A Pattern of Lies (Bess Crawford Series #7)
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780062386250 |
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| Publisher: | HarperCollins Publishers |
| Publication date: | 04/12/2016 |
| Series: | Bess Crawford Series , #7 |
| Pages: | 352 |
| Sales rank: | 109,056 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.79(d) |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
A Pattern of Lies
4.1 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
10 reviews.
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In three weeks (2017 Christmas through last week), I read all eight books by Charles Todd (s) in the Bess series--one right after the other with no interruption.
I had never read a series (all eight published to date) in one time period. I learned a lot about how writers build each book in a series. The authors, when needing to repeat from former books, provided additional information or interpretation, generally making the repetition digestible. However, I got tired of people talking "wryly". I had interest in that the authors imagine a murder scene and then discover the murderer as they write.
The authors were able to adequately recreate the WWI environment for this series and use
actual events as themes, especially for "Pattern of Lies". There was some difference from book to book as to how compelling each book was. "A Pattern of Lies" was very good, but the next book (#8), Casualty of War",
was much better. Also, #1 in the series was excellent (about the son put into a psychiatric hospital), which is
what got me started on the series
The descriptions of English towns got boring and all the roving around England sometimes overwhelmed the story. I would limit the number of locations and the descriptions of the back and forth in countryside/small towns. Some books in the series were worse than others in its wandering throughout England.. Were English really so hostile to outsiders as indicated in these stories? It is not my experience traveling in the UK--but it was a different period then and a time of war.
Simon bothered me a bit--didn't seem real at times. I enjoyed many of the characters
who become mechanisms to push forward the solving the mystery/theme , i.e., the Austrailian. And,
there was some character development of main characters book to book--but I think the war would have had a greater impact on Bess as the series progressed.
I recommend the series.
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As if she didn’t have enough to keep her occupied with an endless number of casualties and influenza victims brought to her medical station on the Western Front as World War I drew to a close, Bess Crawford once again becomes involved in a mystery back in England. When she accompanies a group of the wounded to a Kent village she accidentally meets a former patient, Major Mark Ashton, who invites her to spend the night at his parents’ home while she awaits a delayed train to London.
There she learns of the family’s troubles, which began two years before when the family-owned powder mill exploded and burned to the round, killing about 100 men. A long delayed reaction in the village results in various acts against the Ashtons, ultimately resulting in the arrest of the father, Phillip. All kinds of nasty rumors float around the village and it remains for Bess, who seems to shuttle back and forth at will several times from France to Kent, to piece together the truth to help exonerate Mark’s father, who is blamed for the explosion.
The novel, like the previous ones written in the series by the mother and son team, is carefully plotted, and inhabited by a familiar cast (including Bess’ dad, the Colonel Sahib and his sergeant major, Simon Brandon, both of whom are well connected with the War Department), who contribute to her endeavors. The descriptions of the medical procedures and nursing on the battlefront are perceptive and the characterizations both at the front and back in Kent are perceptive and splendid.
Recommended.
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Not my favorite from these authors.
aj west
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Enjoyed this adventure! Couldn't put it down.
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Another thoroughly enjoyable read in the Bess Crawford mystery series.
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"Charles Todd" has created yet another fine book.
It gives a strong sense of time and place. I feel I have learned so much more about the realities of WWI reading this series than I ever got in school.
Bess Crawford the certainly the person anyone would want pulling for them. Or, conversely, as the evil doer, the person you least want involved.
She is conscientious and determined. She can be frightened, but not scared away.
Although the beginning idea is taken from an actual event, the story is, after all, fiction and looks into what might happen to a community after an horrific event like the explosion of a gunpowder factory. Especially during wartime.
It is marvelously done.
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Charles Todd returns with the latest (#7) in the Bess Crawford series - A Pattern of Lies.
Bess is a Sister with England's Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. She has served her country since the beginning of the war in both France and England. It's 1918 and the hope is that the War will soon be over.
A chance encounter on a leave plunges Bess into another mystery. (For in addition to being a stellar nurse, she's just as adept at solving mysteries) Mark Ashton, an officer and former patient invites Bess to his family home to visit with his mother. The family owns the Ashton Powder Mill in Kent - the scene of a horrific tragedy that killed over a hundred men. Ruled an accident by the Army, the villagers think differently. Bess is stunned by the hostility shown to the family. As the rancor - and the danger - rises, Bess agrees to see if she can help. There's a possible witness to the event that can clear patriarch Phillip Ashton's name - he's a tankman in France.
Oh, I just love this series! I think it's the slow, meticulous building of clues, the measured connecting together of pieces of information, observations and snippets of conversation. It's such a change from my usual fast paced murder and mayhem mysteries. The thoughtful, careful pacing of the book lets the reader settle in to relax, enjoy and travel back in time. Todd does a fantastic job of bringing the war and the time period to life. Descriptions of time and place generate vivid mental images. I really enjoy the glimpses into the war nurses' everyday lives. A sense of honour, duty, and loyalty is infused in the character and the plot, again underscoring the time period.
I like Bess - she's strong minded, strong willed, clever, caring and tenacious. Familiar supporting characters return - Bess's father, Colonel Sahib (I have such a strong mental image of this British officer who served in India with the Gurkha's), Simon and Sergeant Lassiter, a cheeky Australian officer who seems quite fond of Bess. There is attraction between Bess and the two men - I often speculate which one will be her choice. (The Aussie would be mine!)
As the war is drawing to an end, I wonder where Todd will take this series in peacetime. This reader will be eagerly awaiting the next book! Read an excerpt of A Pattern of Lies. Fans of Maisie Dobbs would absolutely enjoy this series as well.
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I love the beds Crawford series. Anticipating another volume.
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Why is the Nook price more than the hardcover price?
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