In the wake of the Great War, a group of English officers set out to celebrate their survival by racing motorcars from Paris to Nice. But the reunion is marred when one driver is nearly forced off the winding, fog-shrouded road and another is seriously injured in a crash.

The mishaps are dismissed as coincidence.

But, a year later, the rector of a Sussex parish is killed under similar circumstances while driving a vehicle "borrowed" from one of the participants in the earlier event. The local constable is suspicious and calls in the help of Scotland Yard's Inspector Ian Rutledge.

Rutledge, a man haunted by his own memories of the late war, and Constable Neville are drawn into a perplexing case with multiple suspects, an investigation frustrated by secretive villagers and conflicting motives. As the doggedly persistent Rutledge pursues clues, the body count mounts, a local rogue and his wife disappear, there's a case of arson, the detective himself is attacked, and a young girl is abducted.

Written by the mother/son team of Caroline and Charles Todd under the singular male name, the novel offers engaging characters, lots of twists and turns and enough suspense to keep any reader guessing. I did peg the culprit before the conclusion, but it didn't disrupt my enjoyment of the story.

This is the 19th in this series, though I must confess Racing the Devil is my introduction to the character. I plan on getting to know Rutledge better.

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