Family Secrets in an English Country Village

Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge interviews a dying man who confesses to a murder. Rutledge is intrigued and tries to find out more about the murder, but before he can, the young man himself is found floating in the Thames. When it becomes evident that the murdered man gave a false identity, Rutledge is assigned to investigate. The trail leads him to a small fishing village where the man grew up. The villagers are surly, clearly wanting Rutledge to go away. The reasons are unclear until Rutledge discovers that another murder was committed before WWI, or was it suicide?

I loved this book. I'm a fan of English mysteries and this is a good one. The plot is full of twists keeping the reader guessing the identity of the murderer until the very end. The book is filled with interesting characters and the scene is suitably forbidding. In addition to murder, the village has a secret that makes them shun outsiders.

I highly recommend this book if you like English mysteries. The unveiling of the connections between the characters keeps you turning the pages. All in all a very satisfactory mystery.

I reviewed this book as part of the Amazon Vine Program.