Rennie Airth Books In Order

River of Darkness

As rural England slowly emerges from the sorrow of World War I, a particularly vicious attack on a household in a small Surrey village leaves five butchered bodies and no explanation for the killings. Sent by Scotland Yard to investigate is Inspector John Madden, a man still recovering from his own war experience and from the deaths of his wife and child. The local police dismiss the slaughter as a botched robbery, but Madden detects the signs of a madman at work. With the help of beautiful Dr. Helen Blackwell, who introduces him to the new science of criminal psychology, Madden sets out to capture the killer, even as the murderer sets his sights on his next innocent victims.

As darkly stylish as the best P. D. James, rippled with tension and resonant with historical atmosphere, River of Darkness marks the debut of a powerful new voice in suspense writing.

‘It’s the tactics and terrain, the morale and the characters that make the difference between an average thriller and one as good as this. Airth has balanced savagery and civilization neatly, and given civilization just the barest edge.’ Christopher Dickey, The New York Times Book Review

‘An edge of the seat serial killer thriller set against a skillfully evoked backdrop of war wounded England. Compelling stuff.’ Robert Goddard, author of the Edgar nominee Beyond Recall

The Blood-Dimmed Tide

From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. The many admirers of Airth’s impressive debut, River of Darkness 1999, which was an Edgar finalist, will relish his gripping second police procedural, set in 1932. The brilliant Scotland Yard inspector John Madden has retired to the countryside and built himself a new life and a new family, but his tranquil, pedestrian existence is shattered when he stumbles on the battered corpse of a young girl. Despite himself and the importunings of his wife, Helen, Madden is drawn into the police inquiry and quickly challenges the official theory that a passing vagrant is responsible. Evidence soon surfaces that the killing is one of a series that spans several countries, and the trail gets murkier when a major suspect proves to be linked to international espionage. The political ramifications of the murders, which may complicate British German relations on the eve of the Na*zis’ rise to power, only add to the challenges the police face in preventing another death. While the plot structure may be a little too similar to its predecessor for some, Airth’s full blooded characters and convincing evocation of rural 1930s England will have most eager for a shorter wait for his next book. Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

The Dead of Winter

The murder of a young Polish girl in wartime London puts John Madden on the trail of a ruthless hired killer

On a freezing London night in 1944, Rosa Novak is brutally murdered during a blackout. The police suspect she was the victim of a random act of violence and might have dropped the case if former police investigator John Madden hadn’t been the victim’s employer.

Madden’s old colleagues at Scotland Yard are working on it, but their scant clues lead them to Europe, where the ravages of the war halt their inquiries. Madden feels he owes it to Rosa to find her killer and pushes the investigation until he stumbles upon the dead girl’s connection to a murdered Parisian furrier, a member of the Resistance, and a stolen cache of diamonds.

With rich psychological insights and vivid historical details, this riveting third novel in the Madden series promises to expand Airth’s readership among discerning fans of crime fiction.