New York Times bestselling author Charles Todd takes readers into
Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge's past--to his perplexing final
case before the outbreak of World War I.
On a fine summer's day in June, 1914, Ian Rutledge pays little notice to
the assassination of an archduke in Sarajevo. An Inspector at Scotland
Yard, he is planning to propose to the woman whom he deeply loves,
despite intimations from friends and family that she may not be the
wisest choice.
To the north on this warm and gentle day, another man in love--a
Scottish Highlander--shows his own dear girl the house he will build for
her in September. While back in England, a son awaits the undertaker in
the wake of his widowed mother's death. This death will set off a series
of murders across England, seemingly unconnected, that Rutledge will
race to solve in the weeks before the fateful declaration in August that
will forever transform his world.
As the clouds of war gather on the horizon, all of Britain wonders and
waits. With every moment at stake, Rutledge sets out to right a
wrong--an odyssey that will eventually force him to choose between the
Yard and his country, between love and duty, and between honor and
truth.