An Unwilling Accomplice audiobook

With An Unwilling Accomplice have I almost read all the Bess Crawford that's been published. It's a favorite series of mine and yes I did miss my favorite Aussie in this book, however, the case was very interesting. Bess finds herself accused of being neglectful when a soldier in her care goes missing, so she decides to find out the truth. Why the man in question left the hotel after being given a medal by the King.Charles Todd (mother and son) has written a really good story. I did for a moment towards the end of the book feel a bit like not much happened other than Bess trying to find the right wounded man (yup there are more than one). And, I kind of wanted something to happen, rather than all this investigation. However, the ending is very satisfying. A nice confrontation finally revealed the truth about why the soldier deserted.

Excellent. For some reason, these books are never my first pick, but once I read them I absolutely love them. Highly recommend!

Since my first Bess Crawford novel from best-selling author Charles Todd, I've been hooked. Taking some of my favorite elements of fiction, World War I, women nurses, and murder mystery and you have to basic ingredients for what makes the Bess Crawford Series a true success. Bess Crawford has been serving as a battlefield nurse, thrust in the middle of taking care of the most challenging of patients. With medical marvels still years from being developed, she is right in the middle of action trying to save the lives of those she can, and holding hands, writing letters and simply being there for those she can't. It was truly a trying time in history for women to participate in doing their part while war raged all around them. For Bess, she is the daughter of a famous Colonel who's own military success often times aid her in coming to terms with the war. Like most fathers, they want to do all they can to protect their daughters when they have the opportunity and Bess finds herself paired with her friend Simon, a decorated Sergeant-Major. He comes to her rescue as often as he is able, most of the time helping her solve the latest crime using all his military resources to research potential motives. Bess has been assigned the duties of caring for an ailing Sergeant Wilkins who is confined to a wheelchair after sustaining injuries in the war. She is to provide nursing assistance to Wilkins when his orderly is headed back to the battle lines and to ensure he is present at Buckingham Palace for the King to honor him with a medal for his courage on the battlefield. What she doesn't expect is for her patient to go missing when she leaves him at his hotel room for the night. Is this the very reason why she was assigned to Wilkins in the first place? It simply wouldn't be proper for a woman, even a nurse, to stay in the man's room overnight. Just when did he go missing? Now with Bess's professional credentials being called into question, she faces scrutiny from her boss as well as having to answer to the local police while she simply has let a man go missing. Now she has to race against time to figure out just what happened to Wilkins because as it stands now, it looks as if Nurse Bess Crawford is more than simply an unwilling accomplice. I received An Unwilling Accomplice by Charles Todd compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained in this review are strictly my own. One of the best things I love about these novels besides trying to solve the crime before Bess does, is the historical feel to the novel that brings you right into the heart of the action. The sights and sounds are so vivid in detail you can't help but feel like you are really there as you take part in the journey alongside Bess. This is the sixth novel in the Bess Crawford Series and I honestly can't wait for more. I give this one a 4 out of 5 stars!

If you have somehow never read one of Charles Todd's Bess Crawford series, you are missing out on a real treat. Bess is one of those heroines that I just immediately loved and rooted for even though occasionally wanting to scold her for taking risks.She is a British nurse in World War I and she spends much of her time in France near the front lines. This is a military service in which the women are held to a higher standard of conduct than civilian women. They have a uniform and are subject to orders just like soldiers. Since it is early in the 20th century, women still lead restricted lives anyway, but the nurses represent England and as such need to remain above reproach. How Bess manages to solve murders in that sort of climate is largely due to her father's assistant Simon Brandon. Her father is apparently in military intelligence.In this story Bess is assigned to accompany a wounded officer to Buckingham Palace where he is presented a medal by the king. She is responsible for him until an orderly picks him up at the hotel the next morning to return him to the rehabilitation hospital. She can't remain in his room overnight of course, but when she checks on him in the morning he has disappeared. Then she hears of a sighting of him at a bridge where a man is murdered. She is in big trouble; in fact she's in danger of being thrown out of the nursing service. Obviously this calls for an investigation and when Simon gets wind of it, he comes to help.The story becomes more and more mysterious until it seems like they are following several soldiers on the run. I loved trying to work out the plot and wasn't disappointed at the end. Meanwhile, I learned about the care of wounded men in France and England, and how ordinary people lived in the countryside during that war.One character in this book stands out. A man called Maddie cares for all the people in several villages in England. He seems a competent doctor but doesn't claim to be one and Bess is mystified by him. He lives alone very simply. What is his story? I haven't read all the books in this series but I hope to eventually. Highly recommended.Source: HarperCollins

I read this novel in 3weeks; I must have liked it. Bess is captivating in her innocence. She sets out to prove her innocence and succeeds. She and Simon follow a tortuous path tracking down the sergeant implicated in a death. I enjoyed reading about the Dysoes and Wolverhampton where my ancestors hailed from. Charles Todd’s knowledge of English towns and people is unparalleled.

First of all, I adore the Bess Crawford series from author Charles Todd - I love that Bess is a nurse (kind of like a grown-up version of the Cherry Ames books that I loved as a young girl) and I love the setting of the World War I action in England and France. However ... I was a bit disappointed in "An Unwilling Accomplice." The sixth book in the series finds Bess in the midst of a horrible situation that has her suspected of murder, and it's up to her and Simon, the Sergeant-Major who appears in her life just when she needs him, to clear her name and solve the mystery as well. So the two friends (admirers of each other?) jump in their car and drive and drive and drive - back and forth, here and there, following clues and leads, most of which are frustrating dead-ends. I would have liked to see a little more character development of the secondary characters, and I would love to see more movement in the Bess/Simon relationship arena. That being said, I still adore Bess Crawford and will remain a faithful reader looking forward to the next book in the series which is coming up soon.

Charles Todd writing team is masterful at transporting the reader to WW 1 England and beyond. The beauty of these stories is not the characters or even the twisting plots as much as it is the masterful descriptions of the landscape, the people, language and the customs. While, this was not my favorite Bess Crawford mystery and as previous reviewers have said Simon and Bess used a lot of petrol traveling in England, I sensed an evolution in this series. After all, the war only lasted four years and the end is near, as perhaps it is for our nursing sisters career as a sleuth. The one thing I found most enjoyable in this book was the unravelling of the love triangle between Miss Neville and Major Findley. I saw this to also be a guarded commentary on the system of primogeniture in the same vein that Mrs. Neville's postulating on the land system showed resistant to change. Was there some transparency in the plot? Yes. I felt the story dropped off after the murder and the authors were working to tie up the story. But, I am hooked on Charles Todd books and anxiously await the next one.

Bess Crawford is asked to accompany a wounded soldier to London to receive a medal of valor from the king. When the newly decorated patient disappears, Bess is accused of negligence and put on extended leave. Then the missing man is accused of murder, and Scotland Yard thinks Bess is an accomplice. Eager to clear her name, she and Simon Brandon set off to find the missing soldier. Their investigation leads them into the lives and secrets of several of the inhabitants of the small villages from which they conduct their search.I enjoyed the book, despite the growing improbability of the plot. There's something very likable about Bess and Simon, though it does stretch the imagination a bit to think that so many mysteries come her way. I hope that in the next book, there is some hint of what life for Bess after the war will be like.

A wonderful mystery with characters so skillfully written that you feel like they are part of your circle of acquaintances. This story will send you on the convoluted and dogged trail of a deserter and suspected murderer through picturesque English villages feeling the effects of WWI. Be forewarned. If you want an easy mystery that you can solve near the beginning of the story, this isn't for you. You'll be right alongside the main characters as they pursue answers.

It had been awhile since I read a Bess Crawford book. This read was like seeing an old friend again after a few years. Very comfortable and enjoyable.

Nice twist at the end.

Liked, I'm hooked on Bess Crawford, just downloaded 2 more, OD, free is great!

I've been eating the Bess Crawford book series since June and I'm about to read the next one after An Unwilling Accomplice. But this is my first review so it might me a bit longer, sorry!This book was quite good, albeit a tad long at times.I liked that Simon was a main character this time. Sergeant Wilkins' action was an enigma until the end but for some reason I appreciated his character and couldn't believe he did what he was accused of, nor that he was a deserter. Some of the other characters were intriguing to me, mainly Major Findley and Maddie, while others were getting on my nerves, namely Misses Neville and Percy. There was a lot going on in this story, misdirections and too many characters involved and I found it odd that the murder of Lessup was forgotten until the end. The story stayed entertaining, even though difficult to follow sometimes, with a lot of twists and turns, alike the snaking roads between the Lower, Middle and Upper Dysoes. By the way, unless I missed or forgot it, Captain Cartwright is still missing. I don't mind being introduced to characters to confuse the story a little, but tie up the loose ends... Despite the confusion from time to time what saved this story was the reveal, which was surprising, in a good way.I've read in an interview that the duo of writers generally don't know right away the identity of the culprit, letting the story take them toward the conclusion, which can explain the confusion sometimes felt throughout the books. This is probably what I'm put off by the most in the Bess Crawford series, that we can't know who did it until the last pages and until Bess does. That's frustrating to me because I'm used to watching a lot of cop shows and trying to figure out the perp with every new clues but I know there's no point in trying to outsmart the writers here...Bess' courage, intelligence, sense of duty and honor and her dedication to the truth make it a compelling character. I enjoy Simon as well very much. I might even be in love with him, I don't know... Bess' parents seems lovely too, I which we could see more of them sometimes or that Bess would pass more time with them. Overall, Bess and the people in her life seem so lovely that I sometimes found myself longing more those connections and encounters with our Bess than the actual mystery at play!Part of me ship him with Bess but mostly because it's the only type of love somewhat described so far. However, whether it's a fraternal love that can evolve to something more, I'm not sure. What's evident is that there is devotion, tenderness and intimacy between those two which, in my eyes, is far more important and sustainable than romance based on some shallow physical attraction. Anyway, her sense of duty is so strong, is quite logical that Bess won't look for a suitor whilst the war is still going on (maybe on the next book?). The lack of romance is refreshing, to be honest, when having a love story in every kind of fiction is a requirement and always expected, whether it's needed or necessary, or not.