‘A Hanging at Dawn’ a tightly plotted origin story

For many avid readers, recurring characters in long running series are like old friends, each book a chance to catch up. The chance to know a character’s unknown backstory fuels “A Hanging at Dawn,” Charles Todd’s tightly plotted novella.

Todd’s two perceptive series about Scotland Yard detective Ian Rutledge and battlefield nurse Bess Crawford are known for showing how the historical and cultural touchstones of World War I and post WWI continue to be relevant. And it is the evocative characters who drive both series by Todd, a mother and son writing team.

“A Hanging at Dawn” is a prequel to the Bess Crawford novels. Set years before the Great War began, “A Hanging at Dawn” shows how the enduring supporting character Simon Brandon became closely entwined in the Crawford family. Throughout the 11 Bess Crawford novels, Simon has been an important part of the plots — an assistant to her father Col. Richard Crawford and a friend to her mother, Clarissa. For Bess, Simon has been a devoted confidante, often helping her in her investigations.

Simon’s entry to the Crawford family began when he was an angry teenager who lied about his age to join the British Army. The 14-year-old was escaping a cruel grandfather who raised him but barely tolerated the boy after his parents were murdered when he was a child. Despite glowing reports during his training, Simon often defied authority. “Born soldier, like his father,” says one character. “If he’s not court-martialed before he’s shot for insubordination.”

But the Crawfords, who are stationed in India, saw something special in Simon, who would eventually rise in the ranks to become Regimental Sergeant-Major. Clarissa trusted Simon so much that she put him in charge of her 5-year-old daughter, Bess.

A dangerous situation changes the dynamics of the relationship between the Crawfords and Simon, illustrating why his devotion to the family became unshakable.

“A Hanging at Dawn” is a tidy, energetic origin story about Simon as well as intriguing look at India at the turn of the

20th Century. Bess — and no doubt Simon — will return for the 12th novel, “An Irish Hostage,” in July

2021. Ian Rutledge returns in “A Fatal Lie” in February. Meanwhile, “A Hanging at Dawn” will tide readers over until 2021.

CHARLES TODD Charles Todd is the pseudonym of the writing team of mother, Caroline, and son, Charles Todd.

“A Hanging at Dawn” Charles Todd (Witness Impulse, 176 pages, $11.99)