BLK ASCOT (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries, 21) Paperback – December 13, 2019

I pick up the Ian Rutledge books occasionally, and I've found them mostly good reading. The premise of a man who has come back from WWI with a man he shot during the war inside his head is interesting, and Hamish certainly adds comments and clues to Ian Rutledge's investigations. The Black Ascot is one of the best of the series, in my estimation. I didn't know who the bad guy was until the end, and I enjoyed the twists and turns the story took to get there.Before the war, a man was accused of tampering with a car's brakes, causing the driver serious injury and killing that man's wife. The man disappeared before a trial, but the uproar in England was similar to the OJ trial here, selling lots of newspapers and causing embarrassment to Scotland Yard. Ian Rutledge takes up the case for a review after ten years and finds more than he bargained for. He's determined to find the man who got away and travels all over England in the hunt.As I said, this is one of the best of a very good series. If you like historical mysteries, then I suggest you pick this one up.

Like some other regular readers of the Rutledge series, I've felt these books are uneven in quality. They mostly deliver interesting and believable geographic and cultural contexts--the authors really sell the early 20th Century period, for me at least. You always come away with a sense of impact that WWI had on Britain and the fugue of the aftermath. Protagonist Ian Rutledge is generally an admirable and sympathetic character, who represents his times rather well. When there are problems with the Rutledge books, it boils down to too much emphasis on a single class--monied gentry--and their stilted view of the world. This affects how the characters are drawn or over/under drawn--again, from my perspective.In "The Black Ascot" (slightly irrelevant title for this cold case murder mystery). Ian Rutledge happens upon a clue as to where a highly sought-after fugitive wanted for murder might be and sets out in pursuit, with the dubious blessing of his unpleasant boss at Scotland Yard, And so begins an seemingly endless drive around most of the south of England and other scenic parts interviewing countless numbers of folk who might have something to contribute to understanding the ten-year old crime or know something about the whereabouts of the suspected murderer. The traveling comes with numerous, mostly uneventful and irrelevant stops in village inns. In this novel, most of the folk that Rutledge questions are testy, uncooperative and deceitful. For damaging to the general storyline though is that some of the main characters (including the murder victim) are never fully defined as good, bad or neutral even through to the conclusion. In a word, the plot of this book is just a bit too squishy.I'm giving the novel a 4ish rating, mostly because of the skill at building an interesting geographic and cultural environment. The demerits are for weak characters, narrow social perspective and because the otherwise admirable Rutledge repeatably cannot decide whether to stop at his best friend's beautiful manor house for a good nights sleep and chef prepared meal after exhausting days on bad roads. It's not rocket science, Ian (or Charles Todd), just go for it already!.

I'd rather gone off the Charles Todd's novels. They have the "Bess Crawford" series and the "Inspector Rutledge" series, and both seemed to lose their ooopth a few books back. It was as if the authors had lost interest in their characters and the books were basically written by rote and published on a yearly basis. However, I decided to read this year's new book, "The Black Ascot: Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries Book 21", and I was quite pleased.The book takes place in a dual time period; 1910 and 1921. King Edward died in 1910. . He had ruled since the death of his mother, Queen Victoria, in 1901. The Ascot Races that year were called "The Black Ascot" as the mourning for the King;s death dictated the wearing of black to the races. Another death, in an automobile accident also occurred that year. Blanche Fletcher-Munro was killed, her husband was badly injured, Was the death an accident or a murder, with the Fletcher-Munro's car having been tampered with? And if it was murder, who was the intended victim? A second man, Alan Barrington, was sought for questioning, but he went on the lam. (Think a bit of the Lord Lucan case in the 1970's). "Where is Alan Barrington?" is the hue and cry throughout England. Eleven years - as well as The Great War - have passed and the Alan Barrington case was moved to the Scotland Yard "cold case" file. In 1921, Ian Rutledge, in his return from war service, has rejoined the Yard and is assigned to review the case. He had met a man who claims to have seen Alan Barrington, both in England...and of late.The Todds - mother and son - seem to have regained their interest in Ian Rutledge (and the ever present Hamish MacLeod). The book is well written and is evocative of the post-war years. He's still haunted by his war years and how that worry has affected his official duties. He still hasn't met a partner and I'm holding out hope that he meets Bess Crawford through her cousin Melinda and they elope together into the combined Charles Todd series world. Now, that would be a great book to read!

This is another excellent story in the Inspector Rutledge series. When the inspector is made aware of a recent sighting of a fugitive, accused of murder 10 years ago, he is given 2 weeks to review the case with the hope of capturing the person and bringing him to trial. However, the deeper he looks into the mystery of what happened, the more questions arise. The characters are well developed each bringing a new perspective to the story. It is well written and will have you guessing until the end. There are a lot of twists and turns along the way making it a very good mystery.

At last the books have moved on a year, not before time as it was too much to expect Insp Rutledge would get that many cases in one year. As usual the authors take the inspector on many leads, on many locations, taking us through painstakingly seemingly dead ends. A jigsaw puzzle that is frustrating to piece together.I just wish that Rutledge could allow himself some personal contact. That is what prompted me to write this review. Sad he can’t bring himself to visit his sister. Sad he can’t bring himself to take the lady to lunch who would probably understand him. Sad he can’t even visit a friend in Scotland who helped him find an important clue. I reluctantly suppose his work would suffer if he allowed himself to feel, to care. Such is the lot of a detective. They always have to have something that prevents them having a relationship. That’s the romantic in me, though I love the detective work so brilliantly written in these stories.

LOVED IT!! I've an avid Charles Todd fan, most especially of the Rutledge mysteries and have read every one on Kindle. This is one of the best tho I'm sure the church scene in the first pages is also in an earlier book. But no matter.... good story. Just hope Ian gets petrol allowance.

I read nearly all of the Inspector Rutledge stories. Still hoping to find more of the earlier ones. I would recommend these books to everyone.

Love the story telling