World War I Battlefield nurse Bess Crawford’s career is in jeopardy when a murder is committed on her watch, in this absorbing and atmospheric historical mystery from New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd.
Home on leave, Bess Crawford is asked to accompany a wounded soldier confined to a wheelchair to Buckingham Palace, where he’s to be decorated by the King. The next morning when Bess goes to collect Wilkins, he has vanished. Both the Army and the nursing service hold Bess negligent for losing the war hero, and there will be an inquiry.
Then comes disturbing word from the Shropshire police, complicating the already difficult situation: Wilkins has been spotted, and he’s killed a man. If Bess is to save her own reputation, she must find Wilkins and uncover the truth. But the elusive soldier has disappeared again and even the Shropshire police have lost him. Suddenly, the moral implications of what has happened—that a patient in her charge has committed murder—become more important to Bess than her own future. She’s going to solve this mysterious puzzle, but righting an injustice and saving her honor may just cost Bess her life.
World War I battlefield nurse Bess Crawford's career and life are in jeopardy when a murder is committed on her watch.
Arriving in London on leave, Bess Crawford receives an unusual summons from the War Office. She's to accompany a wounded soldier from a northern clinic, Sergeant Jason Wilkins, to Buckingham Palace. Confined to a wheelchair, the soldier will be in her care for barely a day. But the morning after the ceremony, Wilkins is missing. Bess is blamed for losing the war hero.
More disturbing news complicates her difficult situation! The Army considers Wilkins a deserter, and Scotland Yard questions her when Wilkins is suspected of killing a man.
If Bess is to clear her name, she must prove that she was never his accomplice. But the sergeant has disappeared yet again. Carefully questioning unhelpful villagers, Bess and her friend, Simon, follow a trail of clues across England. But will uncovering the truth and saving her honor put more innocent people in jeopardy?
"Bess is a character with depth and complexity, an army nurse during that awful war, so, like that series, not only intricate mysteries but engrossing historical fiction.'
