River of Darkness

Tormented by his harrowing wartime experiences and the loss of his family, Inspector John Madden is sent by Scotland Yard to investigate when a small Surrey village is torn apart by five horrific murders and joins forces with a beautiful doctor to capture the killer, a demented veteran of World War I. A first novel. 30,000 first printing.

All the familiar elements of suspense writing are given an unusual and satisfying twist in this grim and fascinating thriller set in the English countryside shortly after WWIthe initial volume of a promised series. Inspector John Madden of Scotland Yard, a taciturn veteran and casualty of that war, and a widower still mourning the loss of his wife and young daughter, is sent to investigate the gruesome murders of a prominent, well-liked family in a small Surrey village. Aided by young constable Billy Styles, as well as an initially almost indistinguishable parade of local police personnel and their several superiors, Madden is quick to recognize the nature of his quarry's particular expertise. An unsolved earlier murder is shown to eerily parallel the present one, and the hunt is underway, for an ex-soldier whose modus operandi includes ``constructing a military-type dugout'' near the scene of each successive crime he patiently plots and carries out. In a nail-biting narrative that generates terrific suspense, Airth juxtaposes the specifics of the police's investigation with brief glimpses of victims-to-be and also chilling views of their scarcely human killerwhose identity is soon revealed, though the full truth of his complex motivation is saved for the closing pages. The impression of a world made mad by the carnage and psychic weight of the recent war is very strikingly conveyed. As a Viennese psychiatrist (whom Madden consults) puts it: ``When it comes to injuries wrought to the human psyche, there is no need to look further than the experience of the common soldier in the trenches.'' And the depth of that madness becomes vividly apparent as the story reaches its savage climax, sobering denouement, and elegiac conclusion. A fine, frightening piece of work. One looks forward to meeting Inspector John Madden again soon. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

This first novel by South African^-born Airth will definitely leave readers wanting more. The tale introduces John Madden, a Scotland Yard inspector whose experiences before and during World War I have left him scarred both physically and emotionally. A family in Surrey is slaughtered--an apparently motiveless crime. When Madden and his colleagues learn that there have been other similar murders, they know they're dealing with something new--something that won't be given the name serial killer for another six decades or so. Historical mysteries set during the beginnings of modern forensic detection are hot at the moment, but many of them spend far too much time displaying their authors' knowledge and not enough time telling a good story. Readers who thought The Alienist was overburdened by detail, but who liked its treatment of turn-of-the-century investigative technique, will be pleased with Airth's lean, just-the-facts style. And readers who are looking for smart, well-plotted psychological mysteries will be delighted. David Pitt

So you thought British detectives had to focus on "the colonel in the drawing room with a candlestick" solutions? Newcomer Airth blasts that stereotype with this tale of serial murder set in post-World War I Britain, featuring the debut of Inspector John Madden, a veteran whose experiences in the trenches give him an edge in tracking and capturing the killer. Meanwhile, Dr. Helen Blackwell entices Madden to employ psychiatric theories shunned at the time by Scotland Yard to explain and predict the killer's behavior. Airth develops a situation that presages today's much-touted psychological profiling and serves to build an almost excruciatingly suspenseful plot. In addition, his deft handling of the emotional aftereffects of war gives the work an added sense of purpose. Fans of Thomas Harris will enjoy this book and can take heart in knowing that another Madden tale is already in the works.ANancy McNicol, Hagaman Memorial Lib., East Haven, CT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.