Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge will return in 2020 when A Divided Loyalty, the latest offering from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd (the mother-son writing team of Charles and Caroline Todd), hits bookstores on February 4th.
Detective Ian Rutledge first appeared in the 1994 novel A Test of Wills and has since gone on to star in 21 books to date, anchoring one of the most acclaimed historical mystery series currently in print. Most recently, Rutledge was seen in Todd’s The Black Ascot, where he chased after Alan Barrington—one of the most wanted men in all of England for his role in a murder that took place during Black Ascot, the famous 1910 royal horse race meet honoring the late King Edward VII.
Now, in A Divided Loyalty, the twenty-second book in Todd’s series, Rutledge will take on “one of the most baffling investigations of his career,” which you can read all about below.
Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge is assigned one of the most baffling investigations of his career—a cold murder case with an unidentified victim and a cold trail with few clues to follow.
Chief Inspector Brian Leslie, a respected colleague of Ian Rutledge’s, is sent to Avebury, a village set inside a great prehistoric stone circle not far from Stonehenge.
A young woman has been murdered next to a mysterious, hooded, figure-like stone, but no one recognizes her—or admits to it. And how did she get there? Despite a thorough investigation, it appears that her killer has simply vanished.
Rutledge, returning from the conclusion of a case involving another apparently unknown woman, is asked to take a second look at Leslie’s inquiry, to see if he can identify this victim. But Rutledge is convinced Chief Superintendent Jameson only hopes to tarnish his earlier success once he also fails.
Where to begin? He too finds very little to go on in Avebury, slowly widening his search beyond the village—only to discover that unlikely—possibly even unreliable—clues are pointing him toward an impossible solution, one that will draw the wrath of the Yard down on him, and very likely see him dismissed if he pursues it. But what about the victim—what does he owe this tragic woman? Where must his loyalty lie?
Charles Todd is the New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge mysteries, the Bess Crawford mysteries, and two standalone novels. Among the honors accorded to the Ian Rutledge mysteries are the Barry Award and nominations for the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association’s Dilys Award, the Edgar and Anthony Awards in the U.S., and the John Creasey Award in the UK. A mother-and-son writing team, they live on the East Coast.
Readers hoping to pre-order A Divided Loyalty well ahead of its publication can now purchase the next Detective Rutledge novel wherever books are sold.
Praised as “One of the hardest working, most thoughtful, and fairest reviewers out there” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Ryan Steck has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). Steck also works full-time as a freelance editor and pens a monthly thriller column for CrimeReads. For more information, be sure to follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.