John Madden is the protagonist in a series of historical mystery novels by South African novelist Rennie Airth set in the early twenties to the mid-forties. Inspector John Madden initially works out of Scotland Yard (later leaving Scotland Yard and London). Prior to becoming a detective, he was a veteran of World War I and carries with him some measue of "shell-shock" from the war.John Madden is the protagonist in a series of historical mystery novels by South African novelist Rennie Airth set in the early twenties to the mid-forties. Inspector John Madden initially works out of Scotland Yard (later leaving Scotland Yard and London). Prior to becoming a detective, he was a veteran of World War I and carries with him some measue of "shell-shock" from the war.
"This is the excellent foppery of the world, that, when we are sick in fortune, often the surfeit of our own behaviour, we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars; as if we were villains by necessity, fools by heavenly compulsion, knaves, thieves, and treachers by spherical predominance, drunkards, liars, and adulterers by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion of whore-master man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star!"
Shakespeare, King Lear (Edmund) Act I, scene ii
Sorry, this website uses features that your browser doesn’t support. Upgrade to a newer version of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Edge and you’ll be all set.