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    A Fatal Lie: A Novel
    A Fatal Lie: A Novel
    A Fatal Lie: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    A Fatal Lie: A Novel

    Written by Charles Todd

    Narrated by Simon Vance

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    About this audiobook

    “If there’s ever been a more complex and compelling hero in crime fiction than Inspector Rutledge, I can’t think of one.”—Jeffery Deaver 

    In one of his most puzzling cases, Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge must delve deep into a dead man’s life and his past to find a killer determined to keep dark secrets buried.

    A peaceful Welsh village is thrown into turmoil when a terrified boy stumbles on a body in a nearby river. The man appears to have fallen from the canal aqueduct spanning the valley. But there is no identification on the body, he isn’t a local, and no one will admit to having seen him before. With little to go on, the village police turn to Scotland Yard for help.  

     When Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent from London to find answers, he is given few clues—a faded military tattoo on the victim’s arm and an unusual label in the collar of his shirt. They eventually lead him to the victim’s identity: Sam Milford. By all accounts, he was a good man and well-respected. Then, why is his death so mysterious? Looking for the truth, Rutledge uncovers a web of lies swirling around a suicidal woman, a child’s tragic fate, another woman bent on protecting her past. But where among all the lies is the motive for murder?  

    To track a killer, Rutledge must retrace Milford’s last journey. Yet death seems to stalk his every move, and the truth seems to shift at every turn. Man or woman, this murderer stays in the shadows, and it will take desperate measures to lure him—or her—into the light. 

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 16, 2021
    ISBN9780063069176
    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 A Fatal Lie

    4/5

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    • 5/5
      I held my breadth with every twist and turn, this was an amazing quick moving plot which I thoroughly enjoyed ?
    • 4/5
      For once, out of sight as well as out of mind; Rutledge is off to Wales and its environs to determine what happened to one of Britain's WW1 Bantams. In the early days of the Great War; England would not accept men shorter than 5' 3" into their army. As losses mounted, they changed their minds and created the Bantam Regiments. The victim served in one of the regiments until wounded and as is not unusual in a Rutledge book the crime has a WW1 connection. Connecting the dots is tedious but the inspector is dogged as well as intrepid so he eventually sorts it out.
    • 4/5
      What can I say? I love Ian Rutledge. He's probably not particularly handsome nor blessed with charm, but his mind...I love his mind! It's always quite the adventure to go on a case with him. In this book he is sent to determine if a body pulled from the river was an accidental death or murder. It was murder and it involved a missing child and a few more murders as well. I enjoy reading about all the cities he travels through and the scenery as well. Well done!
    • 2/5
      first book that I've read from the series. It was okay. Drawn out far too long and the characters seemed far to dumb to be believable.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book that I've read in this long running series but not my first book by this author. I've read and enjoyed a couple books in the Bess Crawford series so I jumped at the chance to read this one even though it's book #23. It honestly didn't affect my enjoyment in the slightest as I really enjoyed my time with this book. This book was a slow burn in the best of ways. I love a good historical mystery that just pulls me into both the story and the time period that it is set in. I found myself following along with Inspector Ian Rutledge as he struggled to figure out the identity of the dead man and then to also find the killer. I loved the quiet suspense that was present throughout this book. This isn't a mystery or book that is meant to be rushed through. Instead, it is one to immerse yourself in and get lost within the pages. I found it interesting reading and learning about Ian Rutledge. There are some obvious things in his past that I was missing out on that I'm guessing that we would have learned more about in previous books. I definitely plan on going back to the beginning of this series at some point in the very near future. Overall, this is a book that I think that historical mystery fans and mystery readers in general will enjoy. Just make sure that you go in with the correct expectations that this is a mystery and not a thriller that you will fly through. Readers that enjoy slow burns and detective (inspector) focused stories should definitely give this book or series a try! Recommended.Bottom Line: A slow burning mystery that pulled me into its pages.Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher. Honest thoughts are my own.
    • 3/5
      2021 Book #54. 2021. Insp Rutledge of Scotland Yard (c. 1920) is sent to Wales to investigate the death of an unidentified man who fell (or was pushed) from the structure on the cover. 23rd in a series. Interesting setting (post WW1 England) but way too complicated of a plot.
    • 5/5
      You'll notice from the list below that I haven't read all of this series, but they are certainly worth following.While each adds to the development of Ian Rutledge's character, each certainly works quite well as a stand alone. Most are set in the decade after World War One and Rutledge, an Inspector with Scotland Yard, is battling the aftermath of the war. The complexity of this case is typical of most of the stories. The body of an ex-soldier turns up in a river in Wales, and from there Rutledge establishes the identity of the man, and looks for the reason why he is so far from home.It is typical of Rutledge that he goes that extra mile, looking for why Sam Milford has been killed and by whom. It is a tangled trail that leads him to look for a missing child, why she has been kidnapped, and to uncovering deaths of people who at first glance don't seem to have anything to do with the original case.The main plot is surrounded by a number of sub-plots, many of them giving us further background to Rutledge himself.My rating: 4.7I've also read A TEST OF WILLS -#1 SEARCH THE DARK -#3 4.8, A FEARSOME DOUBT -#6 A PALE HORSE -#10 4.5, A DUTY TO THE DEAD - Bess Crawford series 4.7, A LONELY DEATH -#13 4.6, THE CONFESSION - #14 4.7, HUNTING SHADOWS - #16 4.7, NO SHRED OF EVIDENCE - #18 4.7, RACING THE DEVIL - #19 4.7, THE GATEKEEPER - #20 4.5, THE BLACK ASCOT - #21 4.8, A DIVIDED LOYALTY - #22
    • 4/5
      A Fatal Lie (2021) (Insp. Rutledge #23) by Charles Todd. The Inspector Rutledge mysteries have evolved over the years. For more than 20 books the Inspector has had his constant companion, Hamish MacLeod, buried within his skull. The voice of the long dead Scot has been his warning to danger and guide to his insanity, but over the long series there has been a lessening of the need for Hamish to come calling. It is a good sign that Rutledge is dealing with his PTSD after WWI.While Hamish plays a good part in this book also, he isn’t to the forefront as often and I like that Rutledge seems to be coping with his guilt to a greater degree.The story is set in Northern Wales.when a body is discovered in a river. There is an aqueduct nearby that it appears he fell from. But the body is not that of a local, nor that of the riverboaters who use the aqueduct. Soon the local constable put in a request to Scotland Yard for help.Rutledge is sent, not for his prowess as a detective, but mostly to get him out of the Chief Superintendent’s sight. But the Super is doing our hero a favor by getting him out from the dreaded paperwork and into the field, although a long way from London. Despite his initial pleasure with the assignment, Rutledge quickly finds himself embroiled in a very dark mystery. The dead man is identified as Sam Milford, a well respected man but not from the area. The questions come in a rush starting with why was he up on the aqueduct, who was he with and why was he pushed off.I found this to be a very nice mystery with the clues coming slower than the lies of the locals, yet with the unraveling of both satisfying. This is one of the stronger stories coming from the writing duo of ‘Charles Todd” in the last several years.
    • 3/5
      My first and last Charles Todd book with Inspector Rutledge from Scotland Yard.It started off well with a murder near the Aqueduct at Trevor, a missing little girl and veterans of WWI. The story got bogged down in too many false leads and endless trips through Wales and others regions. Three people murdered, the motive not very believable, plot not very compelling, characters not particularly interesting.
    • 4/5
      Inspector Ian Rutledge unravels a tortuous abduction of a very young child with a lot of driving around Wales in his motorcar. Well written and engaging, but as always a bit too complicated and dark!
    • 5/5
      Title: A Fatal Lie (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery #23)Author: Charles ToddPages: 352Year: 2021Publisher: William MorrowMy rating is 5 out of 5 stars.Once again, Inspector Ian Rutledge is sent on what seems a hopeless murder case to solve in some tiny, remote village at the behest of his commanding officer, one who would like nothing better than to have Ian fail. However, Ian refuses to oblige his boss. He packs a bag and drives to a Welsh village where a body has been discovered in a river that flows beneath a large aqueduct. First, Ian must determine if this is in fact murder, or if the man fell. Murder seems most likely.Ian begins questioning the local population, and of course, no one saw anything or heard anything. He soon comes upon another mystery though, that of a missing 3-year-old girl. The girl has been missing for a year, but it seems her disappearance might have something to do with the dead man. There are also rumors of the dead man’s sister not being of sound mind, and she has been rumored to be in the area. Did she have something to do with the man’s death or the disappearance of the girl? Ian’s questions stir up trouble for himself and more dead bodies follow his trail. He retraces the dead man’s last journey. Each time he begins to unravel a thread of truth; it seems it wasn’t the truth after all. He follows up on the vaguest of phrases or words as a clue in his efforts to solve the case. He will go without sleep or food to track down the killer.I so enjoy Ian’s travels across Great Britain to these small villages. The way of life in the early 1920s is interesting to read about. Ian job is his life. He still suffers from PTSD as a survivor of horrific battles in WWI. His constant companion, Hamish, is ever-present in Ian’s mind only. He sometimes offers Ian help, but just as much irritates or berates him. Ian is loath to let Hamish go as his present mental state is the only way Ian knows how to deal with the tremendous guilt he feels. Ian is one who refuses to give up his pursuit of justice. He is intelligent, intuitive and inquisitive—a few traits that make him an excellent inspector.Note: The opinions shared in this review are solely my responsibility.
    • 3/5
      Scotland Yard Inspector Rutledge is sent north to Wales to investigate a suspicious death near a canal viaduct, the Telford Aqueduct. It turns into a suspenseful story with another two sudden deaths and a kidnapping. There's plenty of twists and a few red herrings. It's a good story, but unfortunately, it's too long, a tad overwrought and over busy. Rutledge's backstory takes a rest- no development in the romance side of things - and Hamish fades into the background. The intrepid Sergeant Gibson is totally MIA, stranded back at Scotland Yard in London. Rutledge needs a wingman. There's some interesting historical information about longboats in the English canal system and the Great War Bantam Battalions (for men under regulation height). It's a good read, but not a great one.
    • 4/5
      As A Fatal Lie (2021) opens, it’s three years after the end of World War I and Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge is still in the proverbial doghouse of his Superintendent, Markham. The antagonism between the two men once again sees Rutledge sent to a remote corner of the United Kingdom to investigate an unidentified body found floating in the River Dee in Wales. Through some good old-fashioned detective work (admittedly the only kind available in 1921) Rutledge is able to identify the man, although what he was doing in Wales and who killed him is still a mystery.In the course of retracing the man’s footsteps, Rutledge is forced to break the news to his wife, on whom this new load of grief weighs heavily atop the still-fresh loss of her young daughter. Could the two crimes be related? And where does the dead man’s possibly mentally unstable sister come into the picture? The Inspector travels hither and yon where northwest England and northeast Wales meet. All the while, he’s got the voice of long-dead Hamish providing a running commentary in his head, as he has ever since the wretched day during the war when the Scotsman died while serving under Rutledge in the Army. Rutledge knows Hamish isn’t really there, but it doesn’t make the ghostly voice any easier to bear ...This is the 23rd entry in the Ian Rutledge series and it’s a rare series that gets that far along and still produces satisfying mysteries to solve. The mother-son duo writing as Charles Todd manage to come up with unique twists to make each plot unique, even as the characters themselves don’t seem to change overmuch. If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll enjoy this one. If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, start with the first (A Test of Wills) for the full rewarding experience.
    • 5/5
      What a good story! Story starts with a young boy fishing in the river and his hook catches onto something and finds it caught on a body. Ian has been sent to Scotland to aid the local police with a questionable death of the unidentified man found in the river. Did he fall, was it suicide or murder. With dogged detective work and crisscrossing the country looking for a missing child and interviewing acquaintances with all of them keeping secrets he manages to unravel what happened to the dead man.
    • 4/5
      This post-World War I mystery sends Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge to the Wales. What appears to be not so complicated a case turns into a multiple-murder and kidnapping case. The mystery and setting are interesting but for readers who met Rutledge in the 22 previous books of the series it’s the details about World War I that are most interesting. Dealing with the death of a man who had served in the Bantam Battalions, a unit comprised of men too short in stature to meet the Army’s entrance standards, Rutledge not only has to confront other soldiers who returned from the war, but he must deal with his own PTSD. It wasn’t acknowledged as an issue until recently, but it has been around since man went to war. Then it was looked on as “lacking moral fiber” or cowardice then. It is increasingly difficult for Rutledge to deal with his PSTD as he gets deeper into solving the murders. Its also a wonderful look at a local that while not hostile to strangers, people aren’t welcoming either making Rutledge’s case more difficult.
    • 5/5
      Thoughtful, slippery, convoluted—and yet so simple. The finding of a body is thought to be an accidental death until Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard is sent to Northern Wales to investigate. His superior is rather annoyed with him (cut the air with a knife cross) or as Rutledge put it to a colleague he was being sent far, far away. “Northern Wales is rather like being sent to Coventry—out of sight and out of mind.”Fortunately Rutledge was keen to escape the boring task of reviewing papers he’d been hither too stuck with, being decidedly out of favour.Little did he realize just how complex his seemingly innocent investigation would become. As one murder slips into another, as the ground is muddied by the innocent and the abetters, Rutledge and the voice of his dead companion Corporal Hamish MacLeod, have much to ponder.Danger lurks and the way becomes blinded by clues slipping down rabbit holes and morphing into something else, much like Alice’s crazy journey.What stands out for me is the marvellous character that Rutledge is. I do so admire him.Once more an intelligent addition to the Rutledge ‘who dunnit’ compendium. A William Morrow and Custom House ARC via NetGalley Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change
    • 4/5
      Mother and son writing team, Charles Todd, beautifully portrays the damage – seen and unseen – suffered by those in WWI. Ian Rutledge’s damage is the unseen kind and he suffers from and deals with the aftermath hour-by-hour. His construct for dealing with the horror is named Hamish and he resides in Rutledge’s head. No, Rutledge doesn’t belong in an asylum, but he definitely suffers from what we would call PTSD in today’s world – and he has a severe case of it. I admire the way the authors show the vulnerable side of Rutledge as well as the skilled investigator side. I’d really like to think Rutledge is getting better and relying on Hamish less and less.Rutledge’s boss at Scotland Yard doesn’t like him, so, once again he is being punished. He’s been working behind a desk for what seems like forever when his boss sends him off on a case in the Llangollen Valley in northern Wales. The body of a man has been found in the River Dee – no identification and a badly damaged face. Was the man pushed from the aqueduct or did he fall? If he fell, why wouldn’t he have some identification on him?Nobody in the small village admits to having seen a stranger and they are sure the victim isn’t a local. Who is he? How did he come to be in the small village of Cwmafon? The only clue to the man’s identity is the tailor’s label in his shirt. If Rutledge can just trace that, maybe he’ll be able to find the victim’s name – and talk to his family.Rutledge is one of the most tenacious, dedicated investigators you’ll ever meet. He never stops until all of the threads are pulled and the total mystery is solved, and this one is definitely convoluted. Before we are done, we’re looking for a missing toddler and we have multiple bodies on our hands. Everyone seems to have secrets and they only tell half-truths or totally mislead. As Rutledge learns more and more, he has to backtrack and go back to the beginning more than once. Time is of the essence for finding the toddler and for discovering the murderer before there are more bodies.The more Rutledge learns the more he comes to like the victim and the more concerned he becomes for the missing toddler. He speeds over the narrow, curvy, mountainous roads of Wales and England looking for clues. He’s had little sleep and no rest. He’s been attacked, mislead, lied to, and mistrusted. Yet, he is determined to find what has happened to all of the victims.You should know that it is neither light nor humorous – but it is an excellent read. I love Rutledge and how human he is. I would love to see a bit more light come into his life. Maybe we’ll see that in some of the future books.I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
    • 4/5
      I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. When Ian Rutledge with Scotland Yard London is called to Wales to investigate a suspicious death, he didn't realize the the twists and turns the investigation would take. A man is found in The Dee River, appearing to be in the water for days, his face is unrecognizable. The only way to track his identity is through a label sewn into his jacket by the tailor. That sends him to notify the victims wife, who was under the impression he was in Shrewsbury. Where the investigation leads from there are months and years old unsolved mysteries. It amazes me how any cases could get solved in the 1920s. Driving from city to city to city, knocking on doors asking questions with some of the residents who aren't forthcoming or willing to help. In this series, there is a lot of remembrances of the Great War. People Rutledge meets talks about their time in the trenches, but this doesn't not take away from the story. Although this is the latest in a series with numbers in the 20s, this is only the 2nd book that I have read. There is not any story lost by jumping in so far. I would recommend this book for sheer willpower of the detectives in the 1920s and the lack of technology that we have now. Thank you NetGalley, William Morris Custom House and Charles Todd.