Four young women are out rowing one fine day, in the north coast of Cornwall, when they see a boat sinking with a man aboard. They try to help him, but his wet clothes make it hard to get him out of the water and one of the ladies manages to strike him with an oar. A farmer passing by sees what's going on and helps them. But then he accuses them of trying to murder the poor man in the water. Is it true what he is saying? Was it an attempted murder concealed as a helping hand? Was someone, or all of the women, on board trying to drown the man?

Inspector Ian Rutledge has to find out the truth as he takes over the case from the previous inspector who died of a heart attack. Ian is not glad to be back in Cornwell; he has bad memories from previous cases there. And when he goes to Cornwall he also discovers one of the women accused of murder is someone he knows from the past.

NO SHRED OF EVIDENCE is book 18 in the Inspector Ian Rutledge series. I have only previously read the first book in this series, but I had no problem getting into this book. There are some mentioning of events from previous books, but I don't think one needs to read previous books to keep up with what's going on in NO SHRED OF EVIDENCE.

Ian Rutledge is a WW1 veteran, and he suffered from shell shock after the war. He is still not fully recovered from it and he especially can't forget how he was forced to execute one of his own men who refused to obey orders during the war.

This case is a hard one; there are four young women placed in house arrest who claim they are innocent, and a man who is accusing them of attempted murder. There is no evidence just word against word. But it's bad enough the young women could stand trial for it. Ian Rutledge has to uncover the truth, but how to find out the truth when there seem to be no other witnesses?

I found the case in NO SHRED OF EVIDENCE interesting, because despite that I thought they were innocent, I could not be completely sure about it. One of the women could perhaps have wanted the man dead, and then someone else gets attacked. Is the attack linked to the case with the young women or is it something unrelated? I could hardly stop reading because I was desperate to know the truth.

I like NO SHRED OF EVIDENCE very much. I particularly like that I couldn't figure out what was going on and had to find out as Ian Rutledge uncovered the truth to the case. That Ian Rutledge also knew one of the suspects was a nice turn and his connection to her is especially interesting. NO SHRED OF EVIDENCE is well-written, it never gets boring and I never got impatient with the pacing. I think the Inspector Ian Rutledge series is perfect for anyone who likes to read historical mystery books set after WW1.

Book Summary

In this absorbing new entry in the acclaimed New York Times bestselling series, Scotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge is caught up in a twisted web of vengeance and murder.

On the north coast of Cornwall, an apparent act of mercy is repaid by an arrest for murder. Four young women have been accused of the crime. A shocked father calls in a favor at the Home Office. Scotland Yard is asked to review the case.

However, Inspector Ian Rutledge is not the first Inspector to reach the village. Following in the shoes of a dead man, he is told the case is all but closed. Even as it takes an unexpected personal turn, Rutledge will require all his skill to deal with the incensed families of the accused, the grieving parents of the victim, and local police eager to see these four women sent to the infamous Bodmin Gaol. Then why hasn’t the killing stopped?

With no shred of evidence to clear the accused, Rutledge must plunge deep into the darkest secrets of a wild, beautiful and dangerous place if he is to find a killer who may—or may not—hold the key to their fate.