Saturday 4 February 2017

Book Review - Dark Water by Robert Bryndza - Back Catalogue Books



Back Catalogue Books is my new regular Saturday feature, focusing on books that are not the latest releases. There is going to be a mix of Q&As and also reviews, depending on what I have the space for. 

If you are an author wanting to take part in Back Catalogue Books then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you. 

I hope everyone enjoys this weekly look back at some of the slightly older books that are about but still great, and that I eventually make a dent in my TBRs as a result of it!

Can't believe how many months it has taken me to get around to reading the latest in the Erika Foster series, so long that Robert Bryndza even had another book out since!

Amazon UK
Title: Dark Water
Author: Robert Bryndza
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Netgalley
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 20th October 2016
Rating: 4.5 Stars


Beneath the water the body sank rapidly. Above her on dry land, the nightmare was just beginning.

When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip-off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on the outskirts of London, she orders for it to be searched. From the thick sludge the drugs are recovered, but so is the skeleton of a young child. 

The remains are quickly identified as seven-year-old Jessica Collins. The missing girl who made headline news twenty-six years ago. 

As Erika tries to piece together new evidence with the old, she must dig deeper and find out more about the fractured Collins family and the original detective, Amanda Baker. A woman plagued by her failure to find Jessica. Erika soon realises this is going to be one of the most complex and demanding cases she has ever taken on. 

Is the suspect someone close to home? Someone is keeping secrets. Someone who doesn’t want this case solved. And they’ll do anything to stop Erika from finding the truth. 

With each book that I read in this series, I am becoming hooked faster and faster, while enjoying each story more and more, as I learn more about the police team investigating the crimes.  It was lovely to not only see Detective Erika Foster again, but her previous partners Moss and Peterson, in addition to other recurring characters. 

What wasn't recurring of course was the crime being investigated. Erika while searching for evidence on the case she was working on, stumbles across the skeleton of a child. It turns out its of missing 7 year old Jessica Collins, who disappeared without trace twenty six years ago, and was never solved. 

Erika insists on being the SIO (Senior Investigating Officer) of this case, and re-opens the cold case with fresh eyes, and is determined to solve it, despite being told how hard it was first time around.  

I was fascinated in seeing how this case evolved, with turns I wasn't necessarily expecting, as there just wasn't huge amount of evidence at all. I was interested to see just what effect the original investigation had on the detective in charge at the time Amanda Baker, who hasn't fared well.  There were also other officers that caught my interest but not for the best of reasons. 

Dark Water can definitely be read as a standalone book in this series, however to really get a feel for the characters you may want the background in detail from the previous two which are also excellent books. 

I really enjoyed the small chapters where we could see something from a different point of view, but for the majority of the book had no idea exactly how it fitted into the story. Meant we had a bit more information than the police, but still not necessarily enough to know who committed the crime. 

You may think that the danger level will be quite low given its a cold case, but whoever it was that got away with the crime all those years ago, is determined to stay undiscovered so anyone investigating now was potentially in trouble. 

Dark Water is another thrilling addition to the Detective Erika foster series, and was another very interesting case at the heart of it. I also liked seeing some personal development from Erika, and look forward to seeing where the series goes next. 

Thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

1 comment:

  1. I've not heard of this series. what do you think makes it different from all the detective series around?

    ReplyDelete

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