From the Book Jacket…
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.
*** 3.5/5
TITLE: The Girl in the ice
AUTHOR: Robert Bryndza
PUBLISHED: 12-February-2015
PUBLISHER: Bookouture
GENRE: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
AMAZON: The Girl in the Ice
WEBSITE: Robert Bryndza
A GRIEVING DETECTIVE returns from extended leave at the invitation of the Superintendent charged with the investigation into the murder of a socially connected woman. Tasked with unraveling the mystery of the victim found under the ice, Erika Foster endeavors to reconcile a past tragedy and navigate the politics of a high profile case.
Although DCI Erika Foster has a few unique characteristics, overall she’s identical to other emotionally damaged female detectives whose defense mechanisms manifest in social ineptitude and recklessness. It would be fun to see a woman DCI protagonist who wasn’t devoid of inter-personal skills and professionalism. Based on the physical description of the woman and her erratic behavior, it’s tough to believe her superiors wouldn’t mandate medical leave. Aspects of the plot also felt unbelievable. Although investigations require a healthy dose of luck, Foster seems to stumble unawares onto major clues. She violates standard operating practices more than once, which subsequently contributes to the death of a witness. A misstep in the plot is ignoring the official fall-out, which would be harsh and immediate.
Bryndza does a solid job with descriptive narrative, and the settings are vivid.
The road stretched away behind, a slick of treacle bathed in sodium orange with the train station at its base, which was shuttered in darkness.
The cast of supporting characters—most notably Detective Moss—is well done. The plot is interesting, although a bit disjointed and underwhelming. It touches on the horror of human trafficking but the subplot feels underdeveloped, languishing in the shadow of a pedestrian investigation. This is a solid first attempt at voyaging into the thriller genre. Hopefully the Foster character will evolve and future storylines will delve deeper into the psychological and police procedure side.
