A Question of Honor: Bess Crawford, Book 5

I enjoy these books by the writing duo Charles Todd. I like that they take place during WWI, that they are about a nurse from that war, and I like learning about that time period. This mystery starts when Bess Crawford was a young girl, being raised by her parents who were posted to India. One of the men under her father disappears after being accused of killing his parents and a family of 3 in England. Of course, the regiment looks for him but he can't be found, and is assumed to be dead.When Beth grows up and is working in the war, taking care of the wounded, she runs across this very man. She knows him from his treatment of her and others, and cannot believe he is capable of murder. So she starts looking into his background, while trying to decide whether to bring his existence to the knowledge of the authorities. In the process, she finds out about how badly many of the children who were sent home for education to England, were treated. This apparently happened to the missing man and his sister, and this provides information to Beth as to how this man was involved in the murders. But it also provides other possible suspects, and as Beth and her friend, Simon, look more deeply into these deaths, more deaths follow...making imperative that they figure out who did the original murders.It was funny, because just before reading this book I saw something in the history section of Pinterest about this very problem both in the U.S. and in England. Reading about this again made me go look up some of the history of what they called 'home children', children whose parents were overseas in the colonies who were sent home for an education. Most of the time, parents had no idea what was happening with their children...and the children were from the time period were taught not to complain or say anything. So many children were hurt, and some died from lack of care. The book incorporates Rudyard Kipling who was one of these children, and that explains some of his writings.The book was fine for the most part. As other reviews have said, some of the writing was repetitious, and I feel was done in order to lengthen the book. I don't think readers need to hear for the umpteenth time why the protagonist feels the need to keep explaining herself.This book by Todd wasn't as good as some of the other ones, where the writing is tighter...but it is still an enjoyable read.

This week my granddaughter asked me what I was reading. When I told her it was a mystery set during WWI she said "You always seem to be reading mysteries, Grandma." Hmmm, out of the mouths of babes. Guess my next book had better be a different genre to prove to her that I CAN read other things :)I have read most, if not all, of Charles Todd's--a mother-and-son writing team--books. Some have been very satisfying in that it was a gripping story, the clues well laid out but not too easy, the ending tidy but exciting. In the case of "A Question of Honor," the story was only semi-gripping for me. First, I have read all of the Bess Crawford books so I know the drill by now. She is a nurse during WWI, working in field hospitals in France, encountering people with strange stories to tell that necessitate her moving back and forth between France and England. Thus, the descriptions of the horrors of trench warfare and the aftermath get old after awhile. And there are plenty of such descriptions in each book.The books are written in the first person, by Bess; this fact may be why we only get a very narrow glimpse of the story, the mystery. It must unfold as she herself "sees" it. I understand that. But why she involved herself so deeply in this particular story, the story of a young Lieutenant accused of crimes in England and India who may or may not be dead, isn't quite believable to me. Perhaps because I am not a Colonel's daughter and so don't understand about regimental honor being passed on to the children of the commander. Once the action moved away from India and back to the day-to-day grind of the trenches and field hospitals, I was no longer "gripped" because I had read it so often before. I wanted the action to move faster and I also wanted, if possible to get into someone else's mind. Difficult to do with Bess being front and center all of the time.Basically, I would put this story into the Agatha Christie genre. It should really be the length of an Agatha Christie. It's not and I think that weakens it. Some of the sub-stories, particularly the one involving the ambulance driver, Teddy, should have been jettisoned as it doesn't really "go" anywhere and weakens the book's ending.Which is my last criterion for a good mystery, the ending. The device that Todd uses to tie things up--I won't detail it here as it would be a spoiler--is what I would call a "cop out." Part of the reason for that is that Bess is the narrator but, still, a writer as good as "Charles Todd" can get around that limitation. And I am disappointed that he didn't.After all that, however, if you like Agatha Christies, you will probably enjoy this. It IS a cut above a Christie, better written, better continuity. And despite what I have written, I did enjoy it and will indeed read the next Todd.

As usual I will give no synopsis since that is done in other places. I like this series. The heroine is empathetic, honorable, persistent and quite likeable--I know there are readers who disagree with that, but I do like her. The returning characters are human, but still the kind of people you would enjoy inviting into your home for an evening. If they weren't why would I want to spend several hours with them while supposedly reading for pleasure. A Question of Honor gives us more back story regarding Bess's early history and that of her family. The end of the war is getting close and I am getting impatient for her to realize that she is in love with a certain someone who always comes to her aid when she needs it, often going to extreme lengths to do so. If this series doesn't get these two together in the end I will be very disappointed. Bess is not a 21st century woman. It would be ridiculous to make her one, but she is independent and quite forward thinking for her time. This series allows us to see the changes brought about by WWI for both women and men without beating us over the head with it. A rare thing in modern literature. I would recommend this book for those who are looking for an easily read, historic mystery with tension, a satisfying ending and enjoyable characters.

In A Question of Honor, we start the story in India, 1908, where Bess as a child learns that Lieutenant Wade, a man in her father's regime has killed both his parents in India and three people in England, but he disappears before they catch him. And, he is presumed dead after a while when no traces of him are found. A decade later Bess learns from a dying man in France that Lieutenant Wade could be still alive...The previous book, An Unmarked Grave, was the first book in this series that I didn't find as excellent as the rest so I was hopeful that the next one would be better. And it was. The story in this book is more interesting and I found it hard to put the book down.The book is really intriguing to read. Bess is trying to find out if Lieutenant Wade still alive, and if he is what is he doing fighting in the front and was he really guilty of the crimes in India and England? Bess and Simon Brandon (he works for her father) is working together trying to find out the truth without involving Bess father, Colonel Crawford because the killing is still a stain on the Colonels regiment's reputation and Bess doesn't want to involve her father if it turns out that it Wade isn't alive. So, she travels to the village where the killing of a family took place and tries to find out more about the murdered family and the connection to Lieutenant Wade. But, that's not that easy, some people there are even quite hostile towards her. But, Bess won't give up.What I love about this book is that it's like a puzzle, you have to be patient, piece after piece is revealed during the progress of the story until the truth is revealed in the end. I also loved that my favorite Aussie, Sergeant Larimore made a cameo, although I wish he had a bigger part in the book. But still I love every mention of him in the books, like this one where she met him in France as she tends to wounded soldiers:"I was always happy to see this cheeky Australian. He had helped me once when I needed help desperately and I was fond of him. Dangerous to care about anyone in wartime, but still…"Looks like Bess is quite fond of Larimore as well! I must admit that I hope they will end up together. I just love every scene with them together.I recommend this series to anyone that likes to read historical mysteries, especially books that take place during WW1. I enjoy these books very much and every book can be read as a stand-alone.4.5 stars

'A question of honour' is rather disappointing if by no means unpleasant to read. When compared to the other novels featuring Bess Crawford there is a lack of finesse in the telling which is indeed surprising from authors who gave us much better before. The story is clumsily told and there's no mystery at all since we understand right from the start what feelings resurfaced in Wade when he was told of the death of little Alice, a fellow officer's little girl. Bess and Simon's subsequent discoveries seem to come at random when visiting the English village where Wade's own little sister died. It's just not convincing and I wish discoveries had stemmed logically from clues strewn intelligently here and there. The Todd team have to give a much higher standard next time if they don't want to lose some of their readership.

Good book, as all of his are.

A very good book as is the whole series. Lots of plots and detail about nursing in WW1.

Very enjoyable more please