The Death Of Edith Todd

When Edith Todd is struck down in a hit-and-run incident on a stormy November evening in 1999, police assume her death is an accident. But her neighbour Beth Langille knows better. As captain of the local Block Watch, Edith was straightlaced and nosy, making many enemies while she attempted to thwart local criminals. Now, Beth must start her own investigation after police write her off as just another busybody. Beth’s suspicions grow when she learns about an old locket found under Edith’s garage just before she died—a locket that belonged to a woman who went missing in the sixties. Could Edith’s death have something to do with the missing Emma Mahoney? Or was she perhaps targeted by a former-neighbour’s con-artist nephew intent on stealing his uncle’s fortune? Though her work as an infection control nurse requires sleuth-like abilities, Beth recognizes she needs helps and enlists the services of a former policeman, Cameron Ross. But with his mind fixed on solving Emma Mahoney’s cold case, will Beth be able to find justice for Edith?

When Edith Todd is struck down in a hit-and-run incident on a stormy November evening in 1999, police assume her death is an accident. But her neighbour Beth Langille knows better. As captain of the local Block Watch, Edith was straightlaced and nosy, making many enemies while she attempted to thwart local criminals. Now, Beth must start her own investigation after police write her off as just another busybody. Beth’s suspicions grow when she learns about an old locket found under Edith’s garage just before she died—a locket that belonged to a woman who went missing in the sixties. Could Edith’s death have something to do with the missing Emma Mahoney? Or was she perhaps targeted by a former-neighbour’s con-artist nephew intent on stealing his uncle’s fortune? Though her work as an infection control nurse requires sleuth-like abilities, Beth recognizes she needs help and enlists the services of a former policeman, Cameron Ross. But with his mind fixed on solving Emma Mahoney’s cold case, will Beth be able to find justice for Edith?

On a chilly Monday morning in 1935, a young maid opened the garage door of a Southern California seaside villa onto a grim scene. Her employer, a popular motion picture comedienne, lay dead in the front seat of her expensive automobile. Within hours, the news of Thelma Todd's death was making headlines throughout the nation. Was it murder, suicide, or accident? Cast against the background of Hollywood and Los Angeles, the film industry and the growing metropolis, her death baffled both the public and the investigating authorities. After numerous attempts to solve the mystery over the last eighty years, a powerful mythology remains, obscuring the facts of the case as well as the character of Thelma herself. For the first time, however, the mystery of Thelma Todd's death will unfold as it originally did in 1935. Not only does Testimony of a Death narrate the events of that December but it also explores the forces and personalities central to the tragedy. The book examines the various contexts of Todd's death, including the motion picture business in its Golden Age and the city of Los Angeles hovering on the verge of its greatness. It looks beyond the legends and distortions to the darker reality that lies beneath the myths.

“Another winner....Todd again excels at vivid atmosphere and the effects of war in this specific time and place. Grade: A.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer “Readers who can’t get enough of Maisie Dobbs, the intrepid World War I battlefield nurse in Jacqueline Winspear’s novels…are bound to be caught up in the adventures of Bess Crawford.” —New York Times Book Review Charles Todd, author of the resoundingly acclaimed Ian Rutledge crime novels (“One of the best historical series being written today” —Washington Post Book World) debuts an exceptional new protagonist, World War I nurse Bess Crawford, in A Duty to the Dead. A gripping tale of perilous obligations and dark family secrets in the shadows of a nightmarish time of global conflict, A Duty to the Dead is rich in suspense, surprise, and the impeccable period atmosphere that has become a Charles Todd trademark.

“Todd has written a first novel that speaks out, urgently and compassionately, for a long-dead generation….A meticulously wrought puzzle.” —New York Times Book Review “An intricately plotted mystery. With this remarkable debut, Charles Todd breaks new ground in the historical crime novel.” —Peter Lovesey, author of The Circle “You’re going to love Todd.” —Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly The first novel to feature war-damaged Scotland Yard inspector Ian Rutledge, A Test of Wills is the book that brought author Charles Todd into the spotlight. This Edgar® and Anthony Award-nominated, New York Times Notable mystery brilliantly evokes post-World War I Great Britain and introduces readers to one of crime fiction’s most compelling series protagonists. Here the shell-shocked Rutledge struggles to retain his fragile grip on sanity while investigating the death of a popular army colonel, murdered, it appears, by a decorated war hero with ties to the Royal Family. A phenomenal writer, a twisting puzzle, a character-rich re-creation of an extraordinary time and place…it all adds up to one exceptional read that will delight fans of Elizabeth George, Martha Grimes, Jacqueline Winspear, Ruth Rendell, and other masters of the British procedural.