Book Review: The Red Door by Charles Todd
The Red Door
Charles Todd
William Morrow & Company, January 2010
ISBN 0061726168
Hardcover
I absolutely loved The Red Door.В Charles Todd—a mother and son team hereafter referred to as “he”— is one of my favorite writers and this series never disappoints.В This series is interesting on many levels. The mysteries are always complex and satisfying. The historical setting supplies an interesting backdrop to the stories. He breathes life into the post-WWI England setting; a time period and location I was relatively unfamiliar with before reading this series and one that I’m enjoying learning more about.
His character studies are also important.В He slowly peels back the layers of all of his characters, both primary and secondary, in a way that keeps us engaged and wanting to know more. His main character, Inspector Rutledge, is haunted by many demons left over from the war, both in the literal “haunted” sense, in the form of a ghostly presence of Hamish, a Scottish soldier that served under Rutledge in France and now lives on only in Rutledge’s imagination, but also by the resentments of his superior who constantly sends Rutledge around the country on what at first always seems to be a dull, open and shut case that will keep the Inspector occupied but give him no chance to shine and will keep him out of his boss’s hair.
The case will always turn out to be more than at first meets the eye and of course Rutledge will always unravel the case. This series never gets stale.
Reviewed by Frances Boynton, January 2010.
January 15, 2010
Tags: historical, mystery, police procedural, post-WWI England, William Morrow Posted in: Full Reviews
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