A Test of Wills

• Read: 1 Aug 2026 - 1 Sep 2026

• Author: Charles Todd

• Year: 1996

• Pages: 306

• Remarks: Ian Rutledge Series Book 1

• Synopsis:

  • In June 1919, Inspector Ian Rutledge of Scotland Yard was dispatched to a quiet Warwickshire village to investigate the brutal murder of Colonel Charles Harris. Still suffering from severe shell shock and haunted by the internal voice of a soldier he executed during the Great War, Rutledge was assigned to the complex case by a jealous superior who viewed him as a convenient scapegoat. As he navigated a web of local secrets, the fragile detective was forced to weigh conflicting testimonies from a decorated war hero and other villagers, while fighting to preserve his own sanity.

[1 Sep 2026] ‘A Test of Wills’ (1996), by Charles Todd.

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Reading Background:

• Between June and August 2026, I experienced something called "reader's burnout", where I lost interest in books I would normally enjoy. I tried reading books from the Harry Potter and Hercule Poirot Series, and I just felt lethargic after a few chapters. 

• Phy helped "diagnose" my problem, and suggested I do or read something entirely different for the time being, and I did! I started reading Chinese books on the Tang and Qing Dynasties, and in the process learnt the delights and frustrations of using NotebookLM (now called Gemini Notebook) to digitise, translate and create podcasts! Alas, the books were too long to finish (I tried to read them during our trip to CM Lijiang in late-May 2026), and I returned to mystery crime books.

• It was also Phy who recommended Todd's Ian Rutledge Series to me back in Mar 2024. I bought it, but didn't get far. Only now did I decide to give it another try.

• Also during the Singapore National Day weekend in early August 2026, G and I brought my parents to CM Bali together. Thought I would have more time for reading there haha, but we ended up going around so much (Mount Batur, Garuda Wisnu Kencana etc) that I was too exhausted to read! 

What I enjoyed about the book:

• The spotlight on post-war trauma and other mental health conditions.

  • This book is set in 1919, shortly after WWI. There are countless books set during or after wars which highlight the horrors and psychological impact of war, but this was my first encounter with a mystery crime book using post-war trauma as its backdrop.

  • I felt like I gained insight into how challenging life could be for war survivors. Some characters, especially the protagonist Rutledge, struggled with PTSD, some struggled to adjust back to civilian life, and some struggled with stigma. It was fascinating, yet sobering to think that war is still happening in many parts of the world today.  

• The well-crafted backstories of its characters.

  • I like that the backstories of the characters in the book were well-thought-out and solid, and if I were told that they and their stories were inspired by real personalities and events, I would have believed it.

  • I felt like I was not entirely focused on finding out who the murderer was, but rather on finding out more about the lives of Rutledge and the villagers of Upper Streetham - their love, happiness, sorrows, tragedy, courage, and all.

What I found less enjoyable about the book:

• The stalled pacing in the middle, and the abrupt conclusion at the end. 

  • The story built up nicely at the start, but soon its pacing stalled towards the middle of the book. I told Phy it felt like the stalemate and trench warfare of WWI, where things just went on and on tediously, with seemingly little progress and no end in sight. 

  • I understand that much of it was used to develop its characters and tell their backstories, but I felt a better balance could have been struck.  

  • The resolution felt very short and abrupt too. It felt like I had trudged up a hill for hours upon hours, only to be greeted by a sunset lasting a minute. Yes, it's still pretty, but damn, was it rather unsatisfactory. 

• The sheer number of characters, and the constant presence of Hamish.

  • I felt the book had too many characters. Though I understand the need for red herrings in a mystery crime book, the sheer number of characters in the book had me consulting the X-Ray function in Kindle to recap for myself who those characters were because I just couldn't remember them. Moreover, the book made little effort to lighten the cognitive load placed on its readers regarding its characters.

  • And while I appreciated the depiction of Rutledge's PTSD, the constant presence of Hamish felt quite distracting and confusing and served little purpose as a literary device.

My overall thoughts:

• This book was mid to slightly above average for me. I can usually get through mystery crime books smoothly, largely because of my curiosity to find out the identity of the perpetrators. However, I took a month to finish this 300-page book because I struggled with its pacing, feeling like I was stuck in a bog, and had to steel myself to press on till the end. What frustrated me also were my constant need to recap for myself who each of the characters were, and also the unsatisfactorily abrupt ending.

• That said, I admire Todd (Charles and his mother, the late Caroline) for highlighting the various impacts of war as this book's central theme, and the well-thought-out characters and their backstories (albeit too many of them). Also, despite bouncing their manuscript back and forth between mother and son, their work was tightly interwoven together, that one couldn't tell it was written by two authors!

• I am not giving up on this series yet, because there are still elements I really like about it, and also because I had bought all the ebooks in this series LOL. Looking forward to reading its second instalment (but maybe not immediately).

• P.S. I was telling Phy my thoughts about this book, and she said perhaps we're too used to fast-paced books. This got me reflecting about being so desensitised to our fast-paced environment and desire for efficiency (everything chop-chop done) and instant gratification, that I became frustrated with this 1990s book that tried to bring me on a slow journey to explore post-WWI life through its numerous characters. As G often reminded me, I should learn to be more patient heh.

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• Chapter 1

  • In June 1919, Colonel Charles Harris was murdered near Upper Streetham, Warwickshire. In London, Superintendent Bowles assigned Inspector Ian Rutledge, who suffered from severe shell shock and was haunted by Corporal Hamish MacLeod's voice, to investigate as a potential scapegoat. Rutledge drove to Warwickshire and met Sergeant Davies. The prime suspect was Captain Mark Wilton, a Victoria Cross recipient engaged to Harris's ward Lettice Wood following a quarrel at Mallows. Daniel Hickam, a shell-shocked witness, claimed to have seen Wilton holding Harris's horse shortly before the murder.

• Chapter 2

  • Sergeant Davies described finding Daniel Hickam sleeping beneath a tree. Rutledge and Davies visited Mallows to speak with Lettice Wood, who demanded her guardian's killer be hanged. Johnston the butler and maid Mary Satterthwaite described a fierce argument between Harris and Wilton over a wedding guest, which ended with Wilton storming out and Harris smashing his glass.

• Chapter 3

  • Rutledge visited Sally Davenant's home, where Mark Wilton was staying. Wilton admitted arguing with Harris about personal matters, but insisted he had taken a solitary walk to the mill ruins, meeting only a child who had lost her doll and Helena Sommers birdwatching. Laurence Royston, the estate manager, doubted Wilton's guilt and suggested local agitator Bert Mavers. In the village street, Hickam was seen directing imaginary traffic in a state of delusion.

• Chapter 4

  • Rutledge postponed questioning Hickam and consulted Dr Warren regarding Lettice's condition. Rutledge and Davies surveyed the meadow where Colonel Harris had fallen face down from his horse. Helena Sommers confirmed seeing Wilton walking towards the mill ruins around eight o'clock on the morning of the murder. Rutledge continued to struggle with his trauma and Hamish's voice.

• Chapter 5

  • Dr Warren alerted Rutledge to an enraged mob attempting to lynch Bert Mavers for praising the Colonel's death. Rutledge rescued Mavers and took him to the surgery, where Mavers claimed an alibi in the market square. Catherine Tarrant defended Wilton. At Mavers's cottage, Rutledge discovered an old shotgun leaning against the hearth.

• Chapter 6

  • Mavers claimed the shotgun had belonged to Sally Davenant's late husband. Rutledge found the weapon had been fired recently and confiscated it. Inspector Forrest produced witnesses confirming Mavers was in the market square throughout the morning. Reverend Carfield portrayed Harris as a strategic man with a troubled conscience. Late at night, a drunken Hickam told Rutledge he had heard Wilton vow to fight Harris every step of the way.

• Chapter 7

  • Hickam vanished again. Sergeant Davies verified Laurence Royston's alibi of a dental appointment in Warwick. Rutledge visited Helena Sommers and her timid cousin, Maggie Sommers. Hickam was admitted to the surgery following a near-fatal gin binge funded by money Rutledge had given him. Questioned again at Mallows, Lettice Wood acted defensively when Wilton's second meeting with Harris was mentioned.

• Chapter 8

  • Catherine Tarrant revealed that in 1917 Colonel Harris had thwarted her romance with a German prisoner, Rolf Linden, who later died in a camp. Royston showed Rutledge Harris's will leaving Mallows to Lettice. Rutledge found Lettice in a near-trance at Mallows, where she dissolved into hysterical laughter when Catherine's revenge motive was mentioned, prompting Rutledge to comfort her.

• Chapter 9

  • Dr Warren treated local patients, including four-year-old Lizzie Pinter, who suffered violent screaming fits near her father, Ted Pinter. At Mallows, Wilton arrived and exchanged a silent look of mutual understanding with Lettice. Lettice announced the wedding was cancelled due to mourning. That night, Rutledge suffered a terrifying flashback to executing Hamish MacLeod in France.

• Chapter 10

  • Rutledge and Inspector Forrest reviewed the suspects and discussed Reverend Carfield's hostility towards Catherine Tarrant. Mavers boasted that his public speeches might have inspired the killer. Helena Sommers reconfirmed seeing Wilton on his morning walk. Wilton joined Rutledge at the inn, admitting his meeting in the lane with Harris and reflecting on his own war exhaustion.

• Chapter 11

  • The Coroner's Inquest was formally adjourned at Scotland Yard's request. Enquiries at Warwick railway station showed no suspicious strangers had arrived. Sally Davenant denied knowledge of any pension paid to Mavers and suggested Wilton resented Harris's influence over Lettice. Rutledge re-examined the meadow and checked sightlines from the estate and church tower.

• Chapter 12

  • Lettice Wood spoke to Rutledge about ancient tests of guilt. Searching the meadow meticulously, Rutledge found a small wooden doll in a flowered gown hidden in the hedgerow, realising the child who had lost it was a key witness. Upon returning to his car, Rutledge discovered a tyre had been maliciously slashed.

• Chapter 13

  • Dr Warren directed Rutledge towards local children, and Wilton identified the doll as belonging to little Lizzie Pinter. Reverend Carfield insisted on holding the funeral reception at Mallows. Barton Redfern revealed Harris and Lettice had argued heatedly in the inn garden the Tuesday before the murder. Royston confirmed Sally Davenant had served as a wartime nurse.

• Chapter 14

  • Shopkeepers confirmed Mavers was visible in the High Street all morning. Courtesan Georgina Grayson showed Rutledge a note signed by Harris early on Monday resolving a tenant dispute. Wilton identified Lizzie Pinter, and Rutledge visited the cottage. When Ted Pinter entered, Lizzie suffered a screaming fit, leading Rutledge to advise keeping her father away from her.

• Chapter 15

  • Outside the lych-gate on Sunday morning, Bert Mavers launched a public tirade against congregants, exposing Royston's past car accident and accusing various locals of secrets. Wilton and Rutledge restrained him. Royston explained Harris had paid Mavers a pension out of guilt over family tragedies. Hickam recovered sufficiently to recall Harris telling Wilton he was calling off the wedding.

• Chapter 16

  • Rutledge realised Harris calling off the wedding gave Wilton a clear motive. Barton Redfern confirmed seeing Harris and Lettice arguing in the garden. Rutledge confronted Lettice at Mallows, and she admitted Harris intended to cancel the wedding, but she refused to believe Wilton was a murderer or to testify against him.

• Chapter 17

  • Rutledge assisted Catherine Tarrant when her bicycle broke down in the rain. Catherine admitted giving Hickam money out of anxiety for Wilton. Rutledge informed her he intended to arrest Wilton before the funeral. Rutledge went to Sally Davenant's house to execute the arrest, but Wilton was dining in Warwick, leaving word for a meeting at eight o'clock the next morning.

• Chapter 18

  • On Monday morning, Wilton requested a twenty-four-hour delay to attend Harris's funeral, promising not to flee. Rutledge agreed and notified Superintendent Bowles. Visiting the Pinter cottage again, Rutledge observed Lizzie embrace her father without fear, realising her initial terror stemmed from seeing Harris's headless corpse on horseback and mistaking it for her father.

• Chapter 19

  • Rutledge deduced Harris had been shot elsewhere before his horse bolted into the meadow. In the early hours of Tuesday, Rutledge returned to Mallows to press Lettice for the truth. Lettice confessed that she and Harris were passionately in love and had spent the night together, and that Harris had cancelled the wedding so they could be together permanently.

• Chapter 20

  • During Colonel Harris's funeral on Tuesday morning, Rutledge noticed Laurence Royston was absent and ran to the Sommers cottage. He found Royston severely wounded by axe strikes from Maggie Sommers. Maggie locked herself in a bedroom and died from a self-inflicted knife wound after confessing there was no cousin Helena; Maggie had created her out of grief after Royston, driving Harris's car years earlier, killed her sister Helena. Believing Harris was the driver, Maggie had taken Mavers's gun and shot Harris, only learning the truth when Royston confessed that morning. Rutledge saved Royston's life, cleared Wilton with Scotland Yard, and felt his sanity stabilizing.