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Book Summary and Reviews of The Red Door by Charles Todd

The Red Door by Charles Todd

The Red Door

An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery

by Charles Todd

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  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2010, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In a house with a red door lies the body of a woman who has been bludgeoned to death. Rumor has it that two years earlier, she'd painted that door to welcome her husband back from the Front. Only he never came home.

Meanwhile, in London, a man suffering from a mysterious illness first goes missing and then just as suddenly reappears. He is unable to explain his recovery. His family, supposedly searching for him, give conflicting accounts of where they were and why. What is the secret that nearly drove one man mad and turned his brothers and sister against one another with such unexpected savagery?

Inspector Ian Rutledge, drawn into both cases and facing a wall of silence, must solve two mysteries before he can bring a ruthless killer to justice: Who was the woman who lived and died behind the red door? Who was the man who never came home from the Great War, for the simple reason that he might never have gone? And what have they to do with a man who cannot break the seal of his own guilt without damning those he loves most?

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Once again Todd perfectly balance incisive portraits of all the characters...with a tricky puzzle..." - Publishers Weekly

"Recommended for Anglophiles who love cozy, historical mysteries with a detective who is bent but never completely broken." - Library Journal

"Departing from Rutledge's earlier cases, the caprices of fatherhood take precedence over the iniquities of war this time, with a subdued Hamish and an emotionally reawakening Rutledge along for the ride." - Kirkus Reviews

This information about The Red Door was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own reviewwrite your own review

dag

unfinished
After reading over 1/2 the book, I'm bored terribly. Alot of redundance, and just want the book to move forward. I've given up...and don't really care who has done the murder. (Very unlike me).

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Author Information

Charles Todd Author Biography

Caroline Todd died on August 28, 2021.

From the authors' website, 2018

Charles and Caroline Todd are a mother-and-son writing team who live on the east coast of the United States. Caroline has a BA in English Literature and History, and a Masters in International Relations. Charles has a BA in Communication Studies with an emphasis on Business Management, and a culinary arts degree that means he can boil more than water. Caroline has been married (to the same man) for umpteen years, and Charles is divorced.

Charles and Caroline have a rich storytelling heritage. Both spent many evenings on the porch listening to their fathers and grandfathers reminisce. And a maternal grandmother told marvelous ghost stories. This tradition allows them to write with passion about events before ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Charles Todd's Website

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