A Long Shadow

Inspector Ian Rutledge, Book 8

By: Charles Todd

Narrated by: Samuel Gillies

Scotland Yard’s Inspector Ian Rutledge brought the Great War home with him, and its horrors haunt him still. On New Year’s Eve 1919, he finds a brass cartridge casing, similar to countless others he’d seen on the battlefield, on the steps of a friend’s house. Soon there are more, purposely placed where he is sure to discover them. Unexpectedly drawn away from London to a small Northamptonshire village, he investigates the strange case of a local constable shot with a bow and arrow in an allegedly spirit-infested wood. Here among the taciturn townsfolk, embroiled in a three-year-old mystery of a vanished young girl, Rutledge hopes to keep his own ghosts at bay. But his stalker has followed him. And now the emotionally shattered policeman walking the razor’s edge of sanity must somehow keep his balance long enough to discover who is tracking him...and why.

©2006 Charles Todd (P)2014 Recorded Books

Great series, good book

I like this series very much. A few of the previous books had problems, but none that kept me from continuing on.

This book had very few of those issues. It is interesting, had engaging characters and fewer of the tropes I dislike. The plot held my interest and the solving of the crime was well plotted.

I will definitely keep going with the series.

War Ghosts and Spirits in the Woods

Someone is tracking Inspector Rutledge, leaving shell casings where he is sure to find them. Already haunted by the Great War and his ever present companion, Hamish MacLeod, whom Rutledge sentenced to death for refusing to go into battle under his orders, Rutledge is more wary than ever. Sent to the small village of Dudlington to investigate the attack on Constable Hensley who was shot with an arrow in Frith's Woods. The locals say the woods are haunted, the site of a long ago Saxon massacre. While investigating the attack on Hensley, Rutledge learns of the disappearance of a young girl some three years earlier, which seems to be tied to the Hensley case. Atmospheric and gripping, A Long Shadow is an excellent listen, pulling you into life in the small village, where "outsiders" are not accepted . . . and Rutledge has a difficult time getting to the truth. But he doggedly pursues it, until he finds even more than he bargained for. Great entry to the series!

Another great read

I just love these mysteries, the characters are great, the performance wonderful and the story devine. Another winner, can't wait to start the 9th installment.

Love the writing

The characters are so real you are surprised at what happens along the way. Very entertaining.

We had mixed feelings about the story

The story went too long. It had too many moving parts. The reader was good. The story had many interesting elements, but then many superfluous ones. It was impossible to keep track of all the characters and plots and so plots.

good story well told

enjoyed how the story was told with the aftermath and human effects of WWII as virtually a character in a itself and a leitmotif throughout.Added a very interesting and poignant element to the story.

great story

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would recommend all of Charles Todd's Inspector Rutledge books to everyone.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes, it flows nicely and leaves subtle clues. It is difficult to decide who the murderer is before the end and that is how I believe a mystery should be.

What does Samuel Gillies bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I do not see Samuel Gillies as Inspector Rutledge. His voice is good for the other parts, but not Rutledge. I prefer a different reader.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not to be missed

as always, good

this one seemed to go a little slower than normal, but still good. The narration was good as always.

war ghosts come back

This one took us winding trails with the sideline of someone taunting the inspector. Good plot twists.

Excellent book--but read this series in order!

I noticed that only one person has rated this book before now, and appears not to have liked it at all. If that listener was unfamiliar with the whole series, it would be easy to understand how difficult it might have been to make sense out of this story. I love this series, and I loved this book. But it is perhaps one that most depends upon knowing and understanding the character of Ian Rutledge up till this point, to allow the book to be interesting and meaningful.

Ian Rutledge is a veteran returned from WWI, injured in body, mind and soul. He feels cautious of other people, has been rejected by the woman he had been engaged to before the war, and has come back to work at Scotland Yard, where he seems to be something of a loner, a man who works best by following his own intuititions. Indeed, he is not exactly "alone," because he suffers from Shell Shock (what we would call PTSD today), and carries within him, the haunting voice of an executed war comrade, along with torturous guilt and memories.

This book possibly is the strongest one in the series, in terms of directly and indirectly alluding to the internal ghosts he is struggling with. The book begins on New Year's Eve, where a woman is doing a seance-like sitting, trying to evoke the dead--which so unnerves him that he has to leave early. He finds shell casings there (and other places) which provoke anxious memories for him. And then his job takes him north, to a spirit-ridden area, where tight-lipped people won't go into the woods, nor reveal why to him because of something that occurred in their past.

The writing of this whole series and especially this book is just word-perfect. I never want one to end. I have read each one in paper, and I'm now coming back to listen--which is a very satisfying experience, as I hear details and grasp more of the psychological aspects of this time in history, and the narration is quite good as well. But even though I recommend this book with as many stars as one could give it, I fully believe this is one book best read only after getting a better sense of what the series/character is about. Otherwise, I can easily understand how disappointing it might have been to listen to--might not have made as much sense in many ways. However, I found it as good as when I first read it, and if one follows the series, this book will most likely be greatly enjoyed at many levels--historical, psychological, good mystery and very unique main character.