A Question of Honor

A Bess Crawford Mystery

By: Charles Todd

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

In the latest mystery from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd, World War I nurse and amateur sleuth Bess Crawford investigates an old murder that occurred during her childhood in India, and begins a search for the truth that will transform her and leave her pondering a troubling question: How can facts lie?

In 1908, when a young Bess Crawford lived in India, an unforgettable incident darkened the otherwise happy time. Her father's regiment discovered it had a murderer in its ranks, an officer who killed five people yet was never brought to trial.

A decade later, tending to the wounded on the battlefields of France during World War I, Bess learns from a dying man that the alleged murderer, Lieutenant Wade, is alive and serving at the Front. According to reliable reports, he'd died years before, so how did Wade escape India? What drove a good man to murder in cold blood? Bess uses her leave to investigate. But when she stumbles on the horrific truth, she is shaken to her very core. The facts reveal a reality that could have been her own fate.

This series just gets better and better!

I love this series. Bess Crawford, battlefront nurse during WWI is the perfect complement to Charles Todd's other series about Ian Rutledge--a former soldier in the war, who is now trying to find his way in life working in Scotland Yard, despite his wounded body and soul.

This series develops the character of Bess very nicely--and in this particular book, we get to know a bit more of her life with her family while her father served in India. We also get to know Simon Brandon, her father's batman who has stayed very loyal to the family ever since.

I like Bess' character quite a lot--she is intelligent, empathic and clever, but not depicted as doing unlikely things in the way some writers try to turn an early 20th century woman into having the style and thinking of a 21st century woman--which always leaves me feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Bess moves back and forth from France to England in this story, as she tries to unravel murders that took place many years ago. We get to see inside views into Bess' family and background more than before.

A thoroughly satisfying listen with very good narration. Highly recommend!

interesting story

I enjoyed this book. As murder mysteries go, it had its fair share of plot twists and revelations right up to the end. The main character, Bess, is worth the time to get to know. The details of life and death in a a late WWI battlefield hospital added credence to the story line and character development. The casual racism and colonialism of all the characters was jarring, although undoubtedly true to life.

A Question of Honour

I was engrossed from beginning to end wondering how Bess would solve her latest mystery. I love this period and lots of similarities between the Spanish flu and our present Covid pandemic.

Excellent

An old murder comes into play and the journey begins. A complex story that comes full
Circle.

Enjoyable Mystery

Part of why I enjoy the Bess Crawford mysteries is that for me she has an actual voice - Rosalyn Landor.

These fun books are not great literature, but they are a nice way to pass your reading/listening time. And the mysteries are intriguing enough to keep my interest.