Wings of Fire

By Charles Todd

This book highlights why its always a good idea to start reading a series of books from the beginning. Wings of Fire is the 2nd book in the authors series of mysteries following World War I veteran Ian Rutledge. This caused me confusion that wasn't solved until I read the excerpt from the next book that was at the end.

The detective Ian Rutledge who is the main character, keeps referring to a man named Hamish who gives him advice through out the story. But after a while you realize Hamish is not a real person but is a voice in Ian's head. I couldn't figure out what was going on. The detective and Hamish are always arguing with each other. At first I thought that they guy had a split personality, something like Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It turns out Hamish was a guy that Ian was ordered to execute in the War and his memory still haunts Ian.

The other thing that confused me were the characters. I have trouble keeping names straight anyway and this book starts off introducing 10+ family members in the 1st chapter. One mother, 3 fathers, 2 children with each man. All are referred to by their different last names but even that didn't help me keep them straight in the beginning.

That said, I enjoyed the story. The writing was descriptive and really set a picture of the time. I feel that the mystery (multiple murders) was not well explained at the end. At first this bothered me. But after thinking about it I realized what had been done. Rutledge interviews the different witnesses in the book and as many of the events happened decades ago they each have trouble recalling the events accurately. Every person also has a different perspective of what happened. Just as in real life this makes for a confusing tale that is hard to set straight. The detective was able to but alas I was not. My mom gave this book to me and said that all of the authors mysteries have similar endings. I probably won't read anymore.