The Red Door rounds out a full dozen in the Ian Rutledge mystery series penned by Charles Todd (the mother-son writing team of Caroline and Charles Todd). For readers unfamiliar with them, the books follow a Scotland Yard inspector — a World War I vet whose emotional battle scars run deep — on investigations throughout England in the post-war years. The Washington Post long ago called them “one of the best historical series being written today,” and it’s tough to disagree.
I had the opportunity to interview the Todds about the previous — and very fine — book in the series, A Matter of Justice. (See that interview here.) And this latest novel is earning widespread praise as well. The title refers to the color that Florence Teller painted the front door to welcome home her husband after the Armistice was signed. He never arrived; two years later, she was dead; and Rutledge finds himself on the case. In her most recent crime column “Blood Ties,” New York Times critic Marilyn Stasio wrote that the authors “keep finding new ways to gauge the emotional effects of war on the living and the half-dead” and that this time they’re reminding us “of the women who stood waiting for the men who went away.”
If you haven’t yet read this series — or if you’re already a fan and just eager for the next installment — here’s your chance. The third person to email me at Me**********@gm***.com earns a free copy. Just say “I want to open the red door.” If you win, I’ll get mailing/address information later — and handle all postage/handling as well.
And for more historical fiction, tune in next week when I interview a Virginia author currently touting the republication of the first in his own series of historical mysteries.
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