An Unwilling Accomplice (Bess Crawford Mysteries, 6) Hardcover – August 12, 2014

I found this novel a great entry in the Bess Crawford series!! Although it was a bit confusing at times, it was untimely a great read. I enjoyed the complex mystery and the multiple men that Bess and Simon seemed to be chasing around the Dysoes. I would have enjoyed it better if there had been more clarity in the characters that they were encountering in these towns. And more of the scenes of the aid stations in France. Over all though, a great read.

This book finds Bess back in England to accompany a seriously wounded soldier who is being awarded a medal by the king. All goes well until he disappears and is later identified as the culprit in a murder case. Of course, Bess is driven to find out what has happened to cause a war hero to go awol and turn killer, and she must clear up the mystery to repair the damage to her nursing record. The plot gets convoluted, with some redundancies that are pretty far fetched, and is not up to Charles Todd's usual standards, but Bess and Simon are as enjoyable as ever, and the other characters are interesting and well defined. Like many other readers, I am getting impatient to see some progress in the relationship between Bess and Simon. This guy is too good for Bess to allow him to get away, and if the writers don't bring these two together I will refuse to read another of their books. I have already given up on the Inspector Rutledge series, which has gone from intriguing to bogged down. It is frustrating when a book keeps going over the same depressing ground again and again with no end in sight. I give this four stars for the characters and the writing style, but three and a half might have been more accurate. I would recommend this to anyone who is already invested in the series, but don't begin reading the series with this book

I've long been a fan of Charles Todd's Bess Crawford series, and this book has a truly intriguing mystery. First of all, how did a man confined to a wheelchair manage to vanish without a trace? Secondly, how could he have committed murder? And why? This plot really had my deductive juices flowing.Unfortunately An Unwilling Accomplice is probably the weakest book in the series, and it has everything to do with its too-large cast and its very uneven pacing. The story is good for showing readers just how determined (or stubborn) Bess Crawford is and how seriously she takes her profession. She becomes obsessed with finding out what happened and risks getting into even more trouble with the Army and the nursing service.But the pacing of this book is almost its undoing. For much of the time the story drags out interminably, adding many secondary characters who are easy to confuse. Just when I would wonder if anything significant were ever going to happen-- BAM!-- the pace would click into breakneck speed for a bit before slowing back down to a crawl. It's a shame because-- as I've already said-- the mystery is a good one.I'm still far from tiring of Bess Crawford, and it's the autumn of 1918. What is she going to do once World War I is at an end? I look forward to what Charles Todd may have in store for us.

I actually found several of the series at a thrift store but two were missing so I ordered them on Amazon. Got them really quick and had them read in no time! Great author!

I always enjoying spending time with Bess and having Simon along was a bonus. The story is complicated but that didn't bother me as it did some others and I never had it figured out. I get frustrated because I want to know who did it but I never want to fast forward to the end because I enjoy the journey too much. They meet brick walls and people who insist on keeping secrets or people who just don't like them and don't want to be helpful. They do not get to their goal easily but it is a much more accurate representation of human nature and circumstances. Bess can sometimes seem a little wooden and I think they (the authors) loosened her up considerably in this book - Simon's presence helped. I just can't help but like her even when she seems a little stiff because she didn't have to join the war effort as a nurse, but she did and she is dedicated to the soldiers. I probably would have done 4.5 stars if I had that option because I was soooo disappointed that there was not a little something more substantial on the Bess and Simon front to give us all hope.

Bess, a military nurse in France in World War One, is asked to accompany a wounded soldier when he is presented with a medal for bravery by the king. Her assignment seems straight-forward: take care of the wounded vet, accompany him to the award ceremony, and then pass him off to another orderly the following morning. Since she can’t stay with him, she just checks him in after he spends the evening the friends, before returning in the morning to prepare him for his trip. However, instead of finding him in the room, she finds a pile of clothing under the covers and soon finds herself charged with failure to fulfill her duty. As she attempts to track him, she discovers that he has been linked to another murder and has once again disappeared. Refusing to accept this blemish on her record, she enlists the help of her father’s aide, and they begin to track across England to solve the mystery.This book, like the others in the series, is filled with detailed descriptions of the various settings—primarily in England. The Todd’s do a fine job portraying the characters, in particular that of Bess and her advisor/helper Simon. The plot is reasonably complex and engaging, but it not particularly a nail-biter. My reservation about this book is similar to that I’ve had before: the characters seem locked in place; they’re not dull, but they don’t see to be evolving. This is a fine, comfortable read, but it doesn’t seem dazzling. I don’t always know what the answer is, but I do feel like a know how Bess will find it.

As good as all the other Bess books (and Rutledge). Always leaves me wanting more. Excellent World War One atmosphere.

As an addict of Bess Crawford having read and enjoyed the whole series I was very disappointed in this book. Time for her to marry Simon and move on!!!

always enjoy this series of novels and this one did not disappoint.

Bess Crawford is on the whole an entertaining fictional character but without the depth of an Ian Rutledge.

This book was just okay. There is way too much "hither and thither" - deep into the deprivations of wartime, one has to wonder how Bess and Simon could afford to burn all of the "petrol" they do gallivanting around the countryside on their unofficial investigation - and there is no progression in their relationship (?) or characters. With the end of the war looming, one also has to wonder what will happen with Bess post-war. If this English-set mystery is indicative of the future, the series is not looking too interesting.