Catching shadows

When a British Army officer is killed by a rifle marksman while standing outside the church at a wedding, there are virtually no clues. The only witness says the shooter looked like a monster. Then a candidate for Parliament is killed in similar fashion, and farmer is wounded but survives. When Inspector Ian Rutledge from Scotland Yard is assigned the case, he is told it will be like hunting shadows.

Hunting Shadows (2014) is a solid entry in Charles Todd’s Ian Rutledge mystery series. British mysteries can sometimes be difficult for American readers to follow, but that is not the case here. But then Charles Todd is an American, actually two Americans — a mother and son. (There are several Americans writing British mysteries, Elizabeth George being among the most prominent.)

As it is 1920,  just two years since the Great War ended, Rutledge reasons the killer must be a veteran,  perhaps a former sniper, who somehow managed to bring his rifle home with him. But what ties the three victims together? Or are they tied together? Might the killer just be someone who came to like killing?

Rutledge, himself a veteran of the war, works alone, except he is rarely alone. Accompanying him in his mind is Hamish, a Scottish soldier whose death haunts Rutledge. Hamish tends to butt in with commentary at key moments, yet he is mostly silent in this novel, much to the relief of both Rutledge and the reader.

The ending comes with multiple surprises, as one hopes to find in a good mystery.