An Unmarked Grave: A Bess Crawford Mystery, Book 4

Entertaining

There were certainly many characters in this book, which was somewhat challenging to keep straight. I am waiting for Bess and Simon to fall in love, or is there too much of an age difference?

Interesting read. Characters were interesting and an unusual p lot. Excellent description of different scenes. Great read for the beach or a rainy afternoon.

First Sentence: I stopped just outside the ward and leaned my head against the cool wood of the doorframe.WWI is raging but it is influenza that battlefield nurse, Bess Crawford, and others which is killing off soldiers. In the midst of the dead is a man whose death isn’t from either war or illness; he’s been murdered and Bess recognizes him. Those who’ve seen the body start to die in ways that seem natural. Before Bess can do anything, she also succumbs to the flu and is sent back to England, but that doesn’t stop her determination to find out who killed the man and why.The story begins with a powerful and effective opening relating to the impact of the influenza epidemic in the midst of war. What sets the Todds apart is the ability to describe an horrific scene, conveying all the impact, but without going into graphic detail. By contrast, you truly can feel the love and caring that Bess and her family have for one another. It’s also nice to see the progression, albeit very slow progression, of the relationship between Bess and Simon, her father’s bagman.There is a large collection of characters, but they weren’t confusing. The Todds have truly captured the dedication of the war-time nurses and the contrast of their lives from being on the battlefield and when they return to England, remember that most of the nurses came from the upper classes“An Unmarked Grave” may be the best in the series, so far. There is drama, intensity and some excellent red herrings.AN UNMARKED GRAVE (Hist Mys-Bess Crawford-France/England-1918) – VG+Todd, Charles – 4th in seriesWilliam Morrow, June 2012

Bess Crawford is a nurse for the British army in World War One. She is also the daughter of a famous British colonel, and a friend of her dad’s Sergeant-Major—both technically retired from active duty, but both of whom disappear regularly from England. Bess has one weakness: she cannot abide injustice. And, unsurprisingly, examples of injustice keep popping up. Her current assignment is in forward nursing stations, where she works with her compatriots to do triage, dealing with those who need immediate care to survive. In her current posting,she is approached by the orderly who keeps the morgue organized with a problem: he has one body extra. Pushed into the section for influenza deaths, he presents a problem: his neck has been broken and is missing ID information. Bess’ immediate response to the problem—to report it to the Matron—falls apart when she collapses with the flu. When she returns from convalescing, the orderly is dead—apparently a suicide. This book is predictable in a couple of ways: Bess, faced with decisions, almost always takes the more dangerous path; potential romantic options remains the path untaken. On the positive side, the plots is complex and engaging, the secondary characters are also engaging. If you’re not terribly familiar with English countryside, keep a map open so you can follow the mad dashes to and fro.

I find this series to be great to carting around with me to my kids events. They are enjoyable books that I am interested in finishing. I can pick them up and enjoy them but they aren't put your life on hold books. I enjoy the plots and they are too simplistic, but they are straightforward enough to read on the go. I really, really enjoy the characters, they are by far my favorite part of the series. They are a fun read that will take you into another place and time. The weakest part of these books are the resolutions, so if you are a die hard mystery fan these might not be the books for you. If you are a historical fiction fan who enjoys a "gentle mystery" these would be a great read for you!

Once again WWI nurse Bess Crawford is presented with a dead body and a mystery to solve. And once again her involvement has put her life in jeopardy. Yes, this is a pattern of risky behaviour, but that's what it's all about. Besides, she is working at the Front, during an influenza epidemic. Everyone's life is in danger.In this book another possible love interest is introduced. Of course, Bess is far to busy with her nursing duties and with solving a murder to entertain any thoughts of romance.The writing is superb. The authors take the reader directly into the action and you are transported back to a time in the world's history that one should never forget.This is so much more than a fluffy romance.I highly recommend this book and others in the series.

Another great book in the Bess Crawford Mystery series. I really enjoy this series about a young woman, Bess, who is a nurse in WWI. She's also quite the sleuth in her spare time. The stories are unusual and the setting of WWI is powerful. If you have ever been to England you will know that the country is just covered with memorials to WWI. That country was decimated of its young men during the horrible war. This series of books really helps you to understand that loss. The war went on and on and on until they thought there would be nobody left to fight. This book in the series is again excellent. A good whodunit mixed in with some important history. Highly recommend.

The year is 1918 and the Spanish flu epidemic is rampaging, killing both soldiers and civilians. Battlefield nurse Bess Crawford and the rest of the nurses and doctors are swamped with patients. But, then Bess discovers that among the dead bodies are the body of a murdered officer that used to serve in her father's former regiment. However, she falls ill in the terrible flu herself before she can report it...The Bess Crawford series has quickly become a favorite of mine. One of the reason is that I find Bess Crawford to be a competent young woman that happens to stumble over problems now and then. Like this time where she must find out who killed an officer that she knew and respected. But, she has also just been terribly ill, the body of the dead man is buried and the only other witness to it has hanged himself. So, there isn't much to go on. But, she won't give up, and luckily she has Simon Brandon and Captain Barclay, a Yankee with a poor knee to help her.This is the first book in this series that I just couldn't find myself really engrossed with. It could be because of the absence of my favorite Aussie, but I think that most of the problem lies in the fact that the case just doesn't draw me in. I don't say that the book was bad, it was just not memorable. I definitely felt that when I started to write the review and for a moment was at loss to why the man, in the beginning, was killed. The conclusion of the book was just not that thrilling.Thankfully, Bess makes this book worth the while, she is still a strong and interesting character despite the rather lackluster storyline. There are those that favor a romantic relationship between her and Simon, but I just don't see it. For me, he is an older brother. Then again, this may because I have already in my mind a perfect candidate for her heart. And, that's Sergeant Larimore who is mostly tragically absent from this book. The books most precious parts are when she arrives back in France and he is there to greet her and Bess learning that he is the one that alerted Bess mother that she was ill.

Here's a book that I started and finished in less than 48 hours. I was hooked right from the start and couldn't put it down. Bess Crawford is a nurse in France in the spring of 1918 and not only does she have to look after the wounded, she and the other sisters at the aid station where she is based, have to fight the Spanish influenza which is killing more and more patients. Exhausted and on the brink of collapse she is asked to come to the shed where the corpses are laid down. A little like in the famous brother Cadfael 'One corpse too many', Private Wilson, in charge of the disposing of dead bodies, has also found there is one corpse too many among his 'charges'. Bess recognizes the victim, a major Carson whose neck has been broken but she won't be able to do anything about solving this mystery as she is struck down by the influenza and soon fighting for her life. A few weeks later, when she is finally getting better she is told that private Wilson committed suicide on that same night and so, she is the only person alive to know that something terribly wrong happened and the only one who has seen the body. It is a very interesting premise and the rest of the book doesn't disappoint. I couldn't tear myself from the pages. I must say that the end is somewhat rushed and that there is a good amount that is simply implausible but in a way, I couldn't care less as I was so charmed and entertained by the whole that I was more than prepared to overlook these faults. I certainly shall be reading more of sister Crawford!

The concept of this series is excellent. Bess Crawford, English nurse working close to the Front during the Great War, turns detective. Among the many war-dead she finds the corpse of a Major known to her and her family who, it seems, has not died of battlefield wounds but has been murdered.Yes, the concept is appealing and a great sales-pitch on the part of the author(s) and publisher.'An Unmarked Grave', however, is a second-rate mystery. There are no great twists or surprises in the plot which you expect in a murder mystery. The protagonist and narrator, Bess, is, on the whole, a rather flat character and the writers have not developed her potential as much as they should have done. The prose is uninspired and there is little period or battlefield atmosphere. The best I can say about it is that it is easy to read and inoffensive.

I have read almost all of the output of the Charles Todd family partnership and rate their works very highly. This is the first of their books i have reservations about.It is as always very well written( apart from the use of the word "she" in the presence of the older woman to whom it refers - cat's mother and all that, just wouldn't be done, must email them), and an enjoyable journey. It just didnt have the depth that the Todd books usually have and the laws of detective fiction were torn up and flung to the four winds. The last few chapters wherein the solution was revealed could have come from a different book and one would have needed psychic powers to forsee the outcome.Despite that, still reccommended as an entertaining read but dont waste the little grey celks trying to work out the answer.

I think I have read all of 'Charles Todd's' books and have been intrigued by them. I do think I prefer the Bess Crawford series, even though they are sometimes uncomfortable to accept. I am very interested in the period just after WW1, my own father was a young man in the trenches from 1914 - 1918, remaining in the army for some years after. He married late in life and never spoke of his army years. The insight shown by the authors for their characters make their books more than a mystery these are in my view exceptional novels.