Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
River of Darkness  By  cover art

River of Darkness

By: Rennie Airth
Narrated by: Christopher Kay
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

In 1921, the bloodied bodies of Colonel Fletcher, his wife and two staff are found in a manor house in Surrey. The police have put the murders down to a violent robbery, but Detective Inspector Madden from Scotland Yard has his own suspicions. In the meantime the killer is plotting his second strike.

©1999 Rennie Airth (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC

More from the same

What listeners say about River of Darkness

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    204
  • 4 Stars
    161
  • 3 Stars
    80
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    9
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    235
  • 4 Stars
    118
  • 3 Stars
    40
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    10
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    178
  • 4 Stars
    132
  • 3 Stars
    69
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

New Mystery Written in 1920's Style-What A Thrill!

Mysteries written in the 20s or 30s -- or set in the 20s or 30s -- are some of my favorites. Rennie Airth has written a wonderful story, evocative of post WWI era, but introducing modern elements, like a serial killer with psychological problems. The characters are well-drawn, the plot keeps you interested, and a little love story is thrown in for added enjoyment. Christopher Kay does an excellent job narrating, making vaious regional British accents sound believable (at least to an American!) and still making them understandable.

I will definitely be looking for more from Airth.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional Story

This book kept me up all night listening. While seemingly a story of gratuitous murder, River of Darkness also explores the theme of how a person's psyche long after a war is over. War, in fact, is never over for some. Airth skillfully weaves together a police investigation, a love story, and a killer's narrative. I highly recommend this book. The narrator was excellent and his regional accents sounded authentic, at least to my untrained ear.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Story could lose the romance.

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

If you like romances with a bit of detective work thrown in you would probably enjoy this book.

Would you ever listen to anything by Rennie Airth again?

No.

Have you listened to any of Christopher Kay’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time, he was adequate.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I though it was trying to ride the fence between romance and mystery/war in order to interest a broader audience. Failed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

This Mystery Does Not Sacrifice Story

River of Darkness exceeded my expectations. I thought I was buying a detective yarn, where a brilliant detective would be paired against a wily and diabolical killer, chasing clue after clue until finally piecing together the mystery. And make no mistake, those elements are strong throughout the book, but at the same time, RoD offers quite a bit more.

Like all the best stories, this is really about living people, not murders. This is somewhat ironic, given that when we first meet him, the protagonist is a man in many respects already dead. Set just a few years after WWI, the echoes of that terrible conflict are still very much present in the world of "River." It seems to stain combatants and non-combatants alike, men and women both.

Despite the grisly subject matter and the sense of ennui that seems to surround so many of the characters when we first meet them, this is ultimately a positive, redemptive book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

I wanted to like it

I did want to like this book. I like the Ian Rutledge series and honestly, this is very close in premise to them. Both main characters are Scotland Yard Inspectors damaged by the First World War.

Alas, I am afraid I didn't. First of all, the whole romance part was just annoying. The book is overly long as it is and every time it dipped into romance novel territory I rolled my eyes and sped up the reader. I don't mind a little romance in a mystery series (I LOVE Lord Peter and Harriet), but I really only find it less than annoying when the relationship develops in any realistic way. But when characters develop "undying love" for each other with in minutes of meeting and have sex (especially in period pieces where the social mores were so very different) in the middle of the investigation, I just check out. Perhaps if the sex scenes were more realistic and less breathless romance novel-y..but no I wish it was not there at all.

It was also overly long. Long is not bad if it is riveting. This wasn't. This was lots of extra scenes thrown in that really didn't need to be there (or didn't need to be so long). I kept speeding up the reader just to get through much of it.

The plot was also predictable. I saw the "twist" at the end coming. The idea that you know who the murderer is is from nearly the beginning of the book was moderately interesting at first, but as it dragged on I just wanted them to catch him and be done.

The one redeeming value of the book was the characters. I did like Madden and the other characters for the most part. The narrator also did a good job.

I didn't hate this book with a blue and fiery passion, I just wanted to like it couldn't.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

More Please!

Great book for this genre. I would love to see more of Rennie Airth's work if available.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Pleasant and Familiar

A nice if formulaic historical serial killer mystery. Unlike many mysteries, the question isn't whodunnit, but rather when will he be caught and why does he do it? It's an interesting enough premise that suffers a bit with the length of the novel. The perspective shifts between characters occasionally at chapter breaks which was a bit disorienting to listen to. However, the narrator has a pleasantly dry British reading that made it easy to let the story ramble on. Perhaps one of the more unnecessary plot aspects is a tacked on romance between one of the main characters and the village doctor. Not enough time is given to the relationship to let it develop enough that I felt invested. The doctor, while an important character early in the novel, fades out of the plot in the second and third parts, which further derails the attempt at a romantic subplot.

That being said, I did enjoy the book and am interested in reading more of the authors work.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

characters, story and narrator ❤

Ronnie Airth. is such a good story teller. the character development is so complete for me and combined with Christopher Key as narrator. makes this one I listen too. over and over.
traveling so much for work. this is lime my bed time story.

I would recommend this audio. I wish Mr Airth had his other books in audio format. with Mr Key.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Delightful New Series!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely yes! I would recommend it for anyone who loves mysteries, complex characters, and a powerful story.

What other book might you compare River of Darkness to and why?

I love mysteries and suspenseful books like Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Charles Todd, and Louise Penny, but have read all of those. This was an amazing find and I wish there were more in Airth's series!

What about Christopher Kay’s performance did you like?

I thought it was varied and that he captured a great range of emotion throughout the book, especially for some of the darker moments.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I broke it up since I'm in grad school but it became harder and harder to turn it off!!

Any additional comments?

This is a wonderful mystery and anyone who likes Agatha Christie, Charles Todd, or Louise Penny will love this new series and the depth of these captivating characters. I also hope that Audible makes the 2nd and 3rd books in the series quickly, since only the 1st and 4th have been recorded so far!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

same old same old

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

damaged hero, traumatic memories, typical serial killer
mediocre writing
bring back Reginald Hill!!!

What could Rennie Airth have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

start again with new characters plot and narrator

How did the narrator detract from the book?

many English narrators confuse narration with elocution. Kay is not the worst, I'd give that honor to John Lee, but he's pretty bad

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from River of Darkness?

discard script

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful