New York Time bestseller Charles Todd returns with a riveting novel that explores the ravages of war, murder and lust

SEPTEMBER INDIE NEXT PICK!!! "In addition to supplying a challenging puzzle, Todd does a superb job of capturing the feel of the battlefield and the emotional toll taken on those waiting back home for a loved one’s return." —Starred Publishers Weekly review "Todd—the pen name of a mother-and-son writing team—turns in another winning performance fans of mysteries featuring strong, appealing heroines will certainly embrace this one." —Booklist "Readers will enjoy Todd’s plucky, determined sleuth and a thrilling mystery that proves murders on the home front don’t stop just because there’s a war." –Library Journal After 11 books in the acclaimed, post WWI Rutledge series, Charles Todd launched a new series last year with A Duty to the Dead featuring Bess Crawford, a courageous young nurse serving overseas during the Great War. Reviewers embraced the new series with open arms:
"Like the Inspector Rutledge books, A Duty to the Dead is a compelling story, a complex mystery and a revealing look deep into human nature," (Winston Salem Journal) "...A Duty to the Dead features sharp, convincing dialogue and a degree of psychological complexity seldom encountered in routine mysteries," (Wilmington Star News) "Todd’s novels are known for compelling plotting with a thoughtful whodunit aspect, rich characterization, evocative prose and haunting atmosphere, and A Duty to the Dead excels at each." (Richmond Times-Dispatch) Now, Bess returns with a new mystery in AN IMPARTIAL WITNESS (William Morrow, On Sale: 8/31/2010, ISBN 13: 9780061791789, $24.99). Serving in the wound in France during the First World War, battlefield nurse Bess Crawford is sent back to England in the early summer of 1917 with a convoy of severely burned men. One of her patients, a young pilot, has clung to a photograph of his wife ever since his plane went down, and Bess sees the photo every time she tends to him. After the patients are transferred to a clinic in Hampshire, Bess is given 48 hours of leave and plans to return to her flat in London to catch up on some much-needed sleep. But at the railway station there, in a mob of troops leaving for the front, Bess catches a glimpse of a familiar face—the pilot’s wife. She is bidding a very emotional farewell to a different soldier. If you'd like to meet them in person, check their website for exact locations and times. Their tour cities include:
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