A Duty to the Dead

It is 1916 and Nurse Bess Crawford is on an hospital ship in the Mediterranean when an explosion tosses her from her deck chair and breaks her arm.  She is fortunate to survive the sinking of the ship, and returns to England where she must see to the last wishes of a dying soldier she had cared for.  She must pass on an enigmatic message to the brother of the soldier.

Little does she know that this message will lead to a quest to discover a murderer and to release a man falsely accused of murder who is a prisoner in an asylum.  While delivering her message to the family, she discovers that things just aren't as they seem with the family.  The prisoner (who is a half brother of the dead soldier) is brought home because he is thought to be dying of pneumonia.  She nurses him back to health and in doing so learns a bit about him.

Shortly after returning to London she discovers the prisoner in her flat.  He persuades her that he may not be mad, so Bess sets out to discover the truth.  Their search will lead both of them into danger before the truth is ultimately found.

A great thriller by author Charles Todd.