An Irish Hostage: A Bess Crawford Mystery

Set in 1919, this subpar 12th Bess Crawford mystery (after Mary Higgins Clark Award–winner Todd’s 2019’s A Cruel Deception) takes Bess, who served as a British army nurse during WWI, to Ireland to attend the wedding of Eileen Flynn, a nurse whose life she saved at the war’s start. Upon arriving in Eileen’s village, Bess discovers that her friend’s fiancé, Michael Sullivan, an Irishman who fought for England during the war, has disappeared, but it’s not clear who might have abducted him, or if he’s even still alive. Bess gets a mixed reception from the locals, many of whom are openly hostile to her as an Englishwoman and regard Michael’s choice to aid Britain as traitorous. The capable nurse ends up with a murder to solve as well. Todd (the pen name of mother-son team Caroline and Charles Todd) normally has a steady hand at creating solid characters, but doesn’t do so with the Irish who are seeking independence, and the whodunit is less gripping than usual. In addition, Bess acting as an amateur sleuth in peacetime makes it harder to suspend disbelief. Todd is capable of better. Agent: Lisa Gallagher, DeFiore and Co. (July)