A Test of Wills, the first in a series of mysteries centering on the character Inspector Ian Rutledge—a man who is accompanied by what he perceives to be the mental presence of a man whom he wronged in the war.

The story takes place soon after World War One. It's well balanced between inner and outer struggles. Without giving anything away about what happens, it's clear that Inspector Rutledge's secret struggles are anything but irrelevant to the plot. It's a rare mystery that, after I finish it, makes me want to go back to the beginning of the book to savor what is revealed there in light of what comes later, as this one does.

There are ten volumes in the series to date....

Charles Todd's A Test of Wills, the first in a series of mysteries centering on the character Inspector Ian Rutledge—a man who is accompanied by what he perceives to be the mental presence of a man whom he wronged in the war.

The story takes place soon after World War One. It's well balanced between inner and outer struggles. Without giving anything away about what happens, it's clear that Inspector Rutledge's secret struggles are anything but irrelevant to the plot. It's a rare mystery that, after I finish it, makes me want to go back to the beginning of the book to savor what is revealed there in light of what comes later, as this one does.

There are ten volumes in the series to date:

• A Test of Wills (1996)
• Wings of Fire (1998)
• Search the Dark (1999)
• Legacy of the Dead (2000)
• Watchers of Time(2001)
• A Fearsome Doubt (2002)
• A Cold Treachery (2005)
• A Long Shadow (2006)
• A False Mirror (2007)
• A Pale Horse (2008)

An eleventh volume in the series, A Matter of Justice, is slated to come out in 2009. I have only read the first in the series, A Test of Wills, as I write this—I have just finished it—but I am eager for the next one to arrive in my hands.