The Decent Inn of Death

Set in post-WWII England, Airth’s outstanding sixth John Madden mystery (after 2017’s The Death of Kings) takes retired Scotland Yard chief inspector Angus Sinclair, a series regular, to Hampshire to visit friends. From his host, Sinclair learns that Greta Hartmann, the local church’s German organist, drowned in a stream after slipping and hitting her head on a rock. The official verdict of accident is challenged by Greta’s housemate, Vera Cruickshank, who refuses to believe that her close friend, who always forded the stream with great care, just slipped. Vera’s argument impresses Sinclair, and his suspicions of foul play are strengthened when he learns that Greta was unsettled after a chance encounter with a man whose car had broken down. Given Greta’s nationality, Sinclair considers the possibility that she recognized a Nazi war criminal, who subsequently killed her to keep her quiet. The suspense heightens once Madden, a shell-shocked WWI veteran, gets involved in the search for the murderer. Charles Todd fans will be pleased. Agent: Agent: Joy Harris, Joy Harris Literary. (Jan.)