London, 1878.
One April morning, a small boat bearing a young woman’s corpse floats down the murky waters of the Thames. When the victim is identified as Rose Albert, daughter of a prominent judge, the Scotland Yard director gives the case to Michael Corravan, one of the only Senior Inspectors remaining after a corruption scandal the previous autumn left the division in ruins. Reluctantly, Corravan abandons his ongoing case, a search for the missing wife of a shipping magnate, handing it over to his young colleague, Mr. Stiles.
An Irish former bare-knuckles boxer and dockworker from London’s seedy East End, Corravan has good street sense and an inspector’s knack for digging up clues. But he’s confounded when, a week later, a second woman is found dead in a rowboat, and then a third. The dead women seem to have no connection whatsoever. Meanwhile, Mr. Stiles makes an alarming discovery: the shipping magnate’s missing wife, Mrs. Beckford, may not have fled her house because she was insane, as her husband claims, and Mr. Beckford may not be the successful man of business that he appears to be.
Slowly, it becomes clear that the river murders and the case of Mrs. Beckford may be linked through some terrible act of injustice in the past—for which someone has vowed a brutal vengeance. Now, with the newspapers once again trumpeting the Yard’s failures, Corravan must dredge up the truth—before London devolves into a state of panic and before the killer claims another innocent victim.
Read the first chapter of Down a Dark River by Karen Odden now!
12 Engaging Book Club Discussion Questions for Down a Dark River
About Karen Odden
Karen received her Ph.D. in English literature from New York University and has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. Down a Dark River is her fourth novel. She resides in Arizona with her husband, two teenage children, and a ridiculously cute beagle named Rosy. Her first novel, A Lady in the Smoke, was a USA Today bestseller and won the New Mexico-Arizona 2017 Book Award for e-Book Fiction. Read More
Accolades for Down a Dark River
“An original, street-smart detective, an intriguing mystery, and delicious Victorian flavor. All my favorite things!”
—Laura Joh Rowland, author of The Ripper’s Shadow, a Victorian Mystery
“Down a Dark River pulls the reader into the place and time as Karen Odden weaves this complex and compelling mystery! A must read for mystery fans!”
—Charles Todd, New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Rutledge mysteries
Karen Odden 