Amazon was pushing the newest in a line of 14 books by Todd about Inspector Ian Rutledge, A Lonely Death. Rutledge had been a promising inspector at Scotland Yard, and then he left in 1914 to fight in the Great War. Upon his return, he was badly injured and obviously suffering from the effects of PTSD, then known as shell shock. Still, he attempted to resume his job at Scotland Yard, much to the dismay of those around him, especially his boss, Chief Superintendent Bowles. I decided to try one of the early books in the series, so if I liked it, I could read them in order. I was hopeful about having a new series to love. Also, the books cover the time period from 1916 to 1920, and I found that to be of particular interest. It did not turn out the way I hoped. I read, Legacy of the Dead, but put it down about 1/3 of the way into it. It just did not hold my interest. In the war, a man under Rutledge, Corporal Hamish MacLeod went crazy and Rutledge then drew up a firing squad and executed Hamish for his refusal to move forward to take out an enemy machine gun nest, a task that would have cost many lives. Thereafter, Rutledge takes on Hamish as an internal voice, one with which he must always contend, and one that follows him through his assignments as an inspector. At times, with regard to a new case, Rutledge was thinking one thing while Hamish was debating two other possibilities. Also, I found the peripheral characters to be stiff and unreal – so I gave it up. Too bad. While the writing itself was quite good, the plot just did not carry the day.
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