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.

Dear Amy – Helen Callaghan

 

DESCRIPTION:

Margot Lewis is the agony aunt for The Cambridge Examiner. Her advice column, Dear Amy, gets all kinds of letters – but none like the one she’s just received:

‘Dear Amy,
I don’t know where I am. I’ve been kidnapped and am being held prisoner by a strange man. I’m afraid he’ll kill me.
Please help me soon,
Bethan Avery’

Bethan Avery has been missing for years. This is surely some cruel hoax. But, as more letters arrive, they contain information that was never made public. How is this happening? Answering this question will cost Margot everything . . .

Dear Amy is a good debut psychological thriller.

It starts with the abduction of teenage schoolgirl Katie Browne who in a moment of anger had decided she was leaving home, had packed a bag, sneaked out of her house and had decided to go to her Dad’s (without telling anyone). It’s a foul, wet, windy night. A car pulls up beside her. The driver calls her name. She doesn’t know him. He offers her a lift. She declines but there is fear in her voice … Just as she’s decided to go back home and face the music she realises that someone is coming up behind her….

The story then switches to the voice of Margot Lewis, a teacher at St Hilda’s Academy who also happens to write the Dear Amy advice column in the Cambridge Examiner. Margot has no children of her own and her husband Eddie has left her for someone else.

Margot’s character seems quite proper and correct – kind of old fashioned and appears to be quite practical and very much in control. She had been Katie’s teacher at one time and was concerned about the missing girl.

Then a letter arrives at the newspaper from a Bethan Avery, who had been missing for almost 20 years, begging for help and saying she has been kidnapped and is held prisoner in a cellar. Was it a prank? Was it genuine? Was it connected to the disappearance of Katie Browne?

Margot tries to find out more about Bethan Avery and wants her to contact her again. Her search for information about Bethan becomes almost an obsession. She’s also annoyed that some people, including the Police, believe that Katie Browne has simply run away from home and Margot feels nobody is really trying to find her. Finally a criminologist called Martin Forrester contacts her regarding the letters from Bethan, telling her the Police provided her details.

As the story progresses we find out a little bit more about Margot via conversations with her soon to be ex-husband and her friend Lily who thinks Margot is taking on too much and will make herself ill.

There are some chilling moments too. A man in a car outside the school, gates, an encounter with a man in a carpark, someone watching and waiting in a car near Margot’s home, silent phone calls.

The tension builds and we see Margot starting to unravel, bit by bit, but still searching for answers in the Bethan Avery case and trying to link it to the disappearance of Katie Browne.

I quite liked the writing style and the various voices telling the story. The dialogue is generally good and although there are some wilder, slightly over the top scenarios that are just too far-fetched, overall I enjoyed this book.

[I received a review copy of Dear Amy  via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]

 Author’s website:   http://ift.tt/1zLBc40

 

In The Clearing – Robert Dugoni

 

Description:  Detective Tracy Crosswhite has a skill, and a soft spot, for tackling unsolved crimes. Having lost her own sister to murder at a young age, Tracy has dedicated her career to bringing justice and closure to the families and friends of victims of crime.

So when Jenny, a former police academy classmate and protégé, asks Tracy to help solve a cold case that involves the suspicious suicide of a Native American high school girl forty years earlier, Tracy agrees. Following up on evidence Jenny’s detective father collected when he was the investigating deputy, Tracy probes one small town’s memory and finds dark, well-concealed secrets hidden within the community’s fabric. Can Tracy uphold the promise she’s made to the dead girl’s family and deliver the truth of what happened to their daughter? Or will she become the next victim?

In The Clearing is the third book in the Tracy Crosswhite series. I stumbled across the second book in the series Her Final Breath last year and enjoyed it so much I then had to read the first book My Sister’s Grave.

In the Clearing has two main threads.  A murder investigation in Seattle (where Tracy is normally based) which seems like a domestic and the 40 year old case in Stoneridge that her friend Jenny asks her to look at. Tracy’s skill seems to be tackling unsolved, older crimes. Although Stoneridge is out of Tracy’s jurisdiction, her friend Jenny wanted an independent assessment of the file in case it had to be officially re-opened. Tracy manages to get permission to investigate from her boss Nolasco on condition she does it in her own time. Luckily she was owed time off and returned to Stoneridge.

As she delves deeper into the case it looks like the town has its share of secrets and possible cover ups. Some people really don’t want anyone to look too closely at the case or have it re-opened. She enlists the help of experts who have access to modern forensics methods.

There were a few twists and turns along the way and the ending wasn’t quite what I expected.

I like Tracy.  She’s hard working, fairly straightforward and tenacious when seeking clues. She takes some risks but I don’t think she’s one for flaunting the rules.  She has a love interest lawyer Dan O’Leary but he only appears briefly in this book.

Tracy’s boss, Captain Johnny Nolasco, doesn’t like Tracy. In fact there’s no love lost between them.  In this book Nolasco seems much more subdued (all part of the story) but I kind of missed the dynamic that was between them in the previous two books.  If you haven’t read the first two books then that doesn’t make any difference.  Each of the books can stand alone but some characters appear in all the books, all with a role to play.

Robert Dugoni has a good writing style – easy to read but a complex enough plot to be a satisfying read.  I love the procedural and forensic detail we get from him. It’s easily understandable and never too complicated or boring. There are a few twists and turns along the way and the ending wasn’t quite what I expected.

This is another of those books where I just had to stay up late to finish it.

Author’s website:   robertdugoni.com

 

Black Widow

Description:  There is no perfect marriage.  There is no perfect murder.  

From Scottish crime master Christopher Brookmyre, Black Widow tells the potent story of a woman who thought she was too late for love, the man who falls for her ambition, and the secret selves that are poised, at any moment, to end everything.

Diana Jager is clever, strong, and successful, a skilled surgeon and fierce campaigner via her blog about sexism in medicine. Yet it takes only hours for her life to crumble when her personal details are released on the internet as revenge for her writing. Then she meets Peter. He is kind, generous, and knows nothing about her past—the second chance she’s been waiting for. Within six months, they are married. Within six more, Peter is dead in a road accident, a nightmare end to their fairy-tale romance. But Peter’s sister Lucy doesn’t believe in fairy tales, and tasks rogue reporter Jack Parlabane with discovering the dark truth behind the woman the media is calling the Black Widow.

Still on the mend from his own relationship wounds after a turbulent divorce, Jack’s investigation into matters of the heart takes him to hidden places no one should ever have to go.

I loved this one. Although it is #7 in the Jack Parlabane series it is the first one I have read – in fact it’s the first Chris Brookmyre book I have ever read, despite several people telling me his books are very, very good and I should read them. The story starts and ends in a court room. In between is a great plot, full of twists and turns, that keeps you gripped right to the end.

It starts with the court listening to a recording of a telephone call reporting a possible accident. “I think I’ve just seen an accident….” says a faceless voice.

Dr Diana Jager stands accused of her husband’s murder – her husband of only a few months. She is a brilliant, career driven, surgeon but apparently not a well liked person.

The story that unfolds is told in various voices: the accused herself, witnesses in the court room, two local police officers who had attended the scene of the road accident and Jack Parlabane, an out of favour investigative journalist, hired by the victim’s sister, all providing background to what happened prior to the case coming to Court.

Some time earlier Dr Jager had been the anonymous author of a blog on the subject of Sexism in Surgery which caused a fair amount of controversy and lively comment. However after writing about hospital IT techs in a very unflattering way, and getting on the wrong side of them, her real name and place of work was leaked and worse, from that, some of the colleagues she had been writing about were also identified and their lives picked apart online. She was forced to resign from a prestigious post and take up employment in a smaller hospital in Inverness.

With this background in mind, it was very surprising that she encountered Peter Elphinstone, an IT tech at work, found they had lots in common, immediately fell in love, and within a very short time the embittered and career driven surgeon was married.

It soon becomes apparent that the honeymoon period is at an end, or perhaps never even got started.

There is an accident, a car is found in the river and is identified as belonging to Peter Elphinstone the husband of Dr Diana Jager. There was no body in the car but there are signs that the driver managed to get out but presumably got caught up in the strong current.

Peter’s sister, Lucy, asks Jack Parlabane for help shortly after the car is found. She is distressed and is looking for closure. He is having his own problems but decides to investigate.

The author cleverly feeds us little bits of information throughout, creating doubt. Is Diana Jager a psychopath? Is Peter hiding something? Who is the real victim? The two police officers who attended the scene feel something isn’t quite right but can’t quite get their superiors to listen. Lucy, the sister, has doubts about her brother’s marriage and thought he was unhappy and in trouble. Parlabane is sufficiently interested to take on the investigation.

The twists and turns in the story lead to family secrets, lies, hidden pasts, shady dealings with gangsters, online services, etc

I was kept guessing right to the end and it was one of these books that keep you reading into the ‘wee small hours’.

Great characters and a complex but never confusing plot. I loved it.

[Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a digital copy of this book]

Black Widow is available now in the UK.

Authors website:  www.brookmyre.co.uk

While My Eyes Were Closed

Description:       One, two, three . . . Lisa Dale shuts her eyes and counts to one hundred during a game of hide-and-seek. When she opens them, her four-year-old daughter Ella is gone. Disappeared without a trace. The police, the media and Lisa’s family all think they know who snatched Ella. But what if the person who took her isn’t a stranger? What if they are convinced they are doing the right thing? And what if Lisa’s little girl is in danger of disappearing forever?

Wow. While My Eyes Were Closed is a seriously good read. The label “#1 Bestseller” is well deserved.

It all starts so ordinary. Lisa is wife to Alex and mother to Otis and Ella, and their older sister Chloe. Young Ella is excited about starting school in a few days time and she is also excited that she can climb up to the big slide at the park and wants her mum to come and watch, so when her mother finishes work early she picks Ella up from her gran’s so they can go to the park before going to Otis’ school to see him get a football medal. Older sister Chloe is on holiday in France with her friend.

At the park Ella is bubbling with confidence as she shows her mother how she can now negotiate the slide all by herself. Mindful of the time, eventually Lisa shouts “one more go” but Ella wants to play hide and seek before they leave the park. Ella makes her mum shut her eyes and count but Lisa then hears a scream and opens her eyes to see that Ella has fallen and grazed her hands and knees. But she still wants to hide and wants her mum go go over to the tree, close her eyes and count to 100. Still all quite ordinary and normal. As Lisa heads over, her phone rings and she answers it, talks to a client for a couple of minutes then puts her phone back and then closes her eyes. When she opens them there is no sign of Ella. She carries on looking, all part of the game.

She looks for her in all her usual hiding places and you can feel her concern. She goes round all the places again calling out Ella’s name. She then realises she’ll have to call her mum to pick up Otis from school.

Lisa becomes more and more concerned and you can sense her feeling of panic building. No one seems to have seen Ella and soon other people are looking for her. She can’t get her husband on the phone. He’s in a meeting, so she leaves a voicemail.

Eventually she dials 999 and calls the Police.

Then the nightmare begins. Police, Press, family members being interviewed, the waiting for any news, the revelation that someone on the sex offenders register lives near the park, a possible sighting, police divers searching Ogden Water. How do you face the world when your daughter is missing, knowing people are talking? How would you or I cope?

What makes the story really chilling is that we know early on that Ella has been abducted. We also know who the abductor is, their thoughts, and how they interact with Ella.  The abductor seems to see the situation very differently from other people.  The abductor knows they are doing the right thing.  The tension builds and builds throughout. The story is told in three voices: Lisa, the abductor and a teenage boy called Matthew.

I thought it was great storytelling. Although I knew who the abductor was, I didn’t have any idea how the story would end.

It was so good I kept reading until 2 am just to finish the book. That is the kind of story I like!  More please.

Link to Amazon:  While My Eyes Were Closed

Author’s website:   www.linda-green.com

Ashley Bell - Dean Koontz

I don't know why, but Ashley Bell is the first Dean Koontz book I have ever read although I had heard of this author. I am in my early 60s and I don't know why it has taken me so long. I enjoyed it very much.

UK cover

The book is about Bibi, a young writer, who has been diagnosed with an incurable brain cancer and is told she has one year to live. While in hospital her condition deteriorates but something changes during the night and the next morning she feels her cancer has gone. Following tests her doctor then confirms that inexplicably she is free of cancer.

When she gets home she encounters a slightly strange, enigmatic woman named Calida Butterfly, whose visit has been arranged by Bibi's parents to welcome her home. Calida reveals that she is there to help her find out why she was spared from brain cancer. It would appear, after some divination, that Bibi has been spared to save the life of someone called Ashley Bell.

The book is then essentially about Bibi's search for Ashley Bell and the ordeals she has to face while she searches.

US cover

Bibi, is someone I felt I would like to have beside me in a crisis. She seemed very sensible and level headed but determined. Despite some horrifying incidents, and coming across forces that seem determined to harm her, she is completely focused on trying to find out about Ashley Bell and to locate him or her to save them.

I liked the writing style and found the short chapter format easy to read. The locations shift from the present, to events in the past when Bibi was a child, and to somewhere overseas where her fiancé Paxton, a Navy Seal, is on active operations. It is easy however to recognise the shifts in time and place.

Initially I wasn't sure where the book was going. Was this psychological thriller drawing us into the realms of the paranormal, supernatural or something else? I stuck with it though and I'm glad I did. (It was never really a chore to read it!)

I liked the characters – the good ones and the 'bad' ones. They were all relevant and held my interest to the end. The pace of the writing was maintained throughout and the ending didn't disappoint.                                

Author's website:   www.deankoontz.com

US Publication:      8 December 2015  (Bantam)
UK Publication:     14 January 2016    (HarperCollins)

I received a review copy of this book from the US publishers Bantam via NetGalley.

FREEBIES

Oops. Something went wrong here.  This post had reverted to draft.  It was written in the early part of August, certainly long before 25 August!

I've spent the past couple of weeks mainly reading 'free' downloads for Kindle.

I used to trawl through the Amazon 100 bestsellers (free) for Kindle.  I would 'buy' all sorts of books in the hope of finding a wee gem - and quite often there would be a book that was an excellent read.

There were others of course that were not so good, thankfully though not too many that were completely unreadable.

As I said before, nowadays I use Bookbub and The Book Hippo.  I get a daily email from each of those offering books that are either free or great bargains. Sometimes the 'bargain' is for a very limited time.   I set the criteria for books offered.  Both sites are easy to use, even my 80 year old mother can now download her Kindle books easily.

So this weeks's books were The Good Lawyer by Thomas Benigno.  A typical courtroom/crime story but a good read.  A young, ambitious lawyer, brought up with connections to the Mafia, serial rapist/murderer and the suicide of a young victim, family secrets - all cleverly connected.  I bought this book for free but I think you now have to pay.

I also read The Good Sister by Leanne Davis.  Also free when I bought it.  Again it was a good read. I suppose it is a romance but the main character is a victim of domestic abuse who is unable to escape  /leave her controlling husband.  Apparently it is the second book in a series but it was still enjoyable even although I hadn't read the first book.

Lindsay is the sister who seems to have the success: nice house, handsome husband who intends to run for state governor. Growing up she was her Father's favourite daughter and always tried her best to please him.   However she is basically a prisoner and can only do what her monster of a husband allows. She also suffers frequent vicious assaults at his hands.

Jessie on the other hand had a very troubled rebellious childhood and was hated by her father.  She now lives on the other side of the country with her husband and is expecting a baby.  She also works for a good looking vet.  Somehow her sister Lindsay is permitted to visit her sister.  Over a few weeks she blossoms and begins to find her voice.  Of course there is that good looking man.

It's a well written book, making it easy to read although the subject matter makes it quite difficult to read without feeling angry, sad, frustrated.

The book is also quite explicit so is really only suitable for adults.

I also managed to fit in another couple of books that I actully paid for.

One was The Shadow Wife by Diane Chamberlain.  I think this might be one of her earlier books but it was still enjoyable.  Her books tend to have some kind of moral dilemma.  I would say this was good romantic fiction with that dilemma.

The other book was Still Alice by Lisa Genova.  I loved this book. I haven't watched the film and I'm not sure if I will.  The book is well written and although you might think it would be depressing (it's about a Harvard Professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimers at the age of 50) I didn't find it so.  The diagnosis changes her relationships with her husband and grown children, she has to stop working sooner than she had planned,

Unfortunately Alzheimers is something that seems to be touching the lives of more and more people. I just found this book remarkable and I would definitely recommend it.