Review: Dark Water by Robert Bryndza

Title: Dark Water
Author: Robert Bryndza
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: 20th October 2016
Page: 341
Source: Review Copy
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon

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.

I can't believe that it was only in February of this year that Robert Bryndza's first crime novel, The Girl in the Ice, was released, and here we are at book number three already. A consistent fixture near the top of the Amazon chart, Robert's books are enjoyed worldwide and if you are one of the few people left to discover the Erika Foster series, then believe me when I say you are missing out on some of the most addictive books the genre has to offer and should read them right away.

To put into context just how much I enjoyed Dark Water, I read it for a few hours last night and then woke up and finished the rest of it in one sitting. It's a gripping tale that kept me enthralled, and guessing, throughout and then slapped me in the face at the end with a brilliant twist. I immediately headed onto Twitter to inform the world (or the small section of it that follows me) just what a fantastic book it was. I think I can safely say that this might be the best book yet in the series simply because of how much it consumed me, and how brilliant the twist was.

Dark Water sees Erika Foster with yet another difficult case to solve, one that again finds both her life and career in danger. But, Erika isn't one to shy away from a case and when the discovery of a stash of drugs at a disused quarry also unearths the skeleton of a young child, Erika will do whatever it takes to first become the SIO of the case, and to find out who was responsible for the murder and burial of the child, a girl named Jessica Collins who made headline news when she went missing twenty-six years ago.

It's fair to say that Dark Water is a lot less darker than Robert's previous books, but this is in no way a negative thing because the focus throughout is completely on character development and the investigation itself and I thoroughly enjoyed following it and playing detective myself. From the scenes in the police station to those following the team in the field, the whole thing felt believable and extremely authentic and I was reminded of Lynda La Plante's books numerous times as I read because the standard of writing and storytelling here is extremely high. Familiar faces return in Dark Water but I also enjoyed seeing some new faces as Erika has found herself relocated to Bromley police station. I particularly enjoyed reading about John, who is a new member of Erika's team who I thought was hilarious and a great addition. Erika herself goes on a bit of a journey of self-discovery in this book and I enjoyed some of the developments her personal life went on and look forward to seeing that explored more in the future.

I love crime fiction that has a historical element and Erika and her team must sift through a tonne of evidence to attempt to find out who was responsible for what happened to Jessica Collins, and if they are even still alive. There's so many different routes for the team to go down that the story is so action-packed throughout and the reader never fully knows just where the plot is going to go. It is red herrings galore and I loved it. There's numerous threads running alongside the main case and a variety of different suspects find themselves in the frame for the murder. I knew there was some kind of twist coming and so I came up with an idea in my head of what had happened to Jessica. I'm saying nothing except that I was completely wrong. Instead Robert totally threw me off course and I did not see the ending coming. In fact, it was more than a little emotional and will definitely leave a lasting impression on my mind. I don't know what else I can say except I just loved reading Dark Water and cannot recommend it enough. This is a series that every crime fiction fan needs to read.