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zoer03's review against another edition
5.0
marvellous this is a series I can read and read again. Good pace brilliant characters and a good indepth knowledge of how war affects everyone in different ways and that even a few years maybe even more the first world war still had an effect on people.
nuthatch's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: War
maccrazie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder
sarahhautman's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
nenation's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
billymac1962's review against another edition
3.0
The setting here is 1921 England and Chief Inspector John Madden, haunted from two years of trench warfare is called upon to stop an apparent psychopath from killing again.
This novel had a lot of promise, and I suppose it did deliver the goods if you were in the market for a standard serial killer hunt, set in earlier times without the forensic methods we're familiar with today.
Unfortunately for me, I was under the impression that this story would focus more on the demons that haunt Madden, and the horrors he endured on the battlefield. WWI was such an awful war, and lately I've had a thirst for literature on this time in history. I think my needs are best sought on the non-fiction shelf, so stay turned for reviews to come.
River of Darkness, for what it is, is a fairly good read though, although in this market saturated with this type of read I can't say it stands out from the rest.
This novel had a lot of promise, and I suppose it did deliver the goods if you were in the market for a standard serial killer hunt, set in earlier times without the forensic methods we're familiar with today.
Unfortunately for me, I was under the impression that this story would focus more on the demons that haunt Madden, and the horrors he endured on the battlefield. WWI was such an awful war, and lately I've had a thirst for literature on this time in history. I think my needs are best sought on the non-fiction shelf, so stay turned for reviews to come.
River of Darkness, for what it is, is a fairly good read though, although in this market saturated with this type of read I can't say it stands out from the rest.
kathieboucher's review against another edition
5.0
First rate police procedural set in villages outside London in the early 1920s.
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
3.0
British mystery set just after WWI. Suspenseful; a bit of romance and fairly tame sex; we are introduced to John Madden and his colleagues at Scotland Yard. Some stock characters and it might be easier to follow if I were more familiar with the English countryside, but a decent read.
sbelasco40's review against another edition
3.0
And so begins my summer of reading many mysteries. This was recommended to me at some point as being a more literary mystery, and what that seems to mean here is it's slower-paced, less violent and more psychologically complex than other examples of the genre, perhaps. I liked a lot of things about the book - the grounding in post-WWI England, the tightness and efficiency of the prose, the use of Freudian psychology in solving a murder. It was a little slow at times, though, and anytime I lost focus I also lost momentum in the story. There are a couple more in the series and I could see reading more to learn more about Detective John Madden, haunted war veteran. One thing that stuck out for me, both as a American vs. British cultural difference and a sign of the time period - how very freaked out they were by a killer who has a shotgun, and how, when the police were sent in, a bunch of them were not actually armed.