sent to Cornwall to investigate the death of three people from the same family. What makes this situation more important is that one of the dead people is a rather famous poet who even Rutledge admired for her wartime verse.

Recovering from the backlash of his war experiences, his flashbacks and internal conversations with Hamish, a soldier that he reluctantly executed, enrich the tale and help us understand his anguish and postwar suffering. Nevertheless, he does a remarkable job of investigating the murdered family members and uncovers the culprit. The author leads the reader on several routes before the climax. Well done!

In the doghouse with his supervisor, Inspector Rutledge is sent to Cornwall to investigate the death of three people from the same family. What makes this situation more important is that one of the dead people is a rather famous poet who even Rutledge admired for her wartime verse.

Recovering from the backlash of his war experiences, his flashbacks and internal conversations with Hamish, a soldier that he reluctantly executed, enrich the tale and help us understand his anguish and postwar suffering. Nevertheless, he does a remarkable job of investigating the murdered family members and uncovers the culprit. The author leads the reader on several routes before the climax. Well done!

This is the second in the series about Ian Rutledge, recently returned from the trenches in France and trying to resume his career as a homicide detective at Scotland Yard. But he's a damaged being, like so many survivors of the Great War, struggling with the effects of "shell shock" and carrying around a passenger in his head -- the voice of a young Scot whom he was forced to put in front of a firing squad. In this case, he's sent down to darkest Cornwall to vet the investigation into what appears to be a double suicide followed shortly by an accidental death among the siblings in a very old, very wealthy, and very complicated family. Rosamund, the late matriarch and the key to the family, was very happily married three times and produced two children by each husband. One of the suicides, Olivia, turns out to be a famous poet whose work Rutledge had read during the war and which involves him in the matter at a visceral level. But several other children in the family had died young and there were those husbands -- all of whom either died in accidents or took their own lives. Rutledge makes a nuisance of himself around the village and the young woman who had called him in to begin with soon regrets it, but he asks questions and repeatedly interviews people and pokes and prods until pieces of the story begin to fall into place. Intuition, tested and honed during three years in the trenches, is an important tool in his kit. And eventually, he uncovers a murderer. Todd tends to have his characters wax philosophical, sometimes for pages at a time -- a style and a slow pace that can get old pretty fast and may put some readers off entirely. In fact, these mysteries are almost entirely intellectual and contain very little action, except of the searching-through-bookshelves-and-wardrobes variety. And there's a certain amount of decidedly unrealistic melodrama, but they definitely aren't "cozies." And if you're not looking for fistfights and gunplay, they're very enjoyable, so far. The first book, _A Test of Wills,_ was a very good story and won a number of awards, but I believe this one is even better.

I enjoy the Charles Todd books. Rutledge is an interesting character who stays the course. It sometimes gets a little slow going but the background and details about the times and area are compelling. I have never traveled to England but through these books I enjoy the glimpse of the days following WWII. My ancestors are from the area and I think I have a better understanding of their lives from reading historical novels. I would definitely recommend the book if you enjoy historical mysteries.

Ian Rutledge stumbles upon a triple murder of members of one family. Who would want all these relatives dead, and who stands to profit from their deaths? Ian and Hamish, his inner voice, dig into the deaths and the stories of the Cornwall family. Charles Todd, a mother and son team, delve into the English countryside uncovering the price of revenge. The story brings out the devastation of WWI, but also points to the glorious English countryside, and to the grudges that demand restitution.

This is the 2nd mystery featuring shell-shocked Inspector Ian Rutledge and the inner voice of Hamish McLeod.The good Inspector Rutledge is still not in the good graces of his superior and thus, during the hunt for a Jack-The-Ripper imitator in London is sent to a small village on a seemingly inconsequential investigation of a double suicide followed by an accidental death within the same family. One of the apparant suicides is a poetess whose works helped sustain Rutledge during his days in WWI, and Rutledge becomes very personally involved. He discovers that there have been an uusual number of suicides and accidental deaths within the family and hints that either the poetess or her half-brother was a murderer.This is not a fast read, but it is highly engrossing with sharply drawn characters. The ultimate solution doesn't come as a great surprise, but as a dark study of family involvements is well worth your time to read. Ian Rutledge becomes a deeper and very sympathetic character and one will be left wanting to continue reading the series. However, I do recommend reading A TEST OF WILLS, the first book in the series, first in order to understand the significance of the inner voice of Hamish.

Charles Todd is an excellent writer and I enjoy his books. Wings of Fire was a very complex and detailed mystery involving a family with many secrets, hidden over the years. One might need to take notes to keep up with all the family members and siblings what with three marriages and numerous children, some of whom died mysteriously (or not) through the years. Very intricate plot that keeps one engaged through out. Todd's war survivor, Rutledge, is the Scotland Yard detective who is sent to sort out the family history and secrets. Quite engaging if not confusing at times. I would recommend it.

This makes a interresting varient to the need of an investigator for someone to talk to. As a device it helps move things along for the reader if information is revealed in conversation rather than entirely by narrative. In this case the "sidekick" is not a subordinate but a voice in the Inspector's head. It is not clear if we are to believe Hamish is a real ghost or an artifact of injury, yet when he calls attention to a shotgun the Inspector has not noticed, it does seem a separate entity.
Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series and Cleo Coyle's GHOST AND MRS. McCLURE leave no doubt what they intend, and their creators are restricted to special contact situations. Inspector Rutledge's companion, being in his head, is infinitely portable.
My first acquaintance with this series was THE RED DOOR. When I had the opportunity to acquire the first three books of the series, I was glad to do so. This story makes an interresting sideways jump at the end.

Inspector Ian Rutledge returns to London still fighting his own demons. Scotland Yard is on an all out manhunt for a Ripper copycat. In order to get the glory for himself, Bowles sends Rutledge out on the case in Cornwall to keep Rutledge out of the way in London. When Rutledge arrives to Cornwall, the case seems pretty straight forward. A double suicide and an accident. What really shocks him is that one of the suicides happens to be the author of the poems that got him through the war. As he makes more inquiry's, Rutledge discovers there is more to this case than meets the eye. Will the town recover from the revelations made and will Rutledge ruin the one person that helped get him through the horrible war?

This was a more emotional book that I had anticipated. I was able to connect to the characters as a large part of the book dwells on people returning and changing from war. Although I myself have not been to war, I am a military spouse and have sent my husband to war. There are changes that people go through and I felt that Todd really captured those feelings. Another big part of the book was how appearances (especially in the family) are deceiving and how families deal with their secrets. I couldn't put the book down as it completely captivated me. The characters are beautifully written and very much believable. I cannot wait to get the next book in the series. A must read.

Detailed, deep, beautifully written police procedural. The whole series is worth reading. The main character is complex, damaged and trying to recover from WWI. Memorable characters, intricate plotting, perfect pitch for an English mystery. Highly recommended.

Disappointing doesn't cover how bad the ending was. No tying up of loose ends, no explanations of clues. First book in the series had the same problems but less so and seemed to have possibilities so I thought I'd give Todd another try, but I am now so done with him and Inspector Rutledge. Gave it any stars only because I did read to the end, so it must have been mildly interesting in the beginning.