"A DUTY TO THE DEAD," by Charles Todd, William Morrow, 329 pages, $24.99

We all have secrets, though some are bigger than others.

In "A Duty to the Dead," by Charles Todd, a man's conscience, a dark secret and a plucky young nurse collide against the backdrop of World War I.

Bess Crawford has always had a mind of her own. Raised in India as the daughter of a British officer, she understands the importance of responsibility, honor and duty. So when war breaks out, it seems only natural for her to join the nursing corps, serving on the battlefields and eventually on the ocean liner Britannic.

As a nurse, Bess has been trained to keep an air of formality, as not to form an attachment to any one soldier. That's fine in theory, but when Bess meets the dashing young Arthur Graham, she can't help but become a bit smitten.

When Arthur takes a turn for the worse, he makes Bess promise to hand-deliver a message to his brother. It's a task Bess dreads to fulfill but feels duty-bound to perform.

The war makes it hard for Bess to immediately keep her promise, but when the Britannic strikes a mine and Bess is injured, she suddenly finds herself with more time on her hands.

After convincing her parents that she must find Arthur's family, Bess makes her way across England to the Graham house in Kent. At first blush the family — Arthur's mother and two brothers — seem eager to gain any little piece of information Bess can provide. So when Bess delivers Arthur's message, she is surprised at the indifference that it receives.

Having completed her task, Bess should be relieved, though she can't help feeling unsettled instead. Arthur's last wishes were said with such intensity, such conviction, and yet the family doesn't seem to care.

Something is not right in the town of Kent, and when a sudden tragedy keeps her from leaving right away, Bess realizes that there is much more to the Graham family than she's been led to believe.

Despite the warnings of others, Bess' overwhelming sense of duty sets her on a dangerous path no one saw coming.

"A Duty to the Dead" has all the elements of a good mystery — action, suspense, murder, love, a damsel in distress. But what's nice here is the damsel is caring, smart and interesting, and she figures out how to get out of distress through her own clever quick-thinking.

Charles Todd is actually a mother and son writing team, which is probably why this mystery works so well. The duo has created a mother-son dynamic in the book that feels intensely real and plausible.

"A Duty to the Dead" starts out with page-turning action in the beginning and again at the end. There's an unfortunate sort of lull in the middle, but nothing that won't keep readers from continuing on, making "Duty" a nice choice for an end-of-summer read.

e-mail: jharrison@desnews.com