A Casualty of War

by Charles Todd Book 9 in the Bess Crawford Mysteries series.

First published 2017

Amazon

4.4(1,559)

Near the end of the war, Bess Crawford treats Captain Alan Travis after a head wound leaves him convinced that his English cousin deliberately shot him. The evidence suggests the accusation is impossible, and the captain is eventually confined in a clinic for severe brain injuries. Disturbed by his treatment, Bess visits the Travis family estate and discovers that inheritance, colonial origins and old resentments may explain why a wounded man’s testimony has been dismissed so quickly.

The novel explores the uncertain boundary between neurological injury and credible memory. Officers with head wounds could lose authority over their own stories, while families and institutions decided what counted as sanity. Bess’s medical experience makes her reluctant to accept an easy diagnosis, even when pursuing the alternative exposes her to a killer.