Great mystery! Well written and satisfying.

Continuing my tour of British mysteries, I stumbled across this title when the newest entry in the series was published. This was the first, and I'm a sucker for post-WWI European settings. A world where PTSD was a new idea, people: soldiers were expected to come home, take a weekend to catch up with the kids, and then get back to Regular Life.

With so many of my obsessions in place (first novels! British mysteries! Post-WWI), I should have loved this book. Alas, after a strong opening the novel meandered quite a bit, feeling at least 100 pages too long. And if you're going to be the kind of mystery that lets us know who the killer is ahead of the police, then you need to be so well-written that I don't care; _River of Darkness_ didn't pass that crucial test.

I got suckered into the series by the cover art, but unfortunately the inside failed to impress me as much. The plot was predictable, which has it's pros and cons as it's always enjoyable to figure things out alongside the main character. However, this was a little too predictable for me. It was more like reading a movie plot that's been novelized. You can see the ending twists coming from near the start of the book. As far as historical accuracy goes, the author seems to know his stuff. I'm no real history buff, mind you, but nothing jumped out at me as being anachronistic or odd.

John Madden as a main character wasn't really someone I could relate to. He seemed to be the kind of main character where you can picture him visually, which is great, but he doesn't seem to have much of a personality to get attached to. He's devoted to his work and he falls in love with a woman over the course of the book, but I just couldn't fall in love with him. That's not to say that he's a bad character. Not at all. I just wished there were more substance to him. I had a much easier time getting attached to his sidekick, Billy Styles, who features as the main perspective in several chapters.

I enjoyed the side characters well enough. Most were easily distinguishable, though I sometimes found myself forgetting who was who when it came to the officers in the police force.

All in all, this is really a murder mystery meant for a war buff. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but I'm sure history buffs would really sink their teeth into it.

This book is the first in a series of police procedural mysteries featuring Inspector John Madden. The story takes place in the English countryside post WW1. I enjoyed the story, but don't know that I'm likely to read more in the series. It's very gritty. I did enjoy that just when I thought things were getting slow, something happened. The end was definitely dramatic.

This book started out slow for me and I wasn't sure that I was going to like it. All I can say is that I stayed up until 1 a.m. finishing this! The last half of the book was really good. Tight plot, strong characters, and lots of suspense.

I love John Madden and the world Airth delves us into.

Just about as good as these things get.

Inspector John Madden, a damaged WW I vet, is sent to investigate a mass murder, and through good detective work, and a real feel for humanity, does the needful.

There's some edge of your seat stuff that goes on, but for me the success of a thriller, or mystery novel is the humanity. Are we dealing with real people here, is the protagonist likable, and does he grow. I'm also a real sucker for redemption narratives.

Rennie Airth puts it all together: the crimes are horrific, the plotting is edge of your seat, the characters are real, the obstacles are plausible, the milieu is accurately rendered - and, there's a love interest. Does it lead to redemption? Well, some redemption stories get you there, some don't. Find out by reading this good book.

On to book two: The Blood Dimmed Tide (is there redemption here?)

River of Darkness was a book that I became aware of through the Kindle English Mystery Club and decided to give a try. It is interesting in that it reads like a modern-day serial killer thriller, but is set in the period between the wars in rural England. An entire family is obliterated and Inspector John Madden recognizes the wounds as he had served time in the Army. He begins to investigate and eventually finds connections to other murders and builds his case. In the course of this work, he meets a love interest to help him overcome his rather tragic past.

A decent quick mystery read, but I am not sure if I would invest the time in continuing the series.

A very proper, English mystery...complete with detectives having cuppa tea. But a good thriller, not really a mystery because you meet the killer early on. I would read another Madden book.