Monday, January 18, 2021

A Hanging at Dawn by Charles Todd

 

First Line: Who is this man, Simon Brandon, and why has his past been a blank to those who think they know him best?
 
Like other readers I know, I never used to like short stories, but I've learned to appreciate them in the past few years-- especially when they can illuminate the backstory of characters in long-running favorite series of mine. Not all story ideas are worth a full-length novel, but that doesn't mean they're not worth writing. Such is the case with Charles Todd's short story, A Hanging at Dawn.

A Hanging at Dawn is all about the mysterious Simon Brandon, Colonel Crawford's right-hand man, and Bess Crawford's savior in Todd's series featuring a nurse during World War I. The story is told through the older Crawfords (Aunt Melissa, Colonel Crawford, and the colonel's wife, Clarissa) as well as Bess herself, and I certainly enjoyed learning more about these characters.
 
Most of all, I really appreciated learning more about Simon Brandon himself through incidents that occurred during his and the Crawfords' time in India. What I found absolutely amazing is that the writing team of Charles Todd made this tale so suspenseful that I was worried about the outcome-- even though I'm an avid reader of the Bess Crawford series and know he survives! I don't know about you, but I consider that to be the mark of some excellent writing.
 
If you're a fan of the Bess Crawford historical mystery series as am I, I don't think you should pass up the opportunity to learn more about Simon Brandon and the other more mature characters who've stayed in the background. It's going to add to your appreciation of the series. If you haven't read any of the Bess Crawford mysteries, you'll probably find A Hanging at Dawn to be a fine tale about the British in India; you just won't be as invested in the characters. But who knows? You may find yourself wanting to know more about them, and you'll know right where to go. (The first book in the series is A Duty to the Dead.)


A Hanging at Dawn by Charles Todd
eISBN: 9780063048560
Witness Impulse © 2020
eBook, 176 pages
 
Short Story/Historical Mystery, #11.5 Bess Crawford mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased from Amazon.

8 comments:

  1. Oh, this does sound interesting, Cathy! And I like the idea of using short stories to give some background on characters from series. I hadn't thought of doing that before, but I can see how it works. And I do like the Todd team's writing (and Bess Crawford as a character). Glad this worked for you.

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  2. The Bess Crawford series is on my TBR. I do like short stories that give background information on characters. It's a great way to give more background without overloading stories in the series with the info.

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    1. I agree. A short story can also give a reader insight into the author's writing and help the person decide whether or not to read the full-length novels.

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  3. I'm a huge short story fan and just yesterday ordered a collection of all the stories written by Raymond Carver. I sometimes think a good short story is even more difficult to write than a good novel because of the limited space an author has allowed for an impact to be made on the reader.

    I think sometimes that authors write short stories like this one to keep series fans happy as much as for any other reasons. I like the way it allows us to get little snapshots of what our favorite characters are up to between major "adventures." Craig Johnson has done a really good job of that with his Longmire stories and novellas.

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    1. Yes, Johnson is an excellent example. I also think that the authors who use this to keep series fans happy are onto a good thing.

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  4. I like Simon, so the chance to learn more about him plus your positive review will outweigh (at some point) my usual avoidance of short stories. And I agree with you that some tales which need to be told do not necessarily need a full-length novel for the telling.

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    1. I've had a secret hope about Simon for a long time, but I'm willing to wait however long it takes to find out if I'm right.

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