Where to Start with Charles Todd
- Best entry point → A Hanging at Dawn
- Start the Inspector Ian Rutledge series → A Test of Wills
- What fans keep coming back to → Wings of Fire
- Best narrator for Charles Todd → A Lonely Death
- Highest rated by listeners → The Black Ascot (Inspector Ian Rutledge #21)
- 1
The Black Ascot
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 21
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.32 ABR Score (6.0K ratings)★ 4.2 Goodreads (5.1K) ★ 4.67 Audible (870)10h 50m listening time • Released 2019 - 2
Racing the Devil
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 19
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.24 ABR Score (6.0K ratings)★ 4.15 Goodreads (5.1K) ★ 4.6 Audible (919)11h 5m listening time • Released 2017 - 3
A Cold Treachery
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 7
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Samuel Gillies
★ 4.23 ABR Score (7.0K ratings)★ 4.2 Goodreads (6.4K) ★ 4.58 Audible (604)12h 6m listening time • Released 2014 - 4
The Gate Keeper
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 20
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.20 ABR Score (7.4K ratings)★ 4.08 Goodreads (6.1K) ★ 4.55 Audible (1.3K)10h 11m listening time • Released 2018 - 5
A Divided Loyalty
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 22
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.19 ABR Score (7.7K ratings)★ 4.2 Goodreads (5.5K) ★ 4.45 Audible (2.2K)11h 11m listening time • Released 2020Simon Prebble's measured narration transforms this cold-case mystery into something genuinely unsettling—his voice captures Rutledge's fractured mind with such precision that you'll forget you're listening to a 22nd book in a series.
- 6
No Shred of Evidence
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 18
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.19 ABR Score (6.6K ratings)★ 4.07 Goodreads (5.6K) ★ 4.56 Audible (1.0K)11h 8m listening time • Released 2016 - 7
A Long Shadow
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 8
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Samuel Gillies
★ 4.18 ABR Score (6.3K ratings)★ 4.15 Goodreads (5.8K) ★ 4.58 Audible (485)11h 22m listening time • Released 2014 - 8
Hunting Shadows
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 16
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.15 ABR Score (6.4K ratings)★ 4.06 Goodreads (5.6K) ★ 4.55 Audible (778)10h 22m listening time • Released 2014 - 9
A Lonely Death
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 13
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.15 ABR Score (8.3K ratings)★ 4.13 Goodreads (7.0K) ★ 4.45 Audible (1.3K)11h 1m listening time • Released 2011 - 10
A Fatal Lie
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 23
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 4.10 ABR Score (5.9K ratings)★ 4.01 Goodreads (5.2K) ★ 4.52 Audible (694)10h 53m listening time • Released 2021Simon Vance's measured restraint perfectly captures Rutledge's haunted investigation into a stranger's death—each revelation lands harder because nothing is rushed, making this Welsh mystery one of Todd's most atmospheric.
- 11
A Fine Summer's Day
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 17
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Steven Crossley
★ 4.09 ABR Score (6.7K ratings)★ 4.06 Goodreads (6.0K) ★ 4.47 Audible (700)13h 8m listening time • Released 2015 - 12
A False Mirror
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 9
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Samuel Gillies
★ 4.06 ABR Score (5.8K ratings)★ 4.06 Goodreads (5.4K) ★ 4.48 Audible (425)13h 10m listening time • Released 2014 - 13
Watchers of Time
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 5
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Samuel Gillies
★ 4.04 ABR Score (7.8K ratings)★ 3.99 Goodreads (7.1K) ★ 4.44 Audible (680)13h 49m listening time • Released 2014 - 14
A Hanging at Dawn
Bess Crawford #11.5
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Rosalyn Landor
★ 4.03 ABR Score (2.4K ratings)★ 4.01 Goodreads (2.1K) ★ 4.64 Audible (218)3h 55m listening time • Released 2020 - 15
A Fearsome Doubt
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 6
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Samuel Gillies
★ 4.03 ABR Score (7.0K ratings)★ 4.04 Goodreads (6.5K) ★ 4.43 Audible (510)11h 37m listening time • Released 2014 - 16
The Confession
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 14
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.00 ABR Score (6.8K ratings)★ 4.02 Goodreads (5.8K) ★ 4.37 Audible (1.0K)10h 35m listening time • Released 2012Simon Prebble's measured, haunting delivery transforms this WWI-era mystery into something genuinely unsettling—he captures the psychological toll on Rutledge as the case spirals from a simple confession into something far darker and more personal.
- 17
The Red Door
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 12
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 4.00 ABR Score (8.1K ratings)★ 4.02 Goodreads (6.6K) ★ 4.34 Audible (1.6K)10h 43m listening time • Released 2010 - 18
Search the Dark
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 3
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Samuel Gillies
★ 3.98 ABR Score (8.5K ratings)★ 4.05 Goodreads (7.6K) ★ 4.32 Audible (857)11h 40m listening time • Released 2008 - 19
A Pale Horse
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 10
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Prebble
★ 3.97 ABR Score (7.6K ratings)★ 3.99 Goodreads (6.4K) ★ 4.33 Audible (1.2K)11h 44m listening time • Released 2009Simon Prebble's measured, haunting narration transforms this WWI mystery into something genuinely unsettling—his voice captures Rutledge's fractured psyche and the moral ambiguity of postwar England with devastating precision.
- 20
Wings of Fire
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 2
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Samuel Gillies
★ 3.95 ABR Score (11.2K ratings)★ 4.01 Goodreads (10.2K) ★ 4.29 Audible (973)11h 9m listening time • Released 2012 - 21
A Day of Judgment (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries)
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 25
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Simon Vance
★ 3.73 ABR Score (141 ratings)★ 4.19 Goodreads (122) ★ 4.79 Audible (19)8h 48m listening time • Released 2026Simon Vance's measured, haunted delivery perfectly captures Rutledge's fractured psyche as he investigates a murder on England's haunted coastline, where WWI trauma bleeds into 1921 mystery.
- 22
A Test of Wills
Inspector Ian Rutledge • Book 1
by Charles Todd
Narrated by Samuel Giles
★ 3.72 ABR Score (21.8K ratings)★ 3.88 Goodreads (20.2K) ★ 4.07 Audible (1.6K)10h 28m listening time • Released 2012
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