Author: Robert Bryndza
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: October 2016
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: Beneath the water the body sank rapidly. She would lie still and undisturbed for many years but 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 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 realizes 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.
From the million-copy bestselling author of The Girl in the Ice and The Night Stalker, comes the third heart-stopping book in the Detective Erika Foster series.
My Thoughts: Once again, Robert Bryndza delivers a fantastic installment of his Detective Erika Foster series with Dark Water that has Erika working on a most difficult case involving the disappearance of a little girl twenty-six years earlier. During a routine narcotics investigation, Erika’s team discover the skeletal remains of Jessica Collins who disappeared without a trace over two decades ago. Despite the initial arrest of a suspect, nobody was ever convicted of the crime and the family never received closure.
This story really grabbed me hard and wouldn’t let go. I felt a lot of empathy for this little girl and her family, but also for Erika. The grief she lives with everyday over losing her husband at times paralyzes her and she demonstrates so much empathy for this family that I wondered if she was getting too close and losing sight of the investigation.
The most interesting thing with this investigation for me are the forces at work in the shadows trying to intercept intel and plant tracking devices to stop any forward progress. Who killed this little girl and why, but the bigger question is how far are they willing to go to ensure their identities remain buried? With books of this genre, I have to be extra careful not to focus too much on solving the crime as it can sometimes detract from my enjoyment of the story. I could not even begin to try to solve this one.
This author does a brilliant job of weaving all the threads of this case together so precisely that it was impossible for me to form a conclusion. I even began to suspect that the original suspect may have been set up. I had a lot of empathy for Erika and the frustration she is feeling. Erika also receives unexpected visitors when her sister and three children arrive for an unannounced visit. I had to admire how she compartmentalizes her surroundings with precision and excellent detail as she does with her case assignments.
It took me until the last 7% of the book to realize who the villain was, which was about the same time Erika does and what a shock it was when it was revealed. This author does an amazing job of capturing the reader’s attention and emotions with intense plots, surprise twists and fascinating characters. There are currently eight books in this series and I look forward to what Erika takes on next. To completely understand Erika’s backstory and the interpersonal relationships going on, it’s vital that this series be read in order.
My Final Verdict: Overall, if you like gritty, dark, tense stories with twists, turns, and surprises that knock you off your feet, this is a great series to go with. Robert Bryndza is an author everyone should be adding to their must-read list.
Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
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