The Black Ascot, Todd - B -

                                                This is the 21st novel in the Ian Rutledge series and sadly, it is not up to par. Rutledge is tasked with looking  into a fatal motorcar accident that had taken place over a decade ago.  The cast of characters have all survived the war, some better than others, but all changed. The authors always superbly depict the England of a century ago through the eyes of the battered psyche of the shell-shocked Rutledge. They detail the impact of the war on a society that never comes to grip with the horror that consumed them.  Occasionally, they stumble with a weak mystery, and that is the case here. That said, this remains a favorite series.