Comment

Jul 04, 2011
An Impartial Witness is a good story but it is not so well written and plotted as the Ian Rutledge series. i was put off by the repetitiveness of the action and the two-dimensional quality of the characters. The Heroine, Bess, and her trusted Protector, Simon, are usually dashing about the countryside in forays for information. This in itself is odd because during WWI petrol must have been scarce. Bess is alternatively courageous and helpless, and Simon is always there to accompany her or arrive at the just the right moment to rescue and comfort her.. Many of the characters are caricatures who have little actual relationship to one another, and the relationship Bess has with her family seems incidental rather than real. The Ian Rutledge books are very beautifully written. The language itself is a pleasure to read. Yes, the ghost remarks in his head could be tiresome but were mostly helpful in the later books. This book does rate three stars for being a good story and worth a read.