Modern detective fiction as a site of mourning and remembrance, and the importance of acknowledgement: World War One and the case of Inspector Ian Rutledge

Modern detective fiction on World War One enables the reader to both remember and come to terms with some of the most tragic and horrific events and consequences of the War. The genre operates as a site of mourning and remembrance that relies on acknowledgement, i.e., a form of active knowledge, expressed in public as the recognition, re-thinking and re-stating aloud of claims that other human beings have on us. Charles Todd’s sixteen novels in the Detective Ian Rutledge series invite the reader to take part in investigating crimes that were either committed during the War or that are directly related to events that took place during the War. The stories never fail us because Rutledge does everything he is expected to do: solve the mystery, restore order and reinforce the value and power of moral integrity. The novels tell us important things about how war affects the individual, how it can never be forgotten but – for the right person, how its lessons can also be harnessed in the service of good.