Battlefield nurse Sister Elizabeth Crawford has just
completed the duty of accompanying wounded soldiers back to
England. Her thoughts are focused on a well-earned night of
rest in her London flat before heading back to France the
following day. As she leaves the station, she sees the wife
of one of her patients, a pilot recovering from disfiguring
burns, in great emotional distress while saying farewell to
a soldier who is not her husband. The receipt of a newspaper
not long after reveals the woman has been found murdered,
and Scotland Yard is asking for any information that may
shed light onto the victim's final hours.
Bess writes immediately with the details, including the
description, rank and regiment of the soldier involved. Her
life as the daughter of a military man makes her uniquely
qualified to provide such pertinent information, and with
the help of her father's close associate and former batman,
Simon Brandon, she may even be able to track down the name
and location of the missing soldier. Although she knows her
help is not exactly welcomed by the authorities, the widowed
pilot is one of hers, and she feels a certain responsibility
to do what is in her power to
assist in resolving the case.
In book two of the Bess Crawford Mystery series, Todd again
provides a realistic and fascinating look at the life of
nurse on the front lines during World War I. The contrast
between quiet England and it's hidden menace of a murderer
walking free with the war-torn and bloody battlefields of
France provides a unique and well-researched backdrop to a
skillfully crafted murder mystery. Book one in the series is
A Duty to the Dead.
World War I nurse Bess Crawford, introduced in A Duty to
the Dead, returns in an exciting new mystery in which a
murder draws her inexorably into the sights of a cunning
killer
It is the early summer of 1917. Bess Crawford has returned
to England from the trenches of France with a convoy of
severely wounded men. One of her patients is a young pilot
who has been burned beyond recognition, and who clings to
life and the photo of his wife that is pinned to his
tunic.
While passing through a London train station, Bess notices
a woman bidding an emotional farewell to an officer, her
grief heart-wrenching. And then Bess realizes that she
seems familiar. In fact, she's the woman in the pilot's
photo, but the man she is seeing off is not her husband.
Back on duty in France, Bess discovers a newspaper with a
drawing of the woman's face on the front page.
Accompanying the drawing is a plea from Scotland Yard
seeking information from anyone who has seen her. For it
appears that the woman was murdered on the very day Bess
encountered her at the station.
Granted leave to speak with Scotland Yard, Bess becomes
entangled in the case. Though an arrest is made, she must
delve into the depths of her very soul to decide if the
police will hang an innocent man or a vicious killer.
Exposing the truth is dangerous—and will put her own life
on the line.
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