Rennie Airth

A mystery set in that very evocative era between the world wars, in which a police detective recognizes the kind of obsession a killer is driven by as he prepares for his victims. The psychology at the end is a bit heavy handed, but probably apt for the era, and I found the plot and writing very engaging.

Fifth in the John Madden series. It's been awhile since i read one of these books, and I was happy to read Rennie Airth's perfectly crafted mysteries again. In this book WWII is over, but London is still dealing with the aftereffects of The Blitz. John and his Helen have moved out to the country, and John now considers himself a farmer. He has managed to put his former life as a Chief Inspector in London behind him. Then his old mentor, retired Chief Inspector Angus Sinclair has asked for show more his help to look into an old ten-year-old murder case-- the slaying of a young woman on a country estate. New evidence has turned up and Sinclair isn't comfortable with how the case ended, even though the man that was arrested confessed and had been executed. It all starts out innocuously enough and Madden is almost convinced that the case had been handled correctly. Then bodies start dropping and it is apparent that injustice has been done. John is forced to re-examine his thought processes and his closeness to one of the people that had been at that unforgettable dinner ten years ago. This is a tight and controlled mystery series, and actually could be used as a teaching tool helping others to learn how to construct a mystery novel and a mystery series. I wish there were more books for me to read, but the next one is the last in this series. Highly recommend. show less

Second in a series featuring retired Scotland Yard inspector John Madden. In this installment,set between the two world wars, the Yard investigates a serial killer loose in the countryside. Interesting perspective on the whole "profile of a psychopath" thing because of the time-setting. Also it's always eye-opening to read about British coppers who go after the bad guys virtually unarmed and then anguish over breaking a child-killer's wrist in the course of apprehending him. A very good show more suspenseful read. show less

A few things come to my attention with this reading - first is the burgeoning forensic analysis and psychological profiling aspects; distrusted and dismissed by many at this time, they come to be foundational in crime solving 100 years on. Second, we have a serial killer motivated by who knows what - still the most difficult criminal to catch even now. How baffled they were because as sane and law-abiding folks, the cops just can't put themselves into his head as to how and why he does the show more killing. Even with sophisticated criminal profiling these days, it's a chilling and widely scattered prospect. The third things is how similar the watching for weeks or months is to the Tooth Fairy character in Red Dragon. In both books, the investigators find and catalog the detritus left behind in the places the killer watches. show less