Without having to endure opening credits (it's a book after all), the next chapter moves right on to the hero, Ian Rutledge, a highly decorated Scotland Yard inspector in 1920s England, who travels to Ely from London to begin the investigation.īut before Rutledge can even get started, the sniper from the opening pages strikes again, and Rutledge must travel between neighboring towns, trying to piece together how these two seemingly unrelated murders are linked. The mystery opens in the killer's shoes: He meets the soon-to-be victim unexpectedly at a friend's funeral, he plans to end that man's life, and then he cunningly and efficiently follows through. 'Hunting Shadows' starts out like an episode from a crime drama.

While the memory could lead him to the truth, it also raises a prickly dilemma.' HUNTING SHADOWS: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery,' by Charles Todd, William Morrow, $25.99, 330 pages (f) In going over the details of the case, Rutledge is reminded of a dark episode he witnessed in the war. To stop a murderer, will the ethical detective choose to follow the letter-or the spirit-of the law? While the memory could lead him to the truth, it also raises a prickly dilemma.

But for Rutledge, the facts still don't add up, leaving him to question his own judgment. As the investigation widens, a clear suspect emerges. Nothing logically seems to connect them-except the killer. The victims are so different that there is no rhyme or reason to their deaths. Though the second crime had a witness, her description of the killer is so strange its unbelievable.ĭespite his experience, Inspector Ian Rutledge has few answers of his own. After another body is found, the baffled local constabulary turns to Scotland Yard. A dangerous case with ties leading back to the battlefields of World War I dredges up dark memories for Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge in Hunting Shadows, a gripping and atmospheric historical mystery set in 1920s England, from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.Ī society wedding at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire becomes a crime scene when a man is murdered.

Hunting Shadows by Charles Todd