A Duty to the Dead: A Bess Crawford Mystery
by Charles Todd
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Book Summary Information
Author: Charles ToddEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-08-25
ISBN: 0061791768
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: William Morrow
Product features:
- A Duty to the Dead: A Bess Crawford
- Mystery [Hardcover] by Todd, Charles
Book Reviews of A Duty to the Dead: A Bess Crawford Mystery
Book Review: A Powerful and Complex Psychological Mystery
Summary: 5 Stars
"Tell Jonathan that I lied. I did it for Mother's sake. But it has to be set right."
These are the dying words spoken by British soldier Arthur Graham to army nurse Bess Crawford aboard the doomed hospital ship Britannic during the height of World War I. Bess has begun to have feelings for him and promises to deliver his final message to his family in England. That is, if she gets there alive. The Britannic has hit a mine as it approaches Greece and begins to sink rapidly. This is "the brother" of the Titanic --- which sunk on that fateful evening of April 14, 1912 --- and the first chapter of this engaging mystery packs in all of the extreme panic and tension that the survivors of these infamous ship disasters experienced.
Bess does make it safely to Greece and shortly thereafter books passage back to England. She is an upper-middle-class British gentlewoman who was raised mostly in India within a military family where her father was an officer with the title of Colonel Sahib. She followed in the family footsteps and volunteered for the Nursing Corps at the onset of WWI. Her duty placed her on the battlefields of France, behind the lines of the active conflict. It was when she came to care for the mortally wounded Arthur that she finally connected with someone in a more than professional manner, and this caused her to feel deeply homesick.
Unfortunately, Bess herself is badly injured during the sinking of the Britannic and suffers a compound fracture of her arm. After several months of resting up at her parents' home, she takes off for the town of Kent and the manor of the Graham family known fondly as Owlhurst. Arthur died before he could decipher his cryptic message; all Bess knows is that she witnessed a young man suffering from extreme guilt in his final moments, and she has a duty to deliver his last words to his family in person.
The Graham family consists of Arthur's mother, Lady Graham, as well as two brothers: Officer Jonathan Graham and Timothy, who is unable to serve due to being born with a club foot. Also living in the house is family friend/distant cousin Robert Douglas. When the opportunity is right, Bess repeats Arthur's final words to the family and notices that they react oddly. She soon learns the tale of another brother --- an older half-brother from Arthur's late father's first marriage --- named Peregrine Graham. Apparently, Peregrine has been locked in a local insane asylum as a result of having murdered a young chambermaid at Owlhurst when he was only 14 years old. Could Arthur's final mystery message have something to do with this shameful family tragedy?
The ever-resourceful Bess accepts accommodations at Owlhurst and begins to become familiar with members of the town. She is suddenly thrust back into action when the local physician, Dr. Phillips, solicits her aid in helping with a deranged officer named Ted Booker, who is suffering from extreme shell shock. Ted had witnessed the death of his twin brother during a WWI battle, and the guilt has driven him to near-insanity. Bess is the only person able to connect with Ted --- as she had seen many cases like this on the front lines herself --- and gets him not only to calm down but also to agree not to harm himself or his family. Bess, in a foreshadowing manner, connects with Ted as she empathizes with him that "the living must go on living, or we fail the dead."
The duty to the dead, as the title suggests, is a running theme throughout the book. Ted commits suicide shortly after his meeting with Bess, which shakes her badly. Additionally, word comes from the asylum housing the mysterious Peregrine that he is suffering from serious pneumonia and is not expected to live. Bess agrees to tend to him, and Peregrine is shuttled back to Owlhurst where the rest of the family ignores him, leaving Bess to the solitary duty of caring for him. Miraculously, Bess is able to get Peregrine through some rough nights --- nights that are filled with feverish visions and talk of the long-past murder for which he was allegedly imprisoned. Peregrine is sent back to the asylum once he is able to get out of bed, and Bess is greatly alarmed to see the family receive startling word from there shortly after his return. Fearing the Grahams have learned that Peregrine has finally succumbed to the pneumonia, Bess is quickly shuttled back to the train station by Robert, and she elects to return to her shared flat in London before resuming her nursing service.
Bess is not there one day when she receives an unexpected visit. Peregrine arrives at her door, having learned of her address from a piece of correspondence he confiscated while in his sick room with her. Bess realizes that the startling news the family had received was not of Peregrine's death, but of his escape. With his mind addled by years of drug and shock therapy and feeling quite paranoid, Peregrine is unable to fully recall the past --- but he feels confident that he was not the one who murdered the young chambermaid years earlier. Was Peregrine shut away in an asylum to protect another member of the family? As Bess takes up Peregrine's cause, she revisits Owlhurst and the surrounding village to learn that there was a handful of mysterious deaths during that time, and even the recent "suicide" of Ted may have been a homicide.
Bess's duty to the dead has now gone far beyond delivering Arthur's final message --- she feels obligated to follow through on uncovering the truth behind the murders, including the whereabouts of Peregrine, who is feared dead by his family. At one point during her investigation, someone tells Bess she is merely chasing dragons and that what had appeared to be dragons are merely the shadows the mind creates when it wishes to avoid the bitter truth. Is Bess putting herself in mortal danger by pursuing these deaths, or is she merely doing the bidding of an evil murderer?
The mother/son writing team of Charles and Caroline Todd has departed from their highly successful Inspector Rutledge series to deliver a powerful and complex psychological mystery. As with all their novels, the rich historical backdrop of Britain during WWI is fully developed and extremely accurate. Bess Crawford poses a quite resourceful protagonist for the authors, and hopefully they will resume her story soon as she continues her valiant service to the British army during turbulent times.
--- Reviewed by Ray Palen
Summary of A Duty to the Dead: A Bess Crawford Mystery
The daughter of a distinguished soldier? Bess Crawford follows in his footsteps and signs up to go overseas as a nurse during the Great War? helping to deal with the many wounded. There? serving on a hospital ship? she makes a promise to a dying young lieutenant to take a message to his brother? Jonathan Graham: "Tell Jonathan that I lied. I did it for Mother?s sake. But it has to be set right." Later? when her ship is sunk by a mine and she?s sidelined by a broken arm? Bess returns home to England? determined to fulfill her promise.
It?s not so easy? however. She travels to the village in Kent where the Grahams live and passes on to Jonathan his brother?s plea. Oddly? neither Jonathan? his mother? nor his younger brother admit to knowing what the message means. Then Bess learns that there?s another brother? incarcerated in a lunatic asylum since the age of 14 when he was accused of brutally murdering a housemaid.
Bess rightly guesses that the dying soldier?s last words had something to do with the fourth brother. Because the family seems unwilling to do anything? she decides that she will investigate. It?s her own duty to the dead.
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