"The Blood-Dimmed Tide" by Rennie Airth

My expectations when I began my read of Rennie Airth’s THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE, I must confess, were not very high.  My previous book had excelled in story, characters, and the overall construction of a plot that blended fictionalized tale with historical fact; how could my next book even hope to compare?  Airth’s murder mystery of 1932 England seemed like nothing more than another decent story with likeable characters and little more.  Such was my impression following the first handful of pages.  There were too many characters thrown in, with too little exposition, to differentiate one from the next.

I continued my read in spite of this initial dismay, and I encountered not just a thrill-packed tale of the worst danger imaginable done to an individual person, here, within these pages, was a grand example of a police detective force (Scotland Yard) at the investigative best in deducing the steps of a madman.

It was the classic good versus evil scenario.

The story begins as thus: a girl is missing.  Twelve-year-old Alice Bridger disappeared after walking with a friend leaves her for a moment to retrieve something from her home.  When she returned, Alice was gone.  No one had seen or heard from her since.

John and Helen Madden come onto this scene after a leisurely drive across the countryside.  John, formerly of Scotland Yard, sees his dormant policeman’s intuition kick in, jumping on a lead given by an old tramp, Topper, who comes to them with the girl’s shoe.  When he and the constable in charge of the search discover the girl’s body, John knows they have a villainous killer roaming loose.  Alice had been molested, and her face was bashed in beyond recognition.

The question now before them was where they should look for the monster responsible for such an act.  Who to look for has been decided by the local police, as Topper mentioned another tramp, Beezy, he was supposed to meet; but Madden’s instincts tells him, from the devastation he observed done on the girl’s body, such was not the actions of a wandering vagabond.  What he saw was clearly more heinous than a tramp in a panic.

So the investigation is on.  Track down the killer of little Alice Bridger before he kills again – and again – and again.  However, as Scotland Yard takes over the case (at Madden’s suggestion), a pattern develops that predates Alice Bridger and even extends beyond England shores.  Murders following the identical pattern are discovered in Germany, during a period of time one high-ranking government Intelligence official spent abroad in that country. 

How can Scotland Yard confront such a significant man, in the British governing hierarchy, when all they have to go on is the killer might have driven a rarely-seen particular car identified from a previous killing years earlier?  A car this certain individual owned?

I believe what thrilled me the most from THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE was not the gravity of the crime portrayed.  Any number of other mysteries use sexual assault and murder upon children plotlines.  What I thought was unique here was how the egregious nature of the crime, by an assailant as nefarious as the devil himself, was soundly met by the investigators of Scotland Yard with the same zeal as this demon pursued his victims.  In other words, evil at its worst meets good at its best. 

John Madden is clearly the intuition, but the investigation employs more resources of British police force than just him.  They explore every lead; they develop hypothesis; they interview witnesses; they track down clues.  There are no major or minor characters here.  Everyone has a role to play.

Madden’s wife Helen, not a police officer, casts in her perspective with her deep concern for her husband’s welfare in the dangerous world of police work.  Such adds a bit of drama to the thrill of the chase when she desires to push him away from the investigation, but his skills and talents rise him up for the insatiable challenge of the pursuit.  It is basically something he was born to do.

THE BLOOD-DIMMED TIDE is worth the full attention of anyone who loves a good mystery, not just for the sake of being a good mystery.  It is worth one’s time because it is a good story that makes its characters real and pertinent.  Even the time period itself plays a factor.  1932 in England was the era when the Nazis rose to power in Germany.  While this is not a major player to the story, it adds an element of realistic flavor that enhances the impact  of what could happen if Madden and Scotland Yard fail.