Reviews for An Impartial Witness (Bess Crawford Series #2)

The average rating for An Impartial Witness (Bess Crawford Series #2) based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-03-04 00:00:00 Wade Murray I'm having a little trouble with the conceit of this series. A young woman goes around asking questions that are none of her business of people, who are sometimes hostile to the investigation, who answer those questions even against their own interests. I don't recall that other mystery series I read centered around amateur sleuths have protagonists who are quite this confrontational. And it seems odd to me that in World War I, when supplies, especially petrol, would have been in short supply, that Bess Crawford can go haring around the country in her motorcar seemingly without a second thought. And that her parents and her father's retainer, I guess one would call him, disapprove and tut-tut but end up going along with whatever Bess wants, and if danger threatens, Simon will just lurk about and be prepared to swoop in to save the day. (I'm predicting that he will end up as the love interest, eventually.) And that she can barge into Scotland Yard at all hours and buttonhole an inspector to listen to the results of her information-gathering and her theories. It just doesn't seem credible, no matter how smart Bess is and even if she's right. So far (which is a few chapters into the second book), I like this author's Ian Rutledge series much more.

Review # 2 was written on 2017-06-14 00:00:00 Mark Buckham I think Bess and I are going to have to part ways. Mysteries were my first love starting with Nancy Drew then the Grande Dame of all, Agatha Christie, as well as Patricia Wentworth and more than a few American mystery writers: Elizabeth Peters, Margaret Maron, Louise Penny, Martha Grimes and the list goes on.... Unlike some contemporary fiction, with a mystery you have a beginning, a middle and an end as well as a resolution where justice is served. With Bess and her benign tolerance for victims and evil-doers alike I am missing the necessary outrage that murder is wrong, that the bad guy or bad guys will get their comeuppance. Even gentle Miss Marple wanted bad guys to pay. Charles Todd's books are very well-written, and Rosalyn Landor's narration especially the women's voices is almost faultless, but the there are too many unpleasant characters getting away with too much. 4 stars for writing quality, background and ambience, but 2 stars for the mystery element.