The Girl in the Ice (Erika Foster #1) by Robert Bryndza Book Review. #Bookreview #Bookreviews #BookBlogger #BookBloggers #Review #Thriller #Crime #Books @bookouture @RobertBryndza

• The Girl in the Ice (Erika Foster #1).
• Robert Bryndza.
• 400 pages.
• Crime / Thriller / Mystery / Fiction.
• My Rating: Hell Yeah Book Review.

Book Blurb.

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?

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I’d heard about Robert Bryndza from my fellow bloggers. As such, when I recently saw The Girl in the Ice on the charity bookcase at work I knew that I had to give it a read.👍📚

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The Girl in the Ice is the first book in the Erika Foster series by Robert Bryndza and after finishing it I can certainly say that it’s a series I will be on the lookout for (the sixth book has recently been released) and when time allows will definitely be continuing.

DCI Foster returns to the police force after a leave of absence, recuperating due to injuries sustained in the line of duty after an investigation that she was leading went wrong resulting in officers dying including her husband, Mark.

Transferred from Manchester to Lewisham Row Police Station, London, Foster is subsequently thrown straight in at the deep end as in her first assignment back she is given the role of lead investigator in the murder of Andrea Douglas-Browne, a young and attractive socialite who had previously been reported as missing and whose body has now been found frozen under ice, yes, she is the girl in the ice of the books title.

During the investigation, links come to light that connects the murder of Andrea to the deaths of three prostitutes who were all killed in a similar way. Nothing originally came of the investigations into the deaths of the prostitutes, after all, they were only immigrants, in the UK illegally and no-one really cared about their demise. But, the killing of a socialite with a wealthy and prominent father who is in the public eye and of course, the victim’s class comes into play, money and power talk and so, people stand up and take notice. Power also influences and with Andrea’s father being an influential figure and holding sway over certain members of the police force we find the investigation into his daughter’s murder being hampered as he doesn’t want his reputation to be ruined which leads to the uncooperative family (gotta love dysfunctional family’s) complicating the investigation.

Unsurprisingly, Erika is troubled by the loss of her husband, she has a past, she is flawed and can be reckless and those traits are what makes her a complex and convincing lead character. She struggles with her issues and her return to the force. Railing against the bureaucracy and disobeying those above her in her attempts to both prove herself and solve the case.

There are a few chapters spread throughout The Girl in the Ice that are told from the perspective of the killer. It’s only a small thing but it’s a nice addition and gives you a brief insight into the depraved mind of the murderer.

The horrific killing at the start, the investigation, the revelations, the myriad assortment of interesting and well-developed characters, the London location and the timing of the story, taking place in a gloomy and leaden January with winter still in full flow all add to the atmosphere and aid in the darkness of the tale and everything about The Girl in the Ice slots into place and fits together really well.

I found The Girl in the Ice to be a tremendous start to the Erika Foster series by Bryndza with the author doing a great job of introducing and making you invested in his characters, not only of Erika but of her team members too, namely, Marsh, Moss and Peterson who all come to life on the pages.

The Girl in the Ice is a fast-paced and easy read. It’s not an easy read in the sense of the story as the story told by Bryndza is layered and disturbing with a dark tone throughout but it’s easy in the sense that Bryndza’s writing is addictive. There are no lulls, just the perfect blend of storytelling, characterisation and information pulling you in with short and snappy chapters that keep the story constantly moving forward. Secrets and discoveries abound as the tension escalates and I was kept guessing about the killer’s identity until it was finally revealed.

If I had to describe The Girl in the Ice using only one word I’d use, riveting. I’m not the fastest reader and honestly, I probably verge far nearer to being a slow reader but I breezed through The Girl in the Ice in under two days as there was just something utterly compelling about Bryndza’s book that kept pulling me back to read it.

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Purchase The Girl in the Ice.

Amazon UK  /  Amazon US  /  Book Depository

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