The BloodDimmed Tide Author:Rennie Airth With The New York Times Notable Book River of Darkness, Rennie Airth established himself as a formidable master of suspense. Now, in The Blood-Dimmed Tide, Airth returns with a macabre tale, filled with fascinating historical detail, of the social struggles of postWorld War I Britain and the looming menace of Hitler... more »s Germany. It is 1932, and former Inspector John Madden leads a quiet life in rural England with his wife and childrenuntil a young village girl is savagely murdered. The crime catapults Madden into the grisly world of a brutal killer. Along with his former colleagues at Scotland Yard, Madden soon finds himself enlisting the help of the British secret service and the German police. Together they use the burgeoning science of criminal psychology in order to grasp the workings of the twisted mind of a cunning, sophisticated murdererbut can Madden prevent him from killing again?« less
This has been one of the best mysteries I have read so far this year. Very well written and will keep you wanting to read more. You get a good feel of the time period that the story takes place in.
The second John Madden book recounts murders just as appalling as the first book. John is no longer a policeman so is not the focus of the story, although he becomes more involved as the investigation proceeds. I thought this book could have used a stricter editor; it's longer than need be, and there were pages of exposition about characters who were really peripheral at best that should have been trimmed. Also, although I don't remember this from the first book, the writer contorts time, starting out a chapter detailing events then going back a little in time to fill in details. It was needlessly confusing and irritating after a while. Still, I managed to finish it.