A Bitter Truth

A Bitter Truth
By Charles Todd
William Morrow, 2011. 340 pgs. Mystery

Bess Crawford is home for Christmas, on leave from her nursing duties in France during World War I. Upon arriving to her flat in London, Bess finds a young woman huddled in the doorstep with a significant bruise on her face. Bess takes the woman in and lands herself in the middle of a family drama concerning a deceased younger sister and a lookalike child in France, along with becoming a suspect in a murder. Bess’s investigation takes her back to France and the many orphanages there, but she receives help from a handsome Australian soldier. Even though I find Todd’s Ian Rutledge series superior, fans of Bess and this series will enjoy this current entry (and the Australian soldier).

MN