Charles Todd is a pen name used by the American authors Caroline Todd and Charles Todd, who were mother and son. Caroline Todd was the pen name for Carolyn Watjen (born Carolyn Linene Teachey; November 13, 1934 — August 28, 2021) and Charles Todd is the pen name for her son David Watjen.[1] Caroline Todd died in August 2021, at age 86 from complications of a lung infection.[1] Charles Todd lives in North Carolina.
The authors are best known for a series of novels, set in post World War I England. The books deal with the cases of Inspector Ian Rutledge, a veteran of the European campaigns who is attempting to pick up the pieces of his Scotland Yard career. 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.[2]
They are also the authors of a series about Bess Crawford, a nurse serving in France during World War I.