Bookseller Created
CMB Mystery Book Club
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores!
Start gifting
Send as gift
Add to Wish List
Almost ready!
In order to save audiobooks to your Wish List you must be signed in to your account.
Log in Create account
Shop small, give big!
With credit bundles, you choose the number of credits and your recipient picks their audiobooks—all in support of local bookstores.
Start gifting
Limited-time offer
Get two free audiobooks!
Now’s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, we’ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.
Sign up todayA Duty to the Dead
The Bess Crawford Mysteries: Book #1
Narrator
Rosalyn Landor
This audiobook uses AI narration.
We’re taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn more
Length
9 hours 49 minutes
Language
English
The daughter of a distinguished soldier, Bess Crawford follows in his patriotic footsteps, volunteering to serve her country as a nurse during the Great War. In 1916, she promises Lieutenant Arthur Graham that she will carry his dying request to a brother. When the hospital ship is sunk by a mine and she is sent home to England to recover from her wounds, Bess is determined to fulfill her promise at last. There the enigmatic message is treated with skepticism. Then the family’s safe world is turned upside down when another brother comes home, dying of pneumonia. Knowing what it cost the young officer to rely on a stranger to speak for him, Bess takes upon herself this duty to the dead, so that Arthur can rest in peace. But it isn’t as straightforward as she expects, when she hears the whispers in the village of Owlhurst—and in the end, the price of uncovering the truth will mean putting her own life at risk for Arthur’s sake.
Charles Todd is a pen named used by the mother-and-son writing team, Caroline and Charles Todd. They are best known for a series of novels set in post-World War I England following the cases of Inspector Ian Rutledge of the Scotland Yard. They are also the authors of a series featuring Bess Crawford, a nurse serving in France during WWI. Caroline and Charles Todd live in North Carolina and Delaware respectively.
Rosalyn Landor is an English-born television, theater, and multiple-award-winning audiobook narrator. Her television credits include Love in a Cold Climate, Rumpole of the Bailey, Sherlock Holmes, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. She has won numerous Audie awards and AudioFile magazine Earphones awards.
Reviews
“Rosalyn Landor achieves the perfect timbre for Bess’ firm yet feminine introspection. Voices of men are remarkably strong and forthright, and Landor even sparkles with crisp accents from other parts of the British Isles.”
“Fans of independent women sleuths like Maisie Dobbs will welcome this new addition to their ranks.”
“Todd employs all the elements of a satisfying cozy mystery, with an absorbing plot and a charismatic heroine that will leave the reader wanting more. Highly recommended.”
“Will readers miss Inspector Rutledge? You bet. But anyone who cares to loll in early-twentieth century English villages and mores and follow a plucky heroine as she confronts the stupidity of war will find solace in this old-fashioned mystery.”
“The first novel in what looks to be a terrific new series…Full of rich historical details, this novel contrasts the beauty of the English countryside with the horrors of a war that devastated families. Family secrets and a tragic ending round out this absorbing mystery.”
Expand reviews
Give audiobooks, support local bookstores!
Libro.fm for Business
Start a membership, get two free audiobooks