Eighth in the series, this detective mystery begins at a New Year's Eve seance in London in December 1919 and takes Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard to a quaint village in Northampton, where a former Scotland Yard employee has been shot in the back with an arrow in a supposedly haunted bit of woods. Well integrated Gothic touches include an imposing bell tower in the parish church, a mysterious woman seemingly gifted with second sight, a missing village beauty. Rutledge himself is being pursued by some tormentor who keeps leaving clues suggesting he is toying with the detective before finishing him off, and as more and more villagers start to suffer suspicious deadly accidents the tale works itself into a frenzy of a finish. This is stronger than the last installment, with a conclusion that made me want to read on.

AROUND THE WORLD OF CRIME AND MYSTERY
USA - 2007 - I own this book, and was getting ready to read "A False Mirror", but that "Mirror" book blurb talks about Rutledge meeting someone from his past. In "Shadow", not all is explained, so I took another dive into "Long Shadow" first. Besides, in my first review (below) I mention this feels like two books, so maybe it continues with "Mirror".
CAST - 4 stars: Rutledge and his other self, Hamish, are fascinating. A very mysterious Mrs. Channing opens the novel with a seance: Ian is terrified Hamish will show up. Mrs. Ellison is the town snob, Emma is her granddaughter who disappeared at age 17. A Mr. Keaton is an unfriendly pub owner: why? Constable Hensley is shot in the back with an arrow in an impossibly thick wooded area. Grace Letteridge is heartbroken. A 16 y/o boy keeps talking about a dead soldier in said woods. Very interesting cast.
ATMOSPHERE - 4 stars: A seance, to start with. Then Firth's Wood, a haunted darkness. A town afraid, living on the edge.
PLOT - 4: This one has an interesting structure: 3 characters are harmed badly, and one or more is already dead. Death itself, happening, stays pretty much out of sight.
INVESTIGATION - 2: The plot needs for Rutledge to live in a house without a lock. Someone is coming and going at odd hours. He doesn't put a lock on the door, cause if he does, then an important part of the plot doesn't work. I'd lock up! And just when Rutledge needs to ask THE question, he has to go climb a bell tower...or something. Irritating sometimes. But many crime authors are guilty of this.
RESOLUTION - 3: There are resolutions for some, but not for Ian, and this story may continue in the next installment.
SUMMARY - 3.4 stars. I'm looking forward to Rutledge #9: I think it could be a continuation of this story.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Inspector Rutledge, arguably, is the face of all veterans returning from war: some have horrible memories they can deal with, some have memories that haunt them hourly (Rutledge) and some drift into insanity. There are creepy scenes here: Rutledge attends a seance; there is a discovery Rutledge refuses to view; and at the end Rutledge comes face to face with what could be his own destiny. I'm reading these in order and this one could have been much better had it been two novels: are publishers again paying by page/word count? After all, I don't mind a 175-page Dame Christie or M.C. Beaton at all (although neither explored a character so psychologically shattered).

It's been a while since I checked in with Ian and Hamish. I found that I am finally getting used to Hamish chiming into the Ian's thoughts and musings. I have decided he is not a ghost attached to Ian, but a part of Ian that haunts him and advises him. This was a complicated mystery and I had some idea of the murderer closer to the end. I usually skip through a lot of extra text, but this one kept my attention. Recommend!

This is quite a story. I enjoy the complexity in the series but also in this particular book. The believable inspector Rutledge, and several interesting turns and layers kept me thinking and engaged. It’s a compelling story line involving the Inspector’s history in WWI, worrisome village characters, and several miss matched events and clues. Luckily the testy and annoying Bowles doesn’t get too much space. It’s a relief to be out of London, where Rutledge’s thoughtful, persistent police work resolves the questions bit by bit. His courage, and experience conquers a underlying fear, in one mysterious layer. His humanity and quiet ways are quite appealing.

I enjoyed this book, another great mystery by Charles Todd.

Ian Rutledge is a shell-shocked World War I survivor. The story starts with a dinner being held in London to which Ian and his sister, Frances, are invited. Among the guests is a woman, Mrs. Meredith Channing. She is asked to conduct a seance. Instantly Ian and his haunt, Hamish, are alarmed. Ian does not want to have to face any of his ghosts in public. He ends finding an excuse to leave when he receives a phone call. On his way home, he steps on a machine gun casing placed in the street. He wonders what kind of message this is meant to be.

He is sent to a small community called Dudlington in Northamptonshire, where a constable has been shot with a bow and arrow. Ian ends up staying in the house of the constable where the office is located.

Ian is also drawn into the three-year old mystery of a missing seventeen year old girl. Also featured is Frith Wood, a forest that is intimidating to all the inhabitants living in the community.

Ian comes to believe that he is being targeted as his windshield is shot out by a bullet. He continues to receive more gun casings, warnings of a show-down to come. He has no idea who is targeting him.

The mystery as to who shot the constable seems to connect with the girl's disappearance. Then to add to the mystery, Mrs. Channing shows up in the community. Ian does not know if he can trust her or not. More casings show up; Ian is almost run by down by a lorry. He finally puts it all together and a great finale ensues.

This ends up being a first class mystery read for me. I really enjoyed it.

Another in the Inspector Rutledge series. This one has the shell-shocked (PTSD) inspector investigating a case in Northumberland where the resident constable had been seriously wounded by someone shooting him in the back with an arrow. In the process of investigating that case, he finds himself in the middle of a much more complex situation, involving disappearances and possible murders stretching back many years. The village where the action takes place is a tiny, highly insular one, occupied by citizens who know way too much about each other and who thrive on gossip. All thi leads to a very difficult investigation for Rutledge (and his faithful mental companion). Rutledge seems a bit more comfortable with Hamish, who really serves to focus Rutledge's thought processes.

So far, this is the best of the series. Highly recommended.

Set in Northhamptonshire after WWi, this author brings home the effects of trench warfar and poison gas attacks and doesn’t let it go quietly away. For years afterwards, the effects linger.

This puzzler opens in 1919 winter, in Frith Wood near the small village of Dudlington, not far from Hertford and Peterborough. In these haunted woods, ancient Saxons once beheaded scores of men, and - only three years ago - a girl vanished. Constable Hensley is biking past the woods to town and senses someone watching.

Celebrating at Maryanne Browning’s New Year’s Eve party, at the turn of 1920, someone suggests a séance, which idea terrifies the haunted Inspector Rutledge. Saved by the bell, he gets a call from the Yard. As he leaves, he finds a brass Maxim machine gun cartridge casing on the Browning’s pavement, similar to countless others he’d seen on the battlefield. It wasn't there when he arrived at the party.

Soon there are more cartridges, purposely placed where he is sure to discover them. Unexpectedly drawn away from London to a small Northamptonshire village, he investigates the strange case of a local constable shot in Frith Wood — an arrow in his back.

Characters:
Spelling is a guess. I listened to this book.

Hamish is the ghost who haunts Rutledge. He is a recurring character in every books. He lives in Ian’s head. I grow tired of his interjections.

Ian meets Meridith Channing at the New Year party. He’s attracted to the young widow, but also discomfited by her perception, and still half in love with Elizabeth Fraser, from book 7 A Cold Treachery. Meredith (Mrs Channing) is attracted to Ian, finds him “tall and handsome” but she senses his ghosts.

Ian’s lovable sister Frances and his capable and well-connected family friend Melinda in Kent.

Chief Superintendent Bowles — aptly derided as “Old Bowels” — he needs to retire, or better yet, Home Office should fire the man. I was hoping it might happen in this book…

Sergeant Gibson at the Yard. He gets information for Ian and hates Bowles.

Harkness family owns Frith Wood land near Dudlington. Mrs. Mary Ellison, née Harkness, is old and cold, a snobby crone. A widow, the last Harkness. She is Emma Mason’s grandmother. She raised Emma until she disappeared at age 16. Emma’s mother Beatrice was an artist who apparently left her child (Emma) in her mother’s care in Dudlington. Mrs Mary Ellison says her daughter Beatrice has never come back to Dudlington, and died in France or Belgium.

Constable Hensley — constable in Dudlington. He walked in Frith Wood, secretly. Hensley was a policeman in London previously. He was Bowles’ creature before Bowles became CS at Scotland Yard.

Baylor brothers. Only Ted is left — he keeps cows. Robbie died at war. Joel is dying from wrecked lungs, poison gas attacks in WWI. Ted loves Barbara Melford but feels duty-bound to take care of Joel.

Inspector Cain oversees the villages of Fairfield, Dudlington, and Letherington . Other policemen in the region : Chief Insp Kelmore, an older married man. Inspector Abbot, previous, retired.
Sergeant Thompson. Inspector Smith in Hertford, where Ian dined at White Feathers Inn (why curse your inn with such a shameful name?)

Mr. Towson - the white-haired kindly old rector in Didlington.

Postmistress in Dudlington - Mrs. Arondahl (sp?)

Dr Eustace in Hertford treats Ian when he gets slight but stinging cuts on his face

The Massingham’s estate is briefly mentioned

Emma Mason - the vanished girl. She disappeared three years ago.

Tommy Crowell — older boy, villager, a little “simple” in the verbiage of the day. He is accused by an inspector, the incompetent.

Dr Middleton - local doc in Didlington.

Grace Letteredge or Letheridge — in Dudlington. She was friends with Beatrice Ellison and befriended her daughter, Emma. She thinks constable Hensley knows the secret of Emma’s disappearance.

Hilary Timmons - house cleaner for various people, including the old rector. She works in The Oaks kitchen, too

Mr. Keating, balding man of about 45 years, runs The Oaks, an inn and restaurant in Dudlington. Hates cops so Rutledge can’t get a room there, so he stays at Constable Hensley’s house, who is in hospital.

young widow Barbara Melford, Hensley’s neighbor, is paid to feed Hensley, and so she also feeds Rutledge. She is in love with Ted Baylor but he has to take care of Joel Baylor.

Mr Mannering is an expert in identifying old bones, from Scotland Yard.

A mystery man, Mr Sandridge or Sandringham. We find out who he is at the end.

a mystery soldier from Great War, who is terrorizing Rutledge.

Another GREAT book by two of my favorite authors. It is so easy to identify with Ian and his tenacity. I love how his mind works and of course Hamish keeps him safe.

Another Ian Rutledge murder mystery by two of my favorite mystery writers.

I love Inspector Rutledge! I feel so sorry for him and wish he could find peace and a woman to love. Only thing is, when he does find peace and Hamish is gone, then the series will most likely be over, and I don't know if I want that.

First of all, I have to say that if a Tourist Board or Bureau or whatever exists in the Northampton area, they CANNOT be pleased after reading this book. The locals are insular, borderline or truly rude, nasty, unhelpful to Inspector Rutledge, and just generally jerks. The vicar is the exception. Furthermore, the landscape is, at least in the winter, bleak. Come to think of it, a lot of the locals are pretty bleak too.
That said, we have multiple mysteries here, one involving the village where a former Scotland Yard constable has been shot, and the other involving someone stalking Rutledge. As is usual in the Rutledge series, the multiple mysteries are intertwined, and there is the usual attractive woman, this one perhaps with some psychic powers. I have read the first 8 books in order, this being the eighth, and I gotta tell you: part of me would like Rutledge to get it on with one of the many women he has encountered, as long as the woman is willing, unmarried, etc. But that would have unknown ramifications with Hamish. But still...
There is also the usual very quick and brief denouement, seemingly just a few paragraphs if that. Yes, the questions are answered, but I think many readers would like a little more detail. Also as usual, the villain is very heavily disguised amongst other possible bad guys/gals. That's fine with me---I don't try to guess who it is---but those who try to guess might get frustrated.
Anyway, on to book 9!