Scotland Yard’s Ian Rutledge finds himself caught in a twisted web of vengeance, old grievances, and secrets that lead back to World War I in the nineteenth installment of the acclaimed bestselling series.

On the eve of the bloody Battle of the Somme, a group of English officers having a last drink before returning to the Front make a promise to each other: if they survive the battle ahead—and make it through the war—they will meet in Paris a year after the fighting ends. They will celebrate their good fortune by racing motorcars they beg, borrow, or own from Paris to Nice.

In November 1919, the officers all meet as planned, and though their motorcars are not designed for racing, they set out for Nice. But a serious mishap mars the reunion. In the mountains just north of their destination, two vehicles are nearly run off the road, and one man is badly injured. No one knows—or will admit to knowing—which driver was at the wheel of the rogue motorcar.

Back in England one year later, during a heavy rainstorm, a driver loses control on a twisting road and is killed in the crash. Was it an accident due to the hazardous conditions? Or premeditated murder? Is the crash connected in some way to the unfortunate events in the mountains above Nice the year before? The dead driver wasn’t in France—although the motorcar he drove was. If it was foul play, was it a case of mistaken identity? Or was the dead man the intended victim after all?

Investigating this perplexing case, Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge discovers that the truth is elusive—and that the villages on the South Downs, where the accident happened, are adept at keeping secrets, frustrating his search. Determined to remain in the shadows this faceless killer is willing to strike again to stop Rutledge from finding him. This time, the victim he chooses is a child, and it will take all of Rutledge’s skill to stop him before an innocent young life is sacrificed.

Scotland Yard’s Inspector Ian Rutledge finds himself caught in a twisted web of vengeance, old grievances, and secrets that lead back to the war that still haunts him

In late june 1916, on the eve of the bloody Battle of the Somme, a group of English officers have a last drink before returning to the Front. Strangers until the war, they discover that before the
fighting began, they had all lived within a hundred miles of one another along the southern coast of England. They also had one other thing in common: a passion for motorcars.

Daring fate, they make a promise to the future. If they survive the battle ahead—and all those to come—they will meet in Paris a year after the war ends. They will celebrate their good fortune by racing motorcars they own, beg, or borrow from Paris to Nice.

In November 1919, the officers meet as planned, and though their automobiles are not designed for racing, they set out for Nice. But a pair of serious mishaps mar the reunion. In the mountains just north of their destination, one vehicle is nearly run off the twisting, fog-shrouded road and another crashes, badly injuring the driver. No one knows—or will admit to recognizing—who was behind the wheel of the rogue motorcar.

Back in England one year later, during a heavy rainstorm, a local rector driving along the Sussex coastline loses control of his motorcar and is killed. Was it an accident due to the hazardous conditions? Another set of tire tracks raises suspicions of something far darker, especially since the rector was driving a car he surreptitiously borrowed from a neighbor, a captain in the Great War.

Is the crash connected in some way to the unfortunate events in the mountains above Nice the year before? While the unfortunate clergyman, another veteran of that terrible war, wasn’t in France then, the car’s owner was. If it was foul play, was it a case of mistaken identity? Or was the dead man the intended victim after all?

Called in to investigate this perplexing case, Scotland Yard’s Inspector Ian Rutledge—a man who carries his own ghosts from the battlefields of France—discovers that the truth is elusive. The stony villagers are adept at keeping secrets, frustrating his search for a faceless killer hiding in the shadows—a cold-blooded murderer willing to strike again. This time, the victim he chooses is a child, and it will take all of Rutledge’s skill to stop him before an innocent young life is taken.

"Todd's rich storytelling shines in "Racing the Devil," showing an England forever changed by The Great War, yet determined to survive."