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A Fine Summer's Day: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
A Fine Summer's Day: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
A Fine Summer's Day: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
Audiobook13 hours

A Fine Summer's Day: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

Written by Charles Todd

Narrated by Steven Crossley

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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About this audiobook

New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd takes readers into Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge’s past—to his perplexing final case before the outbreak of World War I.

On a fine summer’s day in June, 1914, Ian Rutledge pays little notice to the assassination of an archduke in Sarajevo. An Inspector at Scotland Yard, he is planning to propose to the woman whom he deeply loves, despite intimations from friends and family that she may not be the wisest choice.

To the north on this warm and gentle day, another man in love—a Scottish Highlander—shows his own dear girl the house he will build for her in September. While back in England, a son awaits the undertaker in the wake of his widowed mother’s death. This death will set off a series of murders across England, seemingly unconnected, that Rutledge will race to solve in the weeks before the fateful declaration in August that will forever transform his world.

As the clouds of war gather on the horizon, all of Britain wonders and waits. With every moment at stake, Rutledge sets out to right a wrong—an odyssey that will eventually force him to choose between the Yard and his country, between love and duty, and between honor and truth.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperAudio
Release dateJan 6, 2015
ISBN9780062372307
Author

Charles Todd

Charles and Caroline Todd are a mother-and-son writing team who live on the east coast of the United States. Together, they have written nearly thirty mysteries, including the Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford series.

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Reviews for A Fine Summer's Day

Rating: 3.8926553175141247 out of 5 stars
4/5

177 ratings24 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5

    I was happy when he got closer to solving mystery
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I thought this book deserved so much merit. It had so much depth in it and I ran with him in the chase for the killers. The theme was fascinating and who would have thought of it I cannot imagine. It had old fashioned romance in it too as well as the lead up to the First World War and how it affected everyone. It ended with nearly the case closed, but close it did in France, and the Inspector now a Lieutenant arriving in Calais, ready for the long walk. I was so absorbed in this book and will be listening/reading more of Charles Todd.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    New novel (2015) but actually a prequel to the first in the Rutledge series. Haven't read any of the others but enjoyed this and will go back and read others. Takes place in days leading up to WWI and Scotland Yards investigations into several seemingly unrelated murders. Insp. Rutledge figures it all out.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first in the series and though it involves a serial killer, I found it to be quite good. For one thing, it allows the reader to meet and like Rutledge before he becomes obsessed with the voice in his head after returning home from WWI on the front lines. It also provides a view of pre-war attitudes toward war in England.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is the first Ian Rutledge book I've read. The setting is Pre WWI and Ian is a Scotland Yard Inspector looking into the murders of jurors on a cold case. The first murder was believed to be a suicide but after more murders and making the connection that they were on the same jury Ian has to travel around Yorkshire and Devonshire warning the others. Meanwhile he niave fiance, the daughter of an army major wants him to enlist because she doesn't want him to appear cowardly. He worries about sister after he receives a threatening letter. I thought it was a little slow but it could just the audiobook version.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It’s the summer of 1914 and the world is hurtling toward war. Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge is hip-deep in murders – and some assorted grave-stone defacements – and in the throes of wedding preparations. On the surface, the murders appear unrelated, but Rutledge sees patterns that his superiors want him to ignore. This is a prequel to this fine historical series – before Rutledge’s war service, before he was forced to execute Hamish McLeod on the battlefield, and before Rutledge gets a good case of post-traumatic stress disorder. I generally like prequels – they often provide insight into characters that would be unavailable without such back story. Such is the cased with A Fine Summer’s Day. I thought the Rutledge’s investigation was one of the most interesting from among all the books I’ve read. I kept on thinking throughout the book that the methods we use today to find connections – the Internet, online databases, etc. – would have made the job much easier.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Back to June 1914 and Rutledge is ready to propose to Jean. Meanwhile a wife of a man hanged for murder many years ago has died leaving their son alone. Then Rutledge is sent to investiagte a possibly suicide which leads to another body. But what is the connection.
    An interestng and enjoyable well-written mystery with the backdrop of the bginning of World War I.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was tedious. Dry might be a better word, but it was a book in a series and I had never read any of the previous books. (a book discussion selection). It was good.. 3 1/2 stars good - and reading the PS at the end of the book made me wish I had read them - BUT THERE Are 17 or so!! So I enjoyed it but it was slow... like Law & Order viewed through molasses.. well you get the point?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This is our first view of a Rutledge who is not haunted by his war experience. The war is brewing as Rutledge is assigned a series of cases that appear to be unrelated, but which the reader knows are somehow connected to a man set on revenge for an unspecified offence. Rutledge has become engaged to Jean, who already shows signs of not understanding that his work will make demands on his time, that he cannot be a typical upper class man dancing attendance at summer parties. The tension between them increases when war becomes imminent and he does not rush to enlist. She comes of a military family and is disappointed that he does not follow her ideas of duty. Rutledge continues to follow his own idea of duty, pursuing justice for victims and attempting to clear a man he feels is innocent. In the process he offends his superior, Bowles, who resents the quick rise of an outsider.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    1914 and the clouds of war are gathering as Rutledge attends a summer outing with his intended. He proposes, generating misgivings about his fiance among his friends and family. A mission in the field to investigate a strange murder by hanging escalates as other deaths occur under similar circumstances.His investigation, vociferously micromanaged by the chief superintendent is carried out with serious complications caused by the impending war and wedding. The puzzle, with many elements separated by time and place, is complex and intriguing. We meet Hamish in a brief vignette and end with a very satisfactory case of "just deserts" for the killer, as Ian goes off to war.One of the best in this excellent series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    (Fiction, Mystery, Historical, Series)FantasticFiction.com lists this as #17 in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series; I have notated it as #.5 – that is, a chronological prequel to the series stellar debut A Test of Wills.This entry takes the reader to Rutledge’s last civilian case before WWI, and gives us a glimpse of the Inspector’s personal life as well.But I continue to be disappointed with subsequent entries in this series.3 stars
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I found this book to be hard to put down. I am very glad I read it first before reading Test of Wills. I hope the whole series is this enjoyable.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Not bad, provides background for Rutledge's life before WWI - Jean is insipid and it's hard to believe he'd fall for her. The mystery was interesting and I was concerned he wouldn't get it all figured out before some poor innocent man would be hanged.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Although technically No. 17 in the series, this is a prequel, really, which fills us in on Inspector Ian Rutledge's life before WWI turned it all inside out. In the summer of 1914, Rutledge has asked his lady love, Jean, to marry him, and she has accepted. He is embroiled in a series of death investigations which he sees as connected, but which his superiors want him to tidy up individually and quickly, with none of this "there's a killer loose and his work isn't finished" nonsense if you please. And, of course, Europe is about to erupt in the wreckage and horror of modern warfare. Fine reading, although a little more editorial attention could have been paid to grammatical antecedents.September, 2015
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Series spoilers, and spoilers for the general setting, but nothing specific about the mystery in this entry

    I liked the look back at life before the Great War. My discomfort is in Rutledge's relationship with his fiancee, Jean. There are too many warning signs for their future, and he does not seem enthusiastic enough about the match to miss them. Overall I liked it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Long winded story that I listened to in bits. Multiple murders eventually tied to the same man. By the time I finally reached the end I could have cared less about all the characters involved.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A historical look at our protagonist, it is June 1914, and at that time in his life he was young and very much in love with Jean Gordon. He couldn’t understand why his close friend, Melinda Crawford, and his sister, Frances, seemed to distrust Jean so. The war was looming ahead and he knew he’d have to go even as Jean was encouraging him to enlist. But, at this time, he still had his work with Scotland Yard and crime didn’t take a break for anyone. There are multiple murders, seemingly unrelated. Rutledge needs to travel to several locations within England to try to get to the bottom of it all. The first of these deaths was that of a man who they initially thought hung himself.After reading ‘Looking Back’; An Essay from the Authors’ in the back of the book, I realize A Fine Summer’s Day is actually a nice place to jump in. And so, this is the first book I’ve read in the series. Each book can be read as a stand-alone, but this book actually takes the reader back before The Great War (WWI) and before Ian Rutledge returned home as a veteran. A Test of Wills was the first book in the series and started in June 1919 upon his return to Scotland Yard. The authors are a mother / son team who has composed 16 other Inspector Rutledge books prior to this one. The novels span from June 1919 to August 1920. This story’s pacing was at a moderate pace and the suspense was high. The author does well with keeping the historical aspect of the novel intact. It’s a nice look back at this time in history as well as a look back into the past of a character who is loved by so many. Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My Mother has been telling me for years that I need to read A Test of Wills, the first Charles Todd book featuring Ian Rutledge. Like any sensible daughter, I have ignored her. I know. I know. I did start it a few times but the timing wasn’t right. I was waiting for the very beginning…Here’s what I love about this book. The writing is spot on for the time and place. The pace of the police procedural and the steps of the Scotland Yard Investigation are paced with the personal stories of the characters perfectly so you don’t feel bogged down with one or the other. The reveals are also paced well and this keeps the reader well involved in guesswork. I love the historical aspect starting with the motorcade assassination that evolved into World War I. Finally, the crossover of characters from Todd series with the appearance of Bess Crawford adds a fun and interesting element.I enjoyed this book so much I read it in and out of Bed and was so engrossed that I was honked at not once but twice in the carpool line. So, I eat my crow and tell Mom she’s right, again. You will want to tell her that, too after you read this book!Provided by TLC Blog Tours
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A Fine Summer’s Day is the 17th book in the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries. It also goes back in the past before the war (and the 16 other stories) and gives us a look at Ian before the war changed him. It was a good book a very interesting mystery and I’m glad it was written to add to Ian’s story.Inspector Rutledge is still learning how best to interact with his boss, Chief Superintendent Bowles, who likes all cases to be closed as quickly as possible, with a nice clean acceptable explanation. This means that he’s not always particular if the guilty person is the one put on trial. This doesn’t sit well with Ian who expects to find the guilty party to pay, not the most convenient scapegoat availableThe Chief sent Rutledge to Moresby to look into a questionable death, a man is found hung in his home, in such a way he couldn’t have done it himself. But he was a well liked man and no one could think of a reason anyone would want him dead. The local constable, against Ian’s wishes, arrested a man for the deed because of his past than because of any evidence against him. This was good enough for Bowles who sent Rutledge on to another case. This one is another questionable death where there appeared to be no reason for the apparent suicide. When the 3rd man died under similar circumstances a red flag was flying briskly in Rutledge's vision.Inspector Rutledge has to dance around Bowles trying to save an innocent man, while finding proof of the real culprit. All the while trying to keep his new and naive fiance happy, while leaving her alone as he drives all over the countryside looking for clues and his suspect.We learn a lot about Ian and it ties in well with how the Bess Crawford stories relate, much more explicitly than in any other book. We only get a little glimpse of Hamish at the beginning and then again at the end of the book. I had my reservations about this book, but they were unfounded. This was an excellent addition to the series and even opened the possibility of a cross series book with Bess. Great book, good mystery, though the ending was a little too neat, worth a read!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Even in his mid-twenties Ian Rutledge knew what he wanted to do with his life: speak for those who, because of murder, could not speak for themselves. This addition to theRutledge series introduces the young Rutledge on the eve of W W I. Rutledge is caught up in several seemingly unrelated murders scattered throughout England. He is alsonewly engaged and trying to give his fiance the attention she requests. As always, Rutledge is a disciplined, moral man who considers carefully what his principles are andfollows them even at great cost. This "look back" added valuable insight into Rutledge's life--especially his relationship to his fiance and his sister.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    When I first started to read this book, I was not in the right frame of mind, so I waited and restarted reading. I really enjoyed learning about Ian Rutledge and her family and co-workers in this looking back book. Ian has probably made the biggest mistake of his life, but the war steps in to dissolve the error. The characters jump off the pages, especially many of the minor characters. Ian rushes between Jean in London and his duties in several surrounding villages due to many suicide or murder investigations. The reader is forewarned of the murderer, but not given the criteria for killing each man. The tension builds in Ian's cases, as well as in Europe with the threat of war. The ending brings resolution and closure, but in an obscure method. I could not stop reading and finished the book, even though I needed to go to bed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    [A Fine Summer's Day] is a prequel to a long running series about Inspector Ian Rutledge, but I had not read any of the previous offerings. I kept seeing the cover in the store and reading a few pages and finally I made a purchase. The story takes place on the eve of WW1, with the assassination of of the Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Ian Rutledge, an Inspector with Scotland Yard becomes engaged to an a career army man's daughter, Jean Gordon. However, Inspector Rutledge is quickly occupied with a case involving several desecrated tombstones and several seemingly unrelated deaths in various villages around London. Essentially the story is a police procedural , with family relationships in the background and an interesting take on WW1. Ian Rutledge feels that his calling is to be a policeman and has a certain disregard for those who run off to join the war effort .When he is asked whether he will join the war effort , he wishes those planning to go to war well, but privately thinks ( page 243 ) .." how many hotheads on their way to an Army .. wouldn't have considered it a month ago? Drawn by visions of glory and the chance to kill Germans. ...... It was if a plague of blood lust had spread on the wind, infecting everyone it touched. He was young enough to feel the pull of adventure.... But he'd seen his share of bodies in his time as a policeman , and there was nothing glorious about death." Throughout the story Ian is pressed by his contemporaries to join the army, but he definitely has somewhat of a pacifist view of war. The story is more of a slow police procedural, with an interesting take on the start of WW1, and the idealism and innocence of many who quickly joined the war without much thought to the futureOverall, I felt the story was a bit slow moving and I felt that perhaps the characters could have been more well developed. That said, the interesting take on WW1 is enough to draw my interest into reading the first in the series, [A Test of Wills]. 3.8 stars. It is a bit of slow read and not an exciting read, but enough to draw my interest to reading further into the series. Cautiously recommended for the patient reader. I'll be able to make a better assessment of the series after I've read the next in the series , which I am eager to do.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    In the days prior to World War I, a young Scotland Yard inspector is called upon to investigate a series of seemingly unrelated deaths. As he digs deeper, he suspects there is some event that serves as a connection between the victims. The book is well written and even though the plot is very similar to The Reckoning, which I read last year, it still held my interest. As a suspense fan, I find it interesting to read how crimes were solved in the "old days", before the internet, email, fax or when even finding a phone was a chore. Very enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A prequel, dealing with Rutledge's last case before World War I. It was refreshing not to deal with Hamish's ghost and Rutledge's PTSD. I'm getting tired of this series; this is typical in quality of the latest, but less bleak.