Book Review: The Girl In the Ice (DCI Erika Foster #1) by Robert Bryndza

The Girl In The Ice by Robert Bryndza
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher:  Bookouture


Summary:  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?


I enjoy a good mystery and I'm one of those readers that doesn't mind so much if I figure out the murderer before all is revealed as long as the steps there keep me engaged. I wasn't disappointed here.

I will say that the clue to the killer's identity is a quick mention like a throw-away fact during the investigation but that just made it all the more cordoned off in caution tape with flood lights all around the killer. It practically leapt off the page at me screaming "It's (spoiler removed)!!!!". I was a page flipping freak racing through and every time there was a bit from the killer's POV it pulled me along even more. What also helped along the way was that the amount of dysfunction the Douglas-Browns had on display was compelling and only second to the amount of simmering full on crazy that was always threatening to boil over like the hot mess they were. DCI Erika Foster kept it all grounded with her tenacious pursuit while her own flaws hindered as much as helped her oftentimes (think Jane Tennison of Prime Suspect without the drinking). I rooted for her and was glad she had Moss and Peterson backing her up, as they were awesome.

While I can't even contemplate how long my list of series I'm following is growing, I'll be adding this one because I want to know what's next for Erika and her team. They didn't get to raise a glass to their success in this one so I'm hoping for that next book. Recommended.



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