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A Murder in Yorkshire
Bess Crawford was a nurse during World War I. She served in forward aid stations and survived the sinking of the hospital ship Britannic. The war is over. Discharged from her duties in Queen Alexandra’s Nursing Service, she is at loose ends at her parents’ home in Somerset. A letter from her cousin Melinda asks Bess to go to Yorkshire to nurse Lady Beatrice, an acquaintance of Melinda’s.
“The Cliff’s Edge,” a mystery by Charles Todd, follows the result of Bess accepting the request. Lady Beatrice’s surgery goes well, but then there are complications, but not with Lady Beatrice.
While recovering, Lady Beatrice gets a message. Gordon Neville, her godson, was injured in a fall near his home. He lives in a remote estate in isolated Scarfdale. Lady Beatrice still cannot travel. Worried about Gordon’s health, he asks Beth to check on him. Since Lady Beatrice is well enough to manage without Bess and the message implies Gordon’s injuries were severe, Bess goes.
Upon arrival, Bess discovers Gordon was injured in a fall over a cliff. A second man, Frederick Caldwell, was killed in the fall. Worse, Gordon is suspected of killing Caldwell. Caldwell stole Gordon’s fiancé immediately prior to World War I. A gentry-hating police inspector is investigating. His antipathy towards the Nevilles leads him to put the worst interpretation on everything associated with them.
Moreover the Nevilles, especially Gordon, are resented in Scarfdale. It raised a local battalion during the War, which was led by Gordon. Although he survived the war, the unit took heavy casualties during the Battle of the Somme. The families of the men killed blame Gordon. Outside his immediate family, he has few defenders. Then more people end up dead. Everyone’s suspicion of Gordon grows stronger.
Her knowledge of war injuries leads Beth to realize everything is not what it appears. Beth begins investigating, trying to separate the realities from the accusations. This puts her in peril, as the perpetrator attempts to remove her from the scene.
Her investigation finally turns up the truth, but not before revealing family skeletons and secrets. One unexpectedly involves Beth.
Charles Todd is the pen name for a mother-son team of mystery writers. Carolyn Watjen, the mother, died shortly before publication of “The Cliff’s Edge.” It is not the best book in the series, but may be the last. If you like the series, it is worth reading.
“The Cliff’s Edge,” by Charles Todd, William Morrow, 2023, 320 pages, $30.00 (Hardcover), $14.99 (Ebook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.
Published in Literature
I’m up for a good mystery. Which would you recommend as a better story?
I’ve read all the books in the series except this one, as well as most of the books in the “Ian Rutledge” series by the same author(s). They are, indeed, quite good. I’m sorry to see that one of the writing team has died and that there may not be any more.
In this series? Follow the King’s advice from Alice in Wonderland: Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop. The first book is “A Duty to the Dead.” The fifth book, “A Question of Honor” won the Agatha award for best mystery of 2013.
Thanks!
At the time, the success of the Titanic movie made people joke about the inevitable sequel – but really, Britannic was the logical sequel. If director Cameron had kept the sets he could have turned around and made it, just as he did the Avatar sequels. I mean, it’s the same ship, just refitted. It went down much faster, but there’s the drama of trying to steam to the shore to beach the great beast in the hopes of saving everyone. As it was, nearly everyone survived, so it’s a feel-good version of Titanic, and you could even put Rose on board as a volunteer nurse. Missed opportunity.
(There was a mini-series about it, I think, but I didn’t find it very engaging.)
Sounds fun.