“Full of suspense, surprises, and sympathetic characters.” — Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel “No mystery series I can think of captures the sadness and loss that swept over England after World War I with the heartbreaking force of Charles Todd’s books about Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge.” — Chicago Tribune The remarkable Charles Todd has created one of the most unforgettable characters in mystery and crime fiction: Inspector Ian Rutledge, shell-shocked veteran of “the Great War.” A False Mirror is one of Todd’s most powerful novels, plunging his tormented protagonist into the center of a brutal crime that painfully echoes events in Rutledge’s own past. Poignant, evocative, and continually surprising, A False Mirror is further proof that Charles Todd is well deserving of the critical acclaim the Rutledge novels have earned; a New York Times bestselling author who belongs among the acknowledged masters of the genre, including P. D. James, Elizabeth George, Ruth Rendell, and Jacqueline Winspear. “Clues that would do Agatha Christie proud inexorably lead to the denouement....Compelling evidence that inside every warrior who returns from the front, there’s a nightmare waiting to break out.” - Kirkus Reviews “Deft characterization...Todd...seamlessly melds a fair-play whodunit with psychological suspense in the tradition of P. D. James’s best.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Touches of both Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie in this character-driven mystery, which builds smoothly but not simply to a climax that is likely to be a genuine surprise.” - Booklist “The revelation of the culprit comes as a surprise owing to multiple suspects with potential motives, but it is Rutledge’s tortured soul that will intrigue and engage readers most.” - Library Journal “Todd . . . keeps the atmospheric A False Mirror full of suspense, surprises and sympathetic characters.” - Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel “The overall mystery is well done . . . melancholy, atmospheric.” - Christian Science Monitor Unhealed scars of the Great War still torment Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge, and he carries with him the presence of the soldier he was forced to execute in the midst of battle. A haunted, damaged shell of a man, he has been sent to the small coastal town of Hampton Regis to solve a violent crime and to confront his own tragic past. An officer who served with Rutledge in the trenches of France before being sent back to England under suspicious circumstances has now been accused of savagely beating the husband of the woman he still loves. The suspect has taken the wife hostage, threatening to kill her and her maid unless Rutledge is put in charge of the investigation. Although the case painfully mirrors Rutledge's own past and the love he lost to another man, he cannot refuse it. When the unconscious brutalized victim vanishes without a trace, it's clear that this peaceful little town hides a vicious murderer . . . and secrets powerful enough to kill for. Charles Todd is the New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford mysteries, and two stand-alone novels. A mother-and-son writing team, Caroline passed away in August 2021 and Charles lives in Florida. A False Mirror By Charles Todd HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Copyright ©2008 Charles Todd All right reserved. ISBN: 9780060786748 Chapter One Hampton Regis Early February, 1920 It was a bitterly cold night of frost, the stars sharp and piercingly bright overhead. He pulled the motorcar to the verge and settled to watch the house that lay directly across the black expanse of water. It stood out against the sky, amazingly clear. Even from here he could tell there were lamps burning in three of the rooms. He could picture them in his mind: at the rear of the house—the sitting room, very likely. In the entry, where the pattern of the fanlight over the front door shone starkly against the deep shadows there—behind it the staircase, of course. And one on the first floor, under the eaves. Their bedroom, surely. The sitting room lamp went out after half an hour. He could see, for an instant, the grotesque silhouette cast for a moment or two against the drawn shades as someone reached out to turn down the flame. And then the silhouette reappeared briefly in the fanlight just as the second lamp was extinguished. He leaned forward, his concentration intense, then swore as the windscreen clouded with his breath. Were there two people in the bedroom now? He couldn't bear to think about it. He couldn't bear to picture her in another man's arms, wrapped in the warmth of the bedclothes, whispering softly, her hair falling over his shoulder and across his chest. . . . His fists pounded angrily on the steering wheel as he tried to force the images out of his mind. And then the last lamp went out, leaving the house in darkness. Shutting them in . While he sat there, like a fool, in the windless night, c