Today I’m going to be reviewing The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza.

Here’s the 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?

Review

I can’t believe this is my first foray into the works of Robert Bryndza but it proves word of mouth and reviews do help. I’ve seen time and time again good things so when I had a little time spare I thought it was about time I give the author a read and see what the fuss is about.

After a very creepy opening that sets the scene superbly and a body is found we meet Detective Erika Foster.

Foster is to lead the murder investigation, but she’s got her own personal baggage coming along too that she has to deal with. I honestly don’t feel you can have a real police procedural type book without that human edge so straight off it’s a big tick for me to know Erkia isn’t perfect and has to find a balance in life as we all do.

I loved the plot and Foster’s no nonsense attitude.. There’s blockers put in her way, pressure from above and the locals but that won’t stop her finding the truth..but those twists along the way were fantastic. Typically when reading this type of book I’m always thinking.. trying to piece things together myself but with The Girl in the Ice I just found myself swept along for the ride.. it’s a harrowing murder but it makes for an engrossing tale and is 1000% times better than some of the stories I’ve seen dramatized for TV.

I particularly liked that the lead role is a female, this just added an extra something as it meant the author could explore the male/female dynamic within the investigation team.

Erika develops and grows quickly as a character and it was amazing to see how fast the author cements her position and style, it was really exciting to feel the cogs turning for her as the pieces fell into place.

Character development is something vitally important to me but what Bryndza seems to effortlessly do is mix that development quickly and in a suitable way leaving the plot to shine… and what a plot it is!

I’m very much late to the party, but better late than never and after learning this was the author’s debut! WOW. Bryndza doesn’t put a foot wrong,

I dare you to pick this up and try to put it back down after a couple chapters… it’s practically impossible.. you’ll be sucked in.

Luckily for me since I’m that late to getting into this there’s no wait for the next in the series.. or the next.. or the next ha ha. Best prepare the wife now then that I’m going to be busy for a bit and to cancel any social activities planned ha 😊

5/5 Stars

To find our more head to Amazon or Goodreads.