A False Mirror: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

“Full of suspense, surprises, and sympathetic characters.”
—Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

“No mystery series I can think of captures the sadness and loss that swept over England after World War I with the heartbreaking force of Charles Todd’s books about Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge.”
—Chicago Tribune

The remarkable Charles Todd has created one of the most unforgettable characters in mystery and crime fiction: Inspector Ian Rutledge, shell-shocked veteran of “the Great War.” A False Mirror is one of Todd’s most powerful novels, plunging his tormented protagonist into the center of a brutal crime that painfully echoes events in Rutledge’s own past. Poignant, evocative, and continually surprising, A False Mirror is further proof that Charles Todd is well deserving of the critical acclaim the Rutledge novels have earned; a New York Times bestselling author who belongs among the acknowledged masters of the genre, including P. D. James, Elizabeth George, Ruth Rendell, and Jacqueline Winspear.

Hampton Regis, a small harbor town on the southern coast of England, is a most unlikely place for violence. Yet, one spring morning, a man is found on the strand so severely beaten that he slips in and out of consciousness. The prime suspect? His wife's jilted lover, who served with Rutledge in the recently ended Great War—but who left the Front under a cloud. Badly wounded, yes, but did someone also cover up cowardice?

Rutledge is called on to prove the innocence of a man he dislikes and distrusts. But the deadly triangle also stirs up memories of the woman Rutledge himself loved and lost when he went to France to fight. His doubts about the accused and himself only deepen when the victim of the beating mysteriously disappears, with no body to be found.

As the brilliant yet tormented detective discovers that he's not the only person seeing a reflection of tumultuous emotions in this case, he must confront the demons that threaten to overwhelm him and search out the truth. For in Hampton Regis hides a vicious killer who intends to let nothing—and no one—stand in the way.

“Clues that would do Agatha Christie proud inexorably lead to the denouement....Compelling evidence that inside every warrior who returns from the front, there’s a nightmare waiting to break out.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Deft characterization...Todd...seamlessly melds a fair-play whodunit with psychological suspense in the tradition of P. D. James’s best.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Touches of both Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie in this character-driven mystery, which builds smoothly but not simply to a climax that is likely to be a genuine surprise.” - Booklist

“The revelation of the culprit comes as a surprise owing to multiple suspects with potential motives, but it is Rutledge’s tortured soul that will intrigue and engage readers most.” - Library Journal

“Todd . . . keeps the atmospheric A False Mirror full of suspense, surprises and sympathetic characters.” - Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

“The overall mystery is well done . . . melancholy, atmospheric.” - Christian Science Monitor