The Death of Kings

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 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 show more 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

Oddly, at the same time I read this book, I was listening to Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly, and watching an episode of Silent Witness, (at different times of day). All three involved the Chinese Triads -- organized crime. I enjoyed the Silent Witness episode; have somewhat given up on Nine Dragons; but Rennie Airth's book was definitely the best of the lot. I've always enjoyed "cold case" stories, and this book, set in 1949, harks back to the pre-war era. The novel is filled with moral complexity as well as great plotting and a sense of the times of its setting. Highly recommended

Once again a fascinating book by Airth. I'm generally pretty good at untangling the clues, but I didn't figure this one out until near the very end.
John Madden again comes out of retirement and, working with other retired detectives and some active ones he's worked with in the past, solves a reopened case. Most interesting to followers of this series will be the continuing development of Lilly Poole as she moves from PC to Detective Sergeant.
I have no idea if Airth will ever write another: We can only hope he does.

This is a plot driven police procedural murder mystery novel set in post WW2 England.
The story starts in 1938 when a drifter is convicted and hanged for the murder of a young woman visiting the country from London. Eleven years later new information is sent anonymously to the investigating officer that suggests the police botched their investigation and that the wrong person was convicted. The resulting investigation is the story of the book. Fairly quickly a couple of suspects is identified but circumstances work against the investigators to promptly bring the killer to justice, there's a lot of wait and see. Eventually, at the very end of the book the killer is revealed, although several hints were dropped along the way. The show more introduction of the Chinese triads is an exotic touch even though nothing much turns on it.
This is the 5th book in a series (none of which I have read) and there's obviously some backstory coming out of the earlier books. It would fill in some gaps in this story, but it is not necessary to know it in order to enjoy the story.
It's a good read that moves at a leisurely pace. show less

A novel displaying good police work, the case evolving step by step but no surprises.