Inspector Ian Rutledge

Inspector Ian Rutledge is a fictional character in the Inspector Ian Rutledge Series of mystery/detective novels by Caroline and Charles Todd. The series revolves around the cases of Inspector Ian Rutledge, a veteran of the First World War who has returned to the police force as a detective but is battling with posttraumatic stress disorder. However, he must keep his greatest burden a secret: suffering from shell shock, he lives with the constant, cynical, taunting voice of Hamish MacLeod, a young Scots soldier he was forced to execute on the battlefield for refusing an order and moments before a shell from their own artillery buried Rutledge's regiment alive. Only Rutledge survived because of a small air pocket between his face and Hamish MacLeod's body. He must hide this information from those around him in order to avoid the social stigma which accompanied psychological, mental, or emotional issues in the early 20th century.