Order of Charles Todd Books
Charles Todd is a pseudonym used by the mother-and-son writing duo of American authors Caroline and Charles Todd. Their main series features Inspector Ian Rutledge, an English detective working in Scotland Yard during post-WWI England. Their other characters include Francesca Hatton and Bess Crawford. Sadly, Caroline passed away in 2021, but her legacy lives on in the characters her son Charles continues to write for.
Charles Todd published his first novel in 1996, titled A Test of Wills. Below is a list of Charles Todd’s books in order of when they were originally released:
Get notified when Charles Todd releases a new book at BookNotification.com.
Publication Order of Inspector Ian Rutledge Books
Publication Order of Bess Crawford Books
| A Duty to the Dead | (2009) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Girl on the Beach | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| An Impartial Witness | (2010) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Bitter Truth | (2011) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| An Unmarked Grave | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Question of Honor | (2013) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| An Unwilling Accomplice | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Maharani's Pearls | (2014) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Pattern of Lies | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Shattered Tree | (2016) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Casualty of War | (2017) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Forgotten Place | (2018) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Cruel Deception | (2019) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Hanging at Dawn | (2020) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| An Irish Hostage | (2021) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| The Cliff's Edge | (2023) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
| The Murder Stone | (2003) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas
| The Walnut Tree | (2012) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
| A Guid Soldier | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Short Story Collections
| Tales | (2015) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com |
Publication Order of Mysterious Profiles Books
Publication Order of Bibliomysteries Books
Chronological Order of Bibliomysteries Books
Publication Order of Music and Murder Mystery Books
| Hotel California | (2022) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Thriller | (2023) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Back in Black | (2024) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Bat Out of Hell | (2025) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
| Bat Out of Hell | (2025) | Description / Buy at Amazon.com | ||
+ Show All Books in this Series | ||||
Publication Order of Anthologies
If You Like Charles Todd Books, You’ll Love…
Charles Todd Synopses: In A Test of Wills by Charles Todd (book 1 of the Inspector Ian Rutledge series), while investigating the apparent murder of a well-known army colonel by a decorated war hero with ties to the Royal Family, the shell-shocked Rutledge struggles to maintain his fragile sanity.
In Wings of Fire by Charles Todd (book 2 of the Ian Rutledge series), Inspector Ian Rutledge is assigned to investigate the sudden deaths of three members of the same prominent Cornwall family. However, the World War I veteran quickly realizes that this case is not typical. Including the identity of one of the dead, O.A. Manning, a reclusive spinster whose war poetry helped Rutledge keep his sanity in the French trenches. Rutledge is driven to discover the haunting truths of murder and madness rooted in a family crypt, guided by the voice of Hamish, the Scot he unwillingly executed on the battlefield.
Search the Dark by Charles Todd is the third book in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series. Inspector Rutledge is brought to the charming Dorset town of Singleton Magna by a missing woman and two children, where the truth is buried with the dead. The primary suspect is a tortured veteran whose family was killed in an enemy bombing. Rutledge continues to look for the real killer despite his doubts. His search also leads him into the private lives of Londoners and Dorsetians whose privileged positions and private passions give them every reason to stop him when another body is discovered in the lush Dorset earth. A murderer is being guarded by someone. Additionally, two children are in the dark somewhere out there…
Legacy of the Dead is the fourth book in Charles Todd’s Inspector Ian Rutledge series. Although Eleanor Gray’s weathered remains were discovered on a Scottish mountainside, Eleanor’s mother, Lady Maude Gray, must be handled with care. This isn’t the only ground that Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge needs to be careful of, as the case will soon take him to Scotland, where a lot of Rutledge’s ghosts are afraid to go. However, the greatest risk will come from an unanticipated encounter.
Rutledge will discover in Scotland that the young mother who is accused of killing Eleanor Gray is a woman he owes a great debt. In addition, the harrowing journey he takes to discover the truth will take him back through the blazes of his past and into secrets that continue to hold the power to kill.
Watchers of Time by Charles Todd is book 5 in the Inspector Rutledge series. After administering a dying man’s last rites, a priest is brutally killed in a swampy Norfolk backwater. It appears to be a straightforward case for Scotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge, an ex-officer still recovering from war trauma. However, the Inspector discovers secrets that the local authorities would rather not be investigated. In order to piece together a chain of events that extends from the gloomy marshes to one of the greatest sea disasters in history—the Titanic’s sinking—Rutledge removes layers of deception. Who is the enigmatic individual who may have boarded that ship and who is the secretive individual who was able to survive it? Those inquiries are best answered by Rutledge alone. and stop a killer who won’t stop until they kill you again.
All Charles Todd books are a wonderful read and especially to me as I was stationed in England for three years. It is neat to read about some of the places I visited during my time in England. I have read thirty-seven books by the mother and son, Charles Todd, and loved them all.
Also, I just wanted to mention, that Peter Robinson, Chief Inspector DCI Banks series is a pretty good read, set in England also.
I’ve really enjoyed reading the Ian Rutledge series. There’s just something about the good writing and visuals that just carry you along, the time that the stories are set in after the first world war, the suffering of the soldiers both on the battlefield and when they returned home, shell shocked only to receive public scorn and embarrassment, and the weaving of all this into the story of a person trying to get their life in order again. As much as I enjoy the books, I do agree with one of the comments that a couple of the books ended so abruptly, that the reader was left hanging. I wrote to the writers, asking them to understand that as readers, we form attachments to the characters in the book, when the story ends so abruptly, even though we might be able to figure out what happened, it leaves the reader hanging and doesn’t bring the closure on importance points of the lives of these characters. I also caught the fact that it should be milk and not cream!
I am totally hooked on Ian Rutledge as I have listened to to the first four books on Audible. I have been flummoxed, however, by two anachronisms. No-one in 1919 England would have used the word ‘gotten’ (nor in 2018 hopefully). Nor would any lady have asked a guest whether they took ‘cream’ in their tea. Milk is our additive. Now I see the authors are American and all is explained. Apart from those two things I would never have guessed.
Love Charles Todd’s new book, A Casualty of War! Going through a difficult time and this book helped me to escape for a while.I’m hoping that Bess Crawford and Simon Brandon get together soon.I think he’s always loved her! Great writing without obscenity.
To Cody Cat…If Gale read carefully, Inspector Rutledge spelled the whole story out in his notes for Scotland Yard.
Great stories.
Charles Todd is my top read – it use to be Ruth Rendell – then I met her – shame – though the books were great – with Charles Todd I ensure I have the hardbacks on order for dispatch on Pub date – shame CT hasn’t a big impact on the New Zealand market :-((( – am eagerly awaiting the new book this month – WOW !!!!
Gale, I don’t think it’s very kind to tell others the ending of novels, even if you’re not sure of the outcome. Bad form, particularly among avid readers.
I just completed “Legacy of the Dead” and was a little surprised at the ending that left the reader hanging with questions of the health of inspector Rutledge, what happened to Fiona, young Ian and his future with Ian’s Godfather. None of the other books I have read have ended like this. I was hoping that the next book would possibly start out with Rutledge’s recovery and ending the story that so abruptly ended in Legacy. I got “Watchers of Time” from the local library and discovered that I already read this book with no completion of Legacy Help!!