Review | The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza

The Girl in the Ice

by Robert Bryndza
Published February 12, 2016
Goodreads: See here
Mystery/Crime/Thriller

Plot at a Glance:

Her eyes are wide open. Her lips parted as if to speak. Her dead body frozen in the ice…She is not the only one.

When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation.

The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London.

What dark secrets is the girl in the ice hiding?

As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer is closing in on Erika.

The last investigation Erika led went badly wrong… resulting in the death of her husband. With her career hanging by a thread, Erika must now battle her own personal demons as well as a killer more deadly than any she’s faced before. But will she get to him before he strikes again?

Reviewed: 

Robert Bryndza has been high on my list of authors to try ever since I started blogging regularly last year. I’m happy to report that my first excursion into DCI Erika Foster’s world of high stakes serial killer hunting did not disappoint!

Bryndza nails the dark and somber tone associated with this genre so well that I find it difficult to imagine that he began his career as a novelist writing romantic comedies. From the moment this book opens in the dead of winter with a killer on the hunt for a new victim, the reader knows that they’re in for a wild ride.

The urgency of the situation, and the desperation Erika feels to crack the case and put the killer behind bars is palpable the whole way through. 

I have to hand it to Bryndza for doing so well at obfuscating who the killer was without purposefully misleading the audience with unfair red herrings. I’ve read a few mystery thrillers where the author leverages the reveal as an unfair twist to shock the reader one last time, which never fails to annoy me. The mystery of “who done it” is done well here.It’s satisfying and the not only does the reveal match the hints dropped along the way, but it’s also a really satisfying final showdown that kept me turning the pages right up until the end.

There are a slew of really well crafted characters here, but obviously my favorite of the bunch is Erika Foster herself. She’s damaged by the loss of her husband before the start of the series, and this case is her first since returning to work. She’s eager to prove to herself and her boss that she can handle the stress of an investigation, though with a killer who remains one step ahead of her at every turn, her mettle is definitely tested.

I really enjoyed the spiritual journey her character goes on.She’s channeling the pain of her grief into her work, and I became eager to see her succeed and find peace.

The supporting cast was great too. My personal favorite though was Moss, Erika’s spunky partner on the force. She was always a well timed bit of comic relief, and the support she pays to Erika along the way had her charming her way right into my heart.

All in all this was a really great read and well worth my time! I will definitely be continuing the series at some point!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 = 5/5 stars! An engaging and suspenseful read! 

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Have you read this series? What do you think of the next books? Read any other great police procedurals?

xoxo