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    The Gate Keeper: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
    The Gate Keeper: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
    The Gate Keeper: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
    Audiobook10 hours

    The Gate Keeper: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

    Written by Charles Todd

    Narrated by Simon Prebble

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    On a deserted road, late at night, Scotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge encounters a frightened woman standing over a body, launching an inquiry that leads him into the lair of a stealthy killer and the dangerous recesses of his own memories in this twentieth installment of the acclaimed New York Times bestselling series.

    Hours after his sister’s wedding, a restless Ian Rutledge drives aimlessly, haunted by the past, and narrowly misses a motorcar stopped in the middle of a desolate road. Standing beside the vehicle is a woman with blood on her hands and a dead man at her feet.

    She swears she didn’t kill Stephen Wentworth. A stranger stepped out in front of their motorcar, and without warning, fired a single shot before vanishing into the night. But there is no trace of him. And the shaken woman insists it all happened so quickly, she never saw the man’s face.

    Although he is a witness after the fact, Rutledge persuades the Yard to give him the inquiry, since he’s on the scene. But is he seeking justice—or fleeing painful memories in London?

    Wentworth was well-liked, yet his bitter family paint a malevolent portrait, calling him a murderer. But who did Wentworth kill? Is his death retribution? Or has his companion lied? Wolf Pit, his village, has a notorious history: in Medieval times, the last wolf in England was killed there. When a second suspicious death occurs, the evidence suggests that a dangerous predator is on the loose, and that death is closer than Rutledge knows.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 6, 2018
    ISBN9780062802330
    Author

    Charles Todd

    Charles Todd is the New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, Caroline passed away in August 2021 and Charles lives in Florida.

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    Reviews for The Gate Keeper

    4/5

    164 ratings21 reviews

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    • 5/5
      I enjoyed the way the author gave me no idea about who did it. I like the quiet character of Rutledge in the description of the not so nice characters
    • 5/5
      Wow! This book was just stellar in my opinion. I don’t know how the authors continue to produce such quality mysteries time after time. I have read all the Ian Rutledge mysteries and this is one of the best. This one is set in December 1920. Ian’s sister Frances has just gotten married and Ian is feeling at loose ends. He and his sister had become close after their parents’ deaths and now he is feeling a bit of a third wheel. The wedding is over and the couple off on their honeymoon trip and Ian can’t sleep. He decides to take a drive to who knows where to settle down. He is driving down the road and comes upon a car stopped in the middle of the road with a woman standing over a man’s body and her hands are covered in blood. Ian has literally driven into his next case.As he begins his investigation, he lobbies to be given the case as he was the first on the scene. There is some grumbling from other quarters, but Ian does land the case. He questions the victim’s acquaintances and family. He comes away with two very different pictures. His acquaintances and friends reveal a well-liked man with no enemies. His mother calls him a killer. Ian can’t understand such hatred of a mother for her own son, especially one who returned safely from the war. Another man is found murdered and he too apparently is well-liked with no enemies. What is the connection between the two men? Ian really must dig to find this answer and it is taking too long. Another murder is soon reported in a nearby village. Ian realizes that it is connected to his case as the victim was known to have contact with the other two victims after a fashion. Ian is dogged in his questioning again and again of certain people who had contact or knowledge of the victims. He questions until someone reveals a small detail that leads to another detail that breaks open the case, but he must have proof and that might very well cost him.This is one of my favorite mystery series and I eagerly look forward to the release of each book. The writing is descriptive and puts me right there in the story. Ian is not without his own struggles, which makes him so much more human and not just a character on the page. I would recommend reading the first couple of books in the series though before reading this one. Those will give the reader some valuable history and background on the main character. Readers also will enjoy another series by this author featuring Bess Crawford, a nurse during the First World War. Thanks to the writing team of Charles Todd for another excellent Ian Rutledge mystery!
    • 5/5
      I like Charles Todd’s writings and the reader is superb
    • 4/5
      A bit slow getting going but up to snuff by the middle of the book with a satisfactory ending. Not as good as some of their other books
    • 4/5
      I love this series. So good on the psychological effects of shell shock, and the economic and cultural changes right after WWI. Great characters, complex mysteries.
    • 3/5
      The Gate Keeper (2018) (Insp. Rutledge # 20) by Charles Todd. What an odd story. Inspector Rutledge, for reasons explained in the book, is driving late at night through the countryside with no particular destination in mind. He chances upon a stopped car, a young woman and a dead man.So begins this twisted tale that hinges about a small town book store that the young man had purchased, Estranged parents, a love interest that seems more like a convenience than a desire and a convoluted search for the reasons behind the murder do not truly add to the tale. Toss in another odd murder and you have a mystery, not not a very good one. Add to that a last moment revelation and you have a story that limps along.Still if you have read the rest of this long running series, you expect to have a humble addition that is not worthy of the past books. I expect the next book to be better.
    • 4/5
      A mother will do anything, whether good or evil, for her son. If Charles Todd's 2018 novel “The Gate Keeper” carries a message, that is it.Not one of the better novels in the excellent Ian Rutledge series, this one makes good reading nonetheless. The Scotland Yard inspector has the weekend off to attend a wedding, but unable to sleep after the wedding he is driving down a country road in the middle of the night when he comes upon a murder scene.Stephen Wentworth, an owner of a bookstore, had been driving a young woman home from a party when they are stopped by someone standing in the road. When Wentworth gets out of his car, he is shot and killed after a brief conversation. Rutledge happens along just minutes later.It appears to be a murder without a motive. The only person Rutledge can find who didn't like Wentworth is his own mother, who blames him for the death of her favorite son, Stephen's brother, when they were sleeping together as small boys.The investigation goes nowhere until there is another murder of another well-liked man with no apparent connection to Wentworth. Rutledge later hears of another murder in another village that sounds similar. Again there is no apparent connection or motive.Rutledge has the strangest sidekick in mystery fiction, the voice of Hamish, a Scottish soldier whom he executed during the Great War in France after Hamish refused an order to lead his men on yet another suicidal charge against the German line. Now Hamish offers advice about his former officer's murder case, and this time Rutledge needs all the help he can get.
    • 3/5
      Although there are similarities between Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford, each is still his or her own character. At this point, I like Bess better. This particular work is ho-hum on the mystery scale. Todd spends altogether too much time on subsequently proves to be unnecessary verbiage. As a police person, Rutledge seems to not know where to turn and the solution just sort of drops out of the sky.
    • 4/5
      Rutledge has gone for a drive from London right after his sister's wedding, and during his late night meanderings comes upon a woman getting out of her car, distraught because her companion has been shot in the middle of the road. Of course, one thing leads to another and Rutledge takes over the case. The puzzle is that the victim was universally liked, except by his mother. The ghost of Rutledge's war buddy continues to ride in the back seat of his car and give him advice.
    • 4/5
      An excellent entry in this fine series. The Todd books are rarely page-turners for the next action bit. WW1 still intrudes but Hamish seems to less intrusive. Now that his sister is married; it is time for Rutledge to get on with life. His painstaking plodding keeps unearthing little bits that he struggles to fit into the puzzle. Two apparently senseless murders of proper gents challenge him until the end.
    • 4/5
      After his sister gets married, Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge feels even more unmoored than usual and takes a long drive, with the voice of deceased friend and fellow soldier, Hamish, in his head. He happens upon an unusual murder scene and, even though it's outside his district, seizes the investigation like a man who desperately needs an excuse to not return home. The case is a grim tale of seemingly pointless murder. Rutledge has to burrow into the victim's past in the hopes of finding clues to unmask the killer. A solid police procedural that hinges mostly on Rutledge's interviews with the people of the town and his attention to detail. World War I looms large as everyone who fought experienced "his own war" which very likely affected their civilian lives afterwards.
    • 5/5
      Set in 1920. Rutledge is still suffering from post traumatic stress from the war and the recent marriage of his sister brings painful reminders of what life might have held for him.The investigation he takes on into the shooting death of a motorist in the middle of the night in a sense provides a welcome distraction from his war memories and personal life, but in reality there is no getting away from the war and the impact it had on people's lives.The title is a puzzle right to the end. The plot is intricate, and some of the strands tested credibility but as always the character portrayal was excellent.Simon Prebble does a superb job of the narration.
    • 4/5
      Inspector Ian Rutledge survived WW I with a bad case of shell shock, the ghost of his Sergeant and too many sleepless nights. One such night finds him on a long empty road suddenly faced with a woman standing over the dead body of her escort. Before the journey ends, there will be three dead men who, having survived a long and bloody way, will be murdered close to home less than two years after the war's end.The series consistently follows the struggles of those who suffer from shell shock, also known as cowardliness, and or those trying to fit back into a normal life after the horrors of the trenches, the loss of limbs and the damages of the gas attacks.
    • 3/5
      The war has been over for two years, but for Rutledge he remains in the grip of an action he had to take as an officer. He carries his guilt with him, with the voice of Hamish forever in his ear. Upon leaving the wedding of his sister he encounters a woman in a car on the road. Ahead in the road lies the body of a dead man. Soon it will be up to Rutledge to piece together the strange specific of the murder.This is another long running series I have read from the beginning. It is atmospheric, and Rutledge is a character, the voice of Hamish adding an imperative voice from the background. Despite that, I think it is time to let Rutledge grow, embrace life more fully or at least getting help to do so. Like Evanovich, and Stephanie Plum his character seems stuck in place. Additionally there was so much going back and forth between witnesses which caused this story to not only be repetitious, but the plot to drag. By no means will I stop reading this series, but it suffers from its long run. It has stalled, as some do, and needs a push, a surprise, something to push it forward. ARC from Edelweiss.
    • 5/5
      The Gate Keeper is another wonderful volume in the Ian Rutledge series from Charles Todd. If you are familiar with the series then you will not be disappointed with this one and if you haven't read one yet this can be read as a standalone, enough of Rutledge's history is given naturally as the story progresses.If you're like me you read a lot of the fast-paced mysteries that have fewer moments to ponder the mystery. Those sometimes feel like you're just along for the ride. Even when the mystery is hard to figure out there is still a sense that you're really just as interested in the excitement as the mystery itself. I love those, so my comments aren't meant to be taken as a negative on that part of the genre. But I need novels like this periodically, more cerebral without being a tough read. Clues hidden in plain sight and leads are followed not with the sense of certainty that contemporary detectives might have (even when they're wrong) but with a genuine curiosity about what happened and why.Couple the wonderfully methodical mystery with beautiful descriptions of the countryside and life right after WWI and it is easy to get lost in the time and location. I would recommend this to lovers of mysteries (obviously) and for anyone who enjoys well-written descriptions of the English countryside.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
    • 5/5
      Wow! This book was just stellar in my opinion. I don’t know how the authors continue to produce such quality mysteries time after time. I have read all the Ian Rutledge mysteries and this is one of the best. This one is set in December 1920. Ian’s sister Frances has just gotten married and Ian is feeling at loose ends. He and his sister had become close after their parents’ deaths and now he is feeling a bit of a third wheel. The wedding is over and the couple off on their honeymoon trip and Ian can’t sleep. He decides to take a drive to who knows where to settle down. He is driving down the road and comes upon a car stopped in the middle of the road with a woman standing over a man’s body and her hands are covered in blood. Ian has literally driven into his next case.As he begins his investigation, he lobbies to be given the case as he was the first on the scene. There is some grumbling from other quarters, but Ian does land the case. He questions the victim’s acquaintances and family. He comes away with two very different pictures. His acquaintances and friends reveal a well-liked man with no enemies. His mother calls him a killer. Ian can’t understand such hatred of a mother for her own son, especially one who returned safely from the war. Another man is found murdered and he too apparently is well-liked with no enemies. What is the connection between the two men? Ian really must dig to find this answer and it is taking too long. Another murder is soon reported in a nearby village. Ian realizes that it is connected to his case as the victim was known to have contact with the other two victims after a fashion. Ian is dogged in his questioning again and again of certain people who had contact or knowledge of the victims. He questions until someone reveals a small detail that leads to another detail that breaks open the case, but he must have proof and that might very well cost him.This is one of my favorite mystery series and I eagerly look forward to the release of each book. The writing is descriptive and puts me right there in the story. Ian is not without his own struggles, which makes him so much more human and not just a character on the page. I would recommend reading the first couple of books in the series though before reading this one. Those will give the reader some valuable history and background on the main character. Readers also will enjoy another series by this author featuring Bess Crawford, a nurse during the First World War. Thanks to the writing team of Charles Todd for another excellent Ian Rutledge mystery!
    • 5/5
      Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard finds himself with a puzzling murder in the English countryside in December 1920. The British are still struggling with the consequences of the Great War: injured and maimed soldiers are everywhere, war widows struggle to support themselves, and families mourn their lost sons, brothers and so on. Rutledge himself is still suffering in silence with his "shell shock" although his symptoms have lessened. He still carries around the voice of Hamish, the Scot he executed in the War.The story starts the day Rutledge attends the wedding of his sister Frances. After the festivities, as he would say, he is "at sixes and sevens". He drives into the English countryside where in the early morning hours he comes upon a murder scene: a stranger stood in the road forcing a car to stop and then shot the driver dead when he emerged from his car. His female travelling companion is left unhurt but badly shaken. After some jockeying for position, Rutledge assumes control of the investigation which is headquartered at the town of Wolfpit. What follows is a engaging story about the dead man and his family, and others in the village. Rutledge can find no reason for the man's murder, he was a bookseller who was well liked. Then a second man from the village is killed in much the same fashion as the first. Again, there is no apparent motive for the killing and there is no strong connection between the two.Rutledge conducts his inquiry in his usual methodical way, talking to people who knew the men. He reaches out to some private sources for background information. He has difficulty getting many to co-operate in his investigation, for a variety of reasons (pride, jealousy and sheer bloody-mindedness) they are reluctant to share information. Finally an offhand remark from a particularly disagreeable person, sets Rutledge on the path to his eventual solution of the murders.Even though the story is long and readers are sent up several blind alleys, it holds your attention right up to the exciting conclusion. The characters are well-drawn and interestingly strong women play leading roles in the story. It is a good introduction to the Inspector Rutledge series, It can be read as a standalone because there is sufficient backstory included to make sense of things. Highly recommended to fans of complex detective fiction and to those who enjoy historical crime fiction.
    • 4/5
      I admit to be a fan of the writing team of Charles Todd. When I hear a new book is upcoming I put it on any list I can to obtain an early copy. The Gate Keeper, as so many others in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series, is a murder mystery set in the English countryside in the years following World War I.The quiet, contemplative nature of the lead character, Inspector Ian Rutledge, is the determining force of each story. We are told he is fragile and has demons that confront him relentlessly. We recognize him to be the defender of the murdered. He is not a perfect man, just a perfect character. My only complaint lies with the esoteric title, but that does not serve as a distraction nor a detraction. Another story well told.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book. Ian Rutledge has seen his sister married and decided to take a few days off and drives out of London. Late at night he spots a woman on the road standing over a man’s body. Stopping, she tells him that a man was standing in the road and when her date got out of the car he shot her friend. Ian manages to get assigned to the case and starts interviewing acquaintance who all say the dead man was well liked. There are people who don’t tell him everything feeling it has nothing to do with the murder and of course it’s always one little overlooked missing fact. Ian is suffering from shell shock of WWI and the voice of a dead soldier in his mind helps him solve the case.
    • 5/5
      After his sister’s wedding in 1920, Detective Inspector Ian Rutledge is feeling a bit out of sorts so he decides to go for a drive. Lost in thoughts of the war, he is forced to brake suddenly when he sees a woman in the road standing over a body. Although she has blood on her hands, she claims she is innocent. She then tells a strange tale about the murder that seems so far-fetched that Rutledge is convinced it must be true. Not wishing to return to London, Rutledge manages to get himself named lead in the investigation. Soon he is knee deep in village gossip and family secrets. Trouble is, despite all this, the murdered man seems to be the least likely candidate for murder, well, except according to his own family. And then there is another almost identical murder and then another miles away, all the victims, men who seem almost universally liked and who seem to have nothing in common. When I read a book by Charles Todd, I know I have a safe read. By this I don’t mean safe in the sense of same old same old – in fact, just the opposite. Rather, I know it will be well-plotted and -written with complex characters and a compelling story and that I need to set time aside for it because, once started, I’m not going to be able to put it down. The Gate Keeper is no exception to this. It’s the 20th addition to the Inspector Ian Rutledge series and it is still one of the best series around. For anyone who loves intelligent historical mysteries, I can’t recommend this highly enough.Thanks to Edelweiss + and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
    • 5/5
      The Gate KeeperByCharles ToddWhat it's all about...I think that this was my very first Ian Rutledge mystery. Ian is a Scotland Yard investigator recovering from a very damaging war experience. This book took place in the 1920’s...there were still fires warming old English houses and cottages and cars that had to be cranked. Telephones were rare...no cell phone service? Teasing...of course. This book begins as Ian is driving away from his sister’s wedding...taking a break...when he sees a woman in the middle of the road holding a dead man. Of course he can’t get away from this and becomes the investigator of the case. And of course the case just gets worse and worse. More murders, family secrets and lots of interesting suspicious townspeople.Why I wanted to read it...I loved the cover and the description and once I read the first few pages...I was in. The writing is gorge, the plot excellent and the pace was perfect for a complex cozy mystery.What made me truly enjoy this book...Everything about it was delicious. Ian is so damaged that he fights his demons constantly. He is the consummate professional Scotland Yarder. Loved all of the tea that everyone drank in this book!Why you should read it, too...Readers who love complex cozy mysteries should love this book. The ending was a surprise...a total surprise to me and I loved that!