This is the 11th in the Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery series, but the first one I’ve read. As a historical mystery, it makes for an interesting genre, but what I found even more intriguing was that the author, Charles Todd, is a pseudonym for a mother-son team who don’t even live in the same state! Even in this high-tech world, I still marvel at that kind of skill, but for now, let’s focus on the story.
A Matter of Justice takes place in 1920’s England, and the main character, Rutledge, is an inspector for Scotland Yard. He is called to the rural village of Somerset to investigate the brutal murder of a successful London financier, Harold Quarles. There are no shortages of suspects, as many of the villagers openly admit to totally despising the man. Even Quarles’ wife and the town’s police officer are under suspicion.
In what turns out to be a very effective technique, the reader is clued in to the real killer early on, and as the pages kept turning, I began to fear that Rutledge would arrest the wrong person or never literally bring the “matter to justice.” Another useful ploy was the voice of Hamish in Rutledge’s head. Hamish, a soldier who died under Rutledge’s command in the trenches of WWI, serves as a sort of guilty conscience for the inspector. This contributes greatly to making him a fully human character and not just some singular sleuth. Though some will find this similar to an Agatha Christie mystery, I found it refreshingly superior.
The big night is almost here! And while some of the excess will be reigned in due to the struggling economy, there will still be plenty of glitz and glamor on view Sunday night when the Oscars are presented. Will Slumdog Millionaire, the feel-good movie set in India, continue its current winning streak and grab the Best Picture prize, or will The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or The Reader win in an upset? And, most important, who will wear the best dress and who will make an unfortunate choice? The fun starts early on Sunday so grab a copy of the 
Lincoln and Darwin had vastly different childhoods. We know that Lincoln was born dirt-poor and was largely self-educated, whereas Darwin was born to wealth and privilege, privy to the best education money could buy. Still, even 200 years later, both have left their mark upon our world. Unfortunately for both, that mark, or legacy, has become somewhat limited over time.
They might as well have mystical powers as much as some folks charge for them. With a little skill, it is possible to get up to five times as much coffee for what you’d pay a certain mega-chain for a vacuum-packed pound. Problem is, you’ve got to get online, buy them green and roast them yourself. This can be, for a knucklehead that shall remain nameless, an extremely smoky and odorous endeavor.
Originally set aside to honor George Washington (whose birthday is actually February 22), Presidents’ Day has unofficially expanded to include Abraham Lincoln (born on February 12) and sometimes even some other former Presidents, depending on what state you live in.
There are very few individuals who are famous enough for society to continue to celebrate them 200 years after their birth, but on February 12, 1809, two very famous men were born. One, Abraham Lincoln, is very familiar to Americans, as our 16th President.
Another influential individual, born across the Atlantic on the very same day, was Charles Darwin. Though most people know that Darwin wrote about evolution in his 