Dark Water – Robert Bryndza

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 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.

*********

Robert Bryndza has rapidly become one of my favourite authors.  This is the third book in the Detective Erika Foster series and once again Rob has written a book which captured my interest right from the start.

Erika Foster has recently been transferred (rather under a cloud) from Lewisham to Bromley and is no longer with the Murder investigation unit. She is now assigned to a team that is part of Specialist, Organised and Economic Crime.

During a search of a flooded, disused quarry, searching for a consignment of drugs, the Police divers also come across a bundle of plastic entwined in chains. Inside was a small skeleton, apparently a child. The remains are eventually linked to a 7 year old girl who had gone missing without trace 26 years earlier.

Erika asks to be put in charge of case despite the fact that her unit does not deal in kidnap or murder cases. She has a good track record in solving difficult cases but her boss, Superintendent Yale, doesn’t agree to her request.

She then pleads with her old boss Commander Paul Marsh, and ultimately with the Assistant Commissioner. She is eventually put in charge of the case however she is to run it from Bromley and report directly to Paul Marsh. It soon becomes apparent there is little to go on. The investigation into the child’s disappearance didn’t get very far at the time. No one had witnessed anything. There was one suspect who was arrested and questioned, but released a few days later without charge. The female officer in charge of the missing person investigation was later thrown off the case.

Oh yes, and there appears to be someone who doesn’t want the case solved, but who and why?

I love that there is some continuity in Robert’s Erika Foster books. We meet characters (former colleagues) who appear in earlier books but we are also given a little of their background so that Dark Water can stand alone (it’s very worthwhile reading the series – they are all excellent books).

The plot is good. I love the balance between description and dialogue. I like the way we get to know a little bit more of Erika in each book (although I have to say I think she is mellowing a little!). She is an interesting character, not without her issues. She is a good police officer but sometimes deviates from standard procedures and hasn’t risen up the ranks quite as quickly as you would expect, given her success rate with difficult cases. However I got a sense that things might be starting to improve for Erika in respect of her personal relationships.

There are plenty of twists and turns and attempts to thwart the investigation. Once again great storytelling. Robert Bryndza writes my favourite kind of book – one that keeps me up to the wee small hours, bleary eyed, but desperate to find out what happens next.

I would love to read more books in this series. I hope it’s not too long until the next one is published!

Robert has also written a series of Coco Pinchard books which are funny and very entertaining.  His website can be found here.

Safe With Me – K L Slater

Thirteen years ago someone did something very bad to Anna. Now it’s her turn to get even …

Anna lives a solitary existence, taking solace in order and routine. Her only friend is the lonely old lady next door. She doesn’t like to let people to get too close – she knows how much damage they can do.

Then one ordinary day Anna witnesses a devastating road accident and recognises the driver as Carla, the woman who ruined her life all those years ago. Now it’s Anna’s chance to set things straight but her revenge needs to be executed carefully …

First she needs to get to know Liam, the man injured in the accident. She needs to follow the police investigation. She needs to watch Carla from the shadows…

But as Anna’s obsession with Carla escalates, her own secrets start to unravel. Is Carla really dangerous or does Anna need to worry about someone far closer to home?

*********

Pychological thriller?  Very much so. The tension is relentless right from the start and you feel compelled to keep reading.

The prologue describes a chilling scene where an unknown arsonist starts a fire and then the story switches to the present day and the scene of a road accident ….

When Anna witnesses a road accident she recognises the driver as Carla, someone from her past. You realise she has been obsessed with finding Carla for many years who she considers ruined her life. Anna realises this could be her chance to set things straight and extract her revenge. She also sits with the injured motorcyclist, Liam, until the ambulance arrives.

She then visits Liam in hospital and ‘invites’ herself into his life, desperately wanting to to become part of it even although he lives with his grandmother.

I felt Anna was quite a sad character. You know right from the start she has some issues/problems. She has a job but doesn’t seem to socialise with her colleagues. Her only ‘friend’ is the old lady next door, Joan Peat. Anna seems to have a need to be needed. She must have order and routine just to keep functioning but as the story progresses you sense her obsessions escalating and things spiralling out of control.

Much of the story is told in Anna’s voice and her thoughts are very chilling at times but some of it is told from Joan Peat’s point of view. She has known Anna since she was a little girl and through her we learn a bit about Anna’s past.

The writing is good. It’s not a difficult read although sometimes I felt I would have liked a little bit of relief from the escalating tension. (That’s not really a criticism; in a thriller tension is good. Yes?) There are a few twists in the story which make it a very satisfying read.

It’s a really good debut novel and I would love to read more.

The publisher is Bookouture and Safe With Me is due out on 3 November 2016.  The author’s webpage can be found here.

(My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy).

French Rhapsody – Antoine Laurain

Middle-aged doctor Alain Massoulier has received a life-changing letter—thirty-three years too late.

Lost in the Paris postal system for decades, the letter from Polydor, dated 1983, offers a recording contract to The Holograms, in which Alain played lead guitar. Back then The Holograms had believed in their cutting-edge sound. However, the music industry remained indifferent, and eventually the band split up, each going their own way.

Alain is overcome by nostalgia, and is tempted to track down the members of the group. But in a world where everything and everyone has changed . . . where will his quest take him?

*********

I’m not sure exactly why, but I loved this book. It’s an effortless read and very entertaining.

Alain Massoulier is a middle-aged doctor who leads a comfortable, if perhaps predictable, life in Paris.

Out of the blue he receives a potentially life-changing letter that had been posted 33 years earlier and had languished in the French postal system all these years. In 1983 he had been a member of a band The Holograms and the letter was from Polydor offering them a recording contract – 33 years too late as having failed to make a name for themselves as a band, they all went their separate ways.

Alain is thrown by this letter and becomes quite nostalgic, searching the house for a box of band photos and a cassette recording, desperately wanting to listen to a particular track that had been playing in his head since the letter’s arrival.

As he reminisces we learn how the five band members from very diverse backgrounds got together to form the band. The more he thinks of the past and the letter, the more he experiences feelings of fury and injustice. He has thoughts of what might have been. I liked the lines in the book, “You think you have buried your youthful dreams, that they’ve dissolved in the fog of passing years and then you realise it’s not true! The corpse is still there, terrifying and unburied.” He decides to search for his former bandmates and try to make contact to tell them what has transpired. He is also hoping that one of them will have a copy of “Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On”, the track that had impressed the record company.

I was never in a band, I’m not a doctor, I’m not even in my 50s (I’m older than that) but somehow I could connect with the story – maybe it’s wondering what might have been if another path had been taken? The book is funny, nostalgic, charming and at there’s a bit of satire in there too. It’s well written and has some great characters.

The characters are all very diverse. Some have made a name for themselves in the 33 years that have passed. They are all interesting and well drawn. I love how the present and the past are interwoven almost seamlessly. Oh yes, and there are a couple of nice twists in the story.

The book was translated from the French by Jane Aitken and Emily Boyce. Publication date is 11 October 2016 but it is available now from Gallic Books

(My thanks to NetGalley and Gallic Books for providing me with a review copy)

Holding – Graham Norton

Graham Norton’s masterful debut is an intelligently crafted story of love, secrets and loss.

The remote Irish village of Duneen has known little drama; and yet its inhabitants are troubled. Sergeant PJ Collins hasn’t always been this overweight; mother of­ two Brid Riordan hasn’t always been an alcoholic; and elegant Evelyn Ross hasn’t always felt that her life was a total waste.

So when human remains are discovered on an old farm, suspected to be that of Tommy Burke – a former­ love of both Brid and Evelyn – the village’s dark past begins to unravel. As the frustrated PJ struggles to solve a genuine case for the first time in his life, he unearths a community’s worth of anger and resentments, secrets and regret.

Darkly comic, touching and at times profoundly sad. Graham Norton employs his acerbic wit to breathe life into a host of loveable characters, and explore – with searing honesty – the complexities and contradictions that make us human.

*********

I like Graham Norton and I like his humour and his chat. Holding is his debut novel and I wasn’t sure what to expect. However I really enjoyed it. He tells a very good story.

Duneen is a sleepy Irish village where nothing much happens and the residents go about their daily routines although everyone seems to very interested in everyone else’s business. Graham sets the scene beautifully in the first few chapters, describing various locations in the village and the inhabitants. It is easy to picture the people and places. The story is told with humour but Graham doesn’t poke fun at anyone. There are several threads to the story but all cleverly connecting in some way.

The local guard is 53 year old Sergeant P J Collins who is very overweight, unfit and single. There has never been much crime for him to deal with until human remains are uncovered on an old farm by builders and he has to investigate. In fact it’s his first major case although he has to involve colleagues from Cork.

As the investigation proceeds we learn more and more about the various characters and the dark secrets they have been holding on to for a very long time.

There’s Brid Riordan, a wife and mother, who drinks more than she should;

Mrs O’Driscoll who has the local shop/post office/cafe.

The three unmarried Ross sisters  who lived together in the family home just outside the village.

Mrs Meany, the old lady who is Sergeant Collins full time housekeeper and cook.

Susan Hickey, a bit of a busybody and gossip.

Although much of the book centres on the human remains found and the investigation by Sergeant Collins and his colleagues from Cork, I wouldn’t say it was a crime thriller. It is a murder mystery but I feel the story is more about the people and how their pasts connect, and the secrets that are revealed.  I felt quite sad for some of the characters and annoyed at others. Parts of the story made me chuckle as I pictured the scene.

It’s a cosy, satisfying read – and very enjoyable and I hope I get to read more novels by Graham Norton.

[My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a review copy]