Monday With Kaye: "The Confession" by Charles Todd (Reviewed by Kaye George)

The Confession by Charles Todd is the fourteenth book in the Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery series that began with A Test of Wills…

The Confession by Charles Todd

This NY Times Bestselling author is actually a mother and son team, and they've put out another excellent Inspector Ian Rutledge mystery.

The book begins with an incident with a floater in 1915 which will trigger a confession when the story jumps to 1920. Wyatt Russell, dying of cancer, walks into Rutledge's office to confess to a five-year-old crime, but then becomes secretive. He does agree to a luncheon with the inspector, but Rutledge can pull no more useful information from him, despite his best efforts.

Rutledge's sister, Frances, appears briefly in the beginning. His companion for the rest of the book is Hamish MacLeod, his old nemesis and his shameful secret. A bit of intuition heaped on suspicion and doubt, after the confession, take Rutledge to Essex, where Russell is from. The inspector isn't the only one with a secret. The Essex town of Furnham, surrounded by whispering and treacherous marsh grass that could hide anything, closes ranks to keep information away from him as he begins to dig to get to the bottom of layers of subterfuge and crime. When he gets too close to ferreting out the facts, they even seem willing to do violence to protect their unnatural isolation and privacy.

You follow a twisting road when you read this book. You won't soon forget your trip to Furnham and the people who may not be who they seem to be.

Reviewed by Kaye George, Author of “Choke”, for Suspense Magazine