“A brilliant return … Memorable characters, subtle plot twists, the evocative seaside setting and descriptions of architecture, the moors and the sea fully reward the attention this novel commands.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A TEST OF WILLS
named a New York Times Notable Book of the year
and one of Publishers Weekly’s six best mysteries of the year

“Both a meticulously wrought puzzle and harrowing psychological drama about a shellshocked police inspector who investigates a murder.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“The emotional and physical carnage of World War I is used to remarkable effect in A TEST OF WILLS, an excellent new mystery and, one hopes, the first of a series.”

—Chicago Tribune

“Psychologically sophisticated, tautly written, and craftily plotted.”

—San Jose Mercury News

“Todd seems to have perfect pitch in his ability to capture the tenor and nuances of English country life with its clearly defined social strata. A TEST OF WILLS may on the surface be another whodunit, but Todd raises disturbing issues of war and peace that still confront us today.”

—Orlando Sentinel

“A newcomer returns us to the essential pleasures of the well-crafted puzzle in this debut, the absorbing story of a young British WWI veteran returning from the war to his job as a Scotland yard Inspector … Todd, an American, depicts the outer and inner worlds of his character with authority and sympathy as he closes in on his surprising—and convincing—conclusion.”

—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Strong, elegant prose; detailed surroundings and sound plotting characterize this debut historical.… Highly re commended.”

—Library Journal

“The 20th century hasn’t happened in Upper Streetham, which seems to have been cast out of REBECCA, or in first-novelist Todd’s deeply old-fashioned storytelling, which eschews the slightest impropriety in favor of the patient subtlety and circumlocution that held readers in thrall 70 years ago. A feast for the like-minded.”

—Kirkus Reviews

St Martin’s Paperbacks Titles
by Charles Todd

SEARCH THE DARK
WINGS OF FIRE

Title Page

SEARCH
THE DARK

CHARLES TODD

Copyright

NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

SEARCH THE DARK

Copyright © 1999 by Charles Todd.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-13786

ISBN: 0-312-97128-1
EAN: 80312-97128-1

Printed in the United States of America

St. Martin’s Press hardcover edition / May 1999
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / May 2000

10 9 8 7 6

For J.
For all those places on the map
and all the memories that went with them.

Chapter One

1