Legacy of the Dead

Legacy of the Dead (2000) Charles Todd

The fourth Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery finds Rutledge sent to Scotland–the last place he wants to go, for he still hears the voice of Hamish MacLeod over his shoulder, haranguing him, and reminding him of the dead lost in France during the Great War.

But Lady Maude Gray has dismissed the Scottish police who have come to ask her if the bones found in Scotland could be those of her daughter, so Rutledge, with his fine manners, is sent to talk to her.

You could most definitely read this book if you had not read any of the previous stories. We see again how Hamish ended up in Rutledge’s mind, which theoretically should seem repetitive, at the fourth book, except that these are the scenes Rutledge sees again and again in his mind, and they are a reminder of just how devastating Shell Shock was to the men who were sent to the front in WWI.

The case also turns out to have personal repercussions for Rutledge, but I can’t mention those without giving away major plot points and surprises.

This book, like those before it, it quite dark. Rutledge is a damaged man who is seemingly just able to do his job, and always on the edge of again falling apart. The knowledge of what those young men went through, and how there lives were irrevocably changed with a war that had changed in ways no one could have imagined, is dark. But the fact that Rutledge keeps going, despite this darkness, makes you root for him, want him to win, despite the odds, despite his superior being out to get him, despite everything.

Now I want to read another story about him, but I’ve got so many books backed up, I should read something I already own before buying something new.

And I’m not sure it’s good for me to spend too much time in the dark place that is Rutledge’s mind.
Rating: 7/10

Published by Bantam

 
 

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