A review by kansas_girl
Down a Dark River by Karen Odden

adventurous dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Down a Dark River by Karen Odden is a stunningly absorbing novel of murder, revenge, betrayal, and love. This is the first of Odden’s mysteries with Inspector Michael Corravan of Scotland Yard, who seeks a murderer in the dark streets of 1878 London.  The culprit is on a killing spree, murdering young women, and setting them afloat in boats on the Thames, but even Corravan’s experience as a lighterman on the river in his youth is not helping him to find the perplexing links among the victims. Corravan is a wonderful creation: an orphan out of Whitechapel, a former bare-knuckles fighter, who struggles with authority, and with his own sense of self-worth. But he is street-smart and intuitive and commands the loyalty of those for whom he has done any good turn. Odden’s prose is atmospheric and compelling, and this slice of 19th-century London feels as real as the stench of the mighty river at its heart.