An Impartial Witness: A Bess Crawford Mystery

I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived earlier than I’d anticipated! My book came wrapped in cellophane to keep it protected, and with a pink sticker thanking me for supporting small businesses. I was more than happy with my purchase and to have the next installment in the series I’m reading! Thank you 😊

Great story telling. Great writing. Charles Todd has a unique way of painting a picture of WWI through Miss Crawford’s eyes; is not a war novel. Is a continuation of everyday life during the war- crime and deceit, suffering and compassion, bravery. Life goes in outside the war zone. Excellent!

As a major fan of the Ian Rutledge series by the mother- son team Charles Todd, I approached the second series with trepidation. Would this series disappoint in comparison to the Rutledge stories? Those had such a wonderful cast of characters, Rutledge's whole group of incredibly diverse pals in the small town where his aristocratic friend lives, would the nursing sister Bess Crawford and her Somerset family and flatmate nursing sisters be able to compete?The answer: well not exactly. Her Colonel Sahib father, retired with his sergeant major Simon and her charming mother are no match for the antique dealer/author of crime fiction/et al of the Rutledge series. But the nursing series has its own appeal. In An Impartial Witness Bess happens on a scene at the railroad station in which she sees the wife of a severely burned pilot she has nursed and accompanied back to England. The pilot has kept his wife picture clipped to his shirt during the whole time she was caring for him so the woman's face is well known to Bess even though she'd never met her. The adored wife is in tears clutching g an officer's arms. From that encounter, Bess becomes enmeshed in a constantly growing number of deaths. And unless Bess is able to discover the actual murderer, an innocent man may hang for the crimes. It is a quick read and full of surprises. This is my second book I've read in the series and I sh as all go back for more.

Bess is a nurse during World War One. In the first novel in this series, she was on the hospital ship, Britannica, when it struck a mine in the Mediterranean Sea, surviving but with an broken arm that sends her home to England to recover—and to deliver a dying soldier’s last words to his brother. In this novel, she has been reassigned to France, serving just behind the front line. There she meets and nurses a wounded pilot with serious burns; her leave coincides with his transferral to a hospital in England, so she accompanies him (and the omnipresent picture of his wife) from the war zone to convalescence. After signing him in to his new ward, she proceeds to the station to catch a train to her flat in London. While waiting, however, she observes a dramatic scene: a woman is standing next to a soldier, in tears and sobbing, while he basically ignores her. But then Bess recognizes the woman—it is the pilot’s wife.The writing in this mystery is solid, and the plot is engaging and complex. The reason this is a 4, however, is that the character of Bess seems very similar to the Bess of the first book; she does not appear to have grown from her experiences. I look forward to the next book, but hope to see more evolution in Bess’ character.

Nurse Bess Crawford's compassionate nature is an asset on the battlefield. However, when on leave in England this caring for others lands her in the middle of a murder investigation. Trying to be a helpful witness, Bess shares all of her observations with the police. But as she loses faith in the police she begins her own investigation putting herself in danger ad she persistently seeks for the truth.This is a wonderful series set in WWI . Looking forward to the next installment.

First of all, I do like this series. I have read them all now including the latest one, A Bitter Truth. I'm not really all that much enthralled with historical fiction but I am drawn to these stories because of the main character being a nurse, albeit a nurse during WWI in England/France which is much different than my own nursing experiences for sure. However, I generally like the way that the stories meander through the lives of the characters and even the supporting cast of characters that tend to make the story a whole.In this particular story, Bess Crawford (the main character) is drawn into a convoluted murder situation through an accidental viewing of the wife of one of her soldier patients at a train station. The wife of the soldier Bess has cared for is talking to a man at the train station and is obviously very upset. A few hours after the accidental observation, said woman is found dead. This story includes suicide, murder, adultery, hatred, sibling rivalry and a pseudo attempted suicide by cop (potential hanging for confession to murder). So, it is not like the book does not have a lot going on, it does. For this reason, I enjoyed it. Because there is a lot of reading and for the slower pace of the story to get to the good parts, I gave it 4 stars rather than 5.

An Impartial Witness is the sequel to A duty to the Dead and I was eager to read this book since this series has become a favorite of mine.It's the early summer of 1917 and Bess Crawford is returning home from the trenches of France with a convoy of wounded men. One of the patient is Lt. Meriwether Evanson, a pilot who has been burned beyond recognition and he clings to life much thanks to his wife Marjorie whose picture he has pinned to his tunic. But Bess notices a woman on a London train station that is bidding farewell to an officer and she recognize the women. It's the pilots wife. But the man isn't her husband. She then discovers back on duty in France that the woman has been murdered and Scotland Yard is asking for information from anyone that saw her that day.Bess informs the police about what she knows, but it's not enough information since she can describe the man the woman was with, but she doesn't know who he is and soon she starts her own inquiry to learn who killed Marjorie. But it's a frustrating case, and it seems that the killer may be getting away with murder and send an innocent man to the gallows.I felt that this book was not as engrossing to read as the first book, still very good, but there were moments in the book when I felt that the pacing was a bit slow and I wanted the story to progress a little bit faster. Not that the story was bad, I mean there were several people in the book that could have been the murderer and it wasn't like I guessed right away who it was. I found the story picked up speed towards the end when a man that Bess had befriended was accused of murder and she had to fight to clear his name. Then, the story got more intense and I loved the ending.I like Bess Crawford very much, she is a well written character and I like the fact that even though everyone in the book seem to think that she has more than friendly feelings towards the accused man she is trying to save is she just his friend. Not that I wouldn't mind her finding some happiness (I have read A Pattern of Lie, the perfect man is out there for her she just has to see it), but she isn't a woman that is easily swept of her feet. And, that is something I like.Thankfully the book had a strong beginning and ending and, despite me feeling that the story dragged here and there in the middle was it a good book and I wasn't sure in the end it would end happily.

This is the second book I have read in this series and both have been a great read. They are set in the First World War and are full of good detail around which the mystery story in the book is written.

I LIKED THIS BOOK AND ALL IN THE SERIES THAT I HAVE READ SO FAR

An interesting read after the style of Maisie Dobbs

A good story. I became more familiar with the main characters. I look forward to reading other books in the series.