{"id":905,"date":"2009-01-10T23:47:20","date_gmt":"2009-01-11T04:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=905"},"modified":"2026-03-22T09:21:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T13:21:05","slug":"wings-of-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/905","title":{"rendered":"Wings of Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wings of Fire<\/a><\/em> (1998) Charles Todd<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Wow. Just like the first book, A Test of Wills<\/em>, the second book, Wings of Fire<\/em> was also quite depressing.<\/p>\n

Which leads to me to wonder: why am I surprised that a murder mystery is depressing? After all, the very premise of a murder mystery is that someone has developed such hate, or is so lacking in compassion, they take the life of another–or the lives of several others. There’s not much there to be cheerful about when it comes right down to it. <\/p>\n

Which leads to the question: what is so different about Charles Todd’s mysteries about Ian Rutledge that make them so dark?<\/p>\n

Rutledge is a very dark character. He came out of The Great War diagnosed with shell shock. As in the first book we continue to learn about Rutledge’s war experience and how it shaped the man he is now.<\/p>\n

Of course that darkness, that slow recovery is what makes him so compelling. How fragile does he remain? How far can he bend before he breaks? Is he ever going to truly recover? How much can he take of his situation?<\/p>\n

And that is why despite the darkness I have found these mysteries so compelling. Even if I have no desire to read them one after another, I still want to know what happens to Rutledge.<\/p>\n

So what did happen to Rutledge in this book? He’s discovered that Chief Superintendent Bowles has no good will towards him, which is why he’s sent to Cornwall to appease the Home Office and a member of the upper class, who are suspicious that three recent deaths–two suicides and an accidental death–may be more than they seem. Bowles thinks this is a dead end case, and so sends Rutledge to Cornwall so he won’t make a name for himself in the current case that’s absorbing Scotland Yard.<\/p>\n

Although you should be able to read Wings of Fire<\/em> without having read A Test of Wills<\/em>, since the mysteries are not related, I think you’ll be missing out on the continuing unfolding of Rutledge’s past.
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wings of Fire (1998) Charles Todd Wow. Just like the first book, A Test of Wills, the second book, Wings of Fire was also quite depressing. Which leads to me to wonder: why am I surprised that a murder mystery is depressing? After all, the very premise of a murder mystery is that someone has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,30,33,8,291,934],"tags":[123,125,637,212,513],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-british","category-historical","category-mystery","category-paper","category-trigger-warnings","tag-charles-todd","tag-inspector-ian-rutledge","tag-post-ww-i","tag-ptsd","tag-suicide"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-eB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3439,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3439","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":0},"title":"Wings of Fire","author":"Michelle","date":"January 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Wings of Fire (1998) Charles Todd The second Ian Rutledge mystery finds Rutledge sent to Cornwall, to look into the deaths of a prominent family: a double suicide and a fall. Adding to the confusion, one of the suicides turned out to be a famous poet, O.A. Manning, whose poems\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/01\/Wings-Fire.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13771,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13771","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":1},"title":"Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford","author":"Michelle","date":"December 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford (2015) Charles Todd This collection is four short stories with Bess Crawford and Ian Rutledge. \"The Kidnapping\" \"The Girl on the Beach\" \"Cold Comfort\" \"The Maharani's Pearls\" \"The Kidnapping\" - Ian Rutledge, London 1920 I actually have a copy of this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tales Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Tales-Short-Stories-Featuring-Ian-Rutledge-and-Bess-Crawford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3574,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3574","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":2},"title":"The Kidnapping","author":"Michelle","date":"February 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kidnapping (2010) Charles Todd This is a single short story, and three excerpts, which I sort of found annoying, although I have to admit, that as far as excerpts go, they were interesting. The Kidnapping is a very brief story that finds Ian Rutledge drug into a kidnapping case,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3433,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3433","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":3},"title":"A Test of Wills","author":"Michelle","date":"January 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A Test of Wills (1996) Charles Todd This was a re-read. After reading and thoroughly enjoying the Bess Crawford mystery, I remembered I had several books in Charles Todd's Ian Rutledge series, and decided to reread them. Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard served in the Great War, and he's suffering\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/Test-Wills.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3915,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3915","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":4},"title":"Legacy of the Dead","author":"Michelle","date":"July 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Legacy-Dead.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3478,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3478","url_meta":{"origin":905,"position":5},"title":"Search the Dark","author":"Michelle","date":"January 13, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Search the Dark (1999) Charles Todd This is the third Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery. A man goes made on a train, believe he's seen his wife and children, who were killed when their house collapsed and burned during the war. When a woman's body appears--badly beaten and disfigured--suspicion falls upon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Search-Dark.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}