Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford

Inspector Ian Rutledge and Nurse Bess Crawford are featured in this mini-anthology of “who-done-it’s”! Short, page-turning, andgripping adventures await the reader. Great reads for those rainy times… a cup of tea, biscuits, and a warm throw is all you need to enjoy!

I just love Charles Todd's writing - History, good characters, well written, literate, engaging stories. These feel like little asides from the novels and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

I enjoyed these stories immensely. They help fill in the backstories of Rutledge and Crawford, are quick reads, and as always, the writing is most engaging. I would like to see more of these little gems.

I did like the two Rutledge short stories. They were hardly memorable short stories, but they were entertaining. ``The Kidnapping``is far too short but it has some classic detective story elements that made it worthwhile reading. Rutledge is on the late shift in this story and unravels the mystery in mere hours. ``Cold Comfort`` is set in World War I and is extremely short given the plot involved. I wish the author had spent more time developing the minor characters, but I did feel like the murder plot involved is fairly realistic. Rutledge`s strengths are on display, but also his weakness of jumping too quickly into risky situations when the need is pressing. In other words, Rutledge is relatable.I have not read any of the Bess Crawford series yet. Two of the short stories in this collection feature her. I think the beach short story could have been far longer and more developed. The interactions with the police constable are enjoyable, but I didn`t quite get a sense of Bess as a character yet, and the murder is not very convincing. I will say that a fan of Bess might get a different experience from the stories.This book is not a bad bargain for the fan of Todd`s characters though.

Mother-son writing team "Charles Todd" has published a very good marketing tool for their faithful readers, "Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford". The book consists of four short stories - two for each character - as well as an "sneak peek" at the new Bess Crawford book, "A Pattern of Lies", due out in August, 2015. The four short stories take up 67% of the book; the excerpt is the final third of the book. (Don't you just love ebooks?)I had read all four short stories before and they are a pretty good introduction to the two characters. In one, "Cold Comfort", a new reader to the series meets Ian Rutledge and Cpl Hamish MacLeod, the good soldier Rutledge was forced to shoot for insubordination and whose haunting "voice" Rutledge carries with him after the war. The other story is about a crime/kidnapping Rutledge solves after the war when he's back at Scotland Yard. The two Bess Crawford stories are similar. One introduces Bess as a child living with her parents in India and the other takes place during her wartime nursing service.I've been reading "Charles Todd" since their first book, which I think was Inspector Rutledge. The two series take place at just slightly different times; Inspector Rutledge is written in post-WW1 England (with flash backs to wartime and before-the-war), while Bess Crawford is written during the Great War with occasional flashbacks. I keep waiting for the two series to merge somehow; there is one character who is the same in both books - Melinda Crawford.So, if you're looking for a bit of "Charles Todd", as well as jump on the new novel, by all means buy this Kindle ebook. If you've already read the four stories and it's after the new novel has been published, then I think you can pass on this ebook.

These short stories whetted my appetite to read more books by this writer. Wonderful characters and a fascinating look at the World War 1 era.

For fans of Ian Rutledge and the Bess Crawford series these will add some interest. If you are not a fan already they will show you what you are missing.

Tales include 2 short stories each from the Bess Crawford & Ian Rutledge series. All are obviously short, but fit well with the characters from the novels. I don’t usually enjoy short stories, but already knowing the characters is a bonus. It was interesting & enjoyable to know the chapters, but see them in a different way/setting, especially Bess Crawford as a child.

Very satisfying book of short stories. I love these characters and enjoyed this book very much. A good book to have on hand when you don't have a lot of time to read a full book. These stories are short but very well done!!

Excellent as usual

Nice stories. Gave me an appetite to read more. Waiting for the next Bess Crawford

So convenient to have in my Ipad

Nice balance of Rutledge & Bess Crawford. Great book to have when travelling because short stories. Wished there was another short rather and first two chapters of new book as I had already bought the book and read it so that was wasted on me.