The Dead of Winter Book 3: A John Madden Mystery Set In World War II England

'[Rennie Airth's] meticulously detailed procedural mysteries are beautifully written... well worth reading, and rereading.'—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review Rennie Airth's The Decent Inn of Death is forthcoming. On a freezing London night in 1944, Rosa Novak is brutally murdered during a blackout. Scotland Yard suspects the young Polish refugee was the victim of a random act of violence and might have dropped the case if former police investigator John Madden hadn't been her employer. Madden feels he owes it to Rosa to find her killer and pushes the investigation, uncovering her connection to a murdered Parisian furrier, a member of the Resistance, and a stolen cache of diamonds. Delivering the atmospheric writing and compelling characters that have already established Rennie Airth as a master of suspense as well as style, this long-awaited third installment in the John Madden series is historical crime writing at its best.

[Rennie Airth's] meticulously detailed procedural mysteries are beautifully written . . . well worth reading, and rereading.
-Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

On a freezing London night in 1944, Rosa Novak is brutally murdered during a blackout. Scotland Yard suspects the young Polish refugee was the victim of a random act of violence and might have dropped the case if former police investigator John Madden hadn't been her employer. Madden feels he owes it to Rosa to find her killer and pushes the investigation, uncovering her connection to a murdered Parisian furrier, a member of the Resistance, and a stolen cache of diamonds.

Delivering the atmospheric writing and compelling characters that have already established Rennie Airth as a master of suspense as well as style, this long-awaited third installment in the John Madden series is historical crime writing at its best.

The Washington Post - Dennis Drabelle

Airth's books are old-fashioned in one way: Madden is seamlessly admirable. He may live with demons, but this has to do with having experienced the horrors of trench warfare and the deaths of his first wife and child, not with any inherent flaws. At times, his goodness verges on the two-shoes variety. Yet he solves cases by plain, hard work—interviewing witnesses, following up on even tenuous leads, drawing upon his knowledge of the community in which he lives—and not, as Holmes and Poirot often do, by tossing off thunderbolts of you'll-never-guess insight. In an era when our real-life heroes tend to have feet of thick, grubby clay, it can be bracing to spend time with a man who is naturally but not implausibly noble.

The murder of a young Polish girl in wartime London puts John Madden on the trail of a ruthless hired killerOn a freezing London night in 1944, Rosa Novak is brutally murdered during a blackout. The police suspect she was the victim of a random act of violence and might have dropped the case if former police investigator John Madden hadn’t been the victim’s employer.Madden’s old colleagues at Scotland Yard are working on it, but their scant clues lead them to Europe, where the ravages of the war halt their inquiries. Madden feels he owes it to Rosa to find her killer and pushes the investigation until he stumbles upon the dead girl’s connection to a murdered Parisian furrier, a member of the Resistance, and a stolen cache of diamonds.With rich psychological insights and vivid historical details, this riveting third novel in the Madden series promises to expand Airth’s readership among discerning fans of crime fiction. During a blackout on the streets of London on a freezing evening in late 1944, a young Polish land girl, Rosa Nowak, is suddenly and brutally killed. For the police, their resources already stretched by war regulations and the thriving black market, this is a shocking and seemingly random crime. No one can find any reason why someone would want to murder an innocent refugee. For the former police inspector John Madden, the crime hits close to home. Rosa was working on his farm and he feels personally responsible for not protecting her. His old colleagues Angus Sinclair and Billy Styles are still at the Yard, but struggle to make sense of their few clues. Their only lead points towards war-torn Europe - but as the fighting sweeps across the continent, will they find the killer before he strikes again? In wartime London, a woman's murder during a blackout draws the police department's attention when they realize that the former police investigator John Madden had been the victim's employer. In his determination to find the girl's killer, Madden pushes the investigation until he discovers her surprising connection to stolen diamonds and a string of murders A former police investigator tries to solve the murder of his employee, following clues through war-torn Europe, discovering a connection between the victim, a Parisian furrier, a member of the Resistance, and stolen diamonds