Stop me if you've hear this one before: A brilliant female detective is brought in on the brutal murder case of a society girl too soon after her last traumatic case, her new team resentful and uncooperative - she'll have to do it on her own! Asking too many questions and ruffling even the Chief Superintendents' feathers, she gets kicked off the case! Now a civilian, she continues to investigate, not knowing the killer is hot on her trail as the next target...will she find the culprit or will she be his next victim?!
The Girl In The Ice is the first crime novel of Robert Bryndza, author of the Coco Pinchard romantic comedy series. It's to his credit as a writer that he can turn this overused, cliched plot line into a fairly tense and interesting thriller. DCI Erika Foster is a tough as nails Slovak detective living in London, but the mystery starts with a bang, that thankfully, leaves her back story to slowly be learned by the reader. Once Erika is on the case she doesn't stop, and it's full on for two days and 120 pages without sleep. The victim was a daughter of high society and her wealthy family resent the intrusion of an investigation, but Andrea was killed by someone she knew - someone who has created a pattern from recently killing several Eastern European prostitutes.
Yes, there is a sex-trafficking plot line, which includes misogynistic men treating women like dirt. Again, a cliche it seems hard to avoid in modern thrillers and again it seems tired and actually boring instead of shocking. Where is the thriller that beats men and locks them in a cupboard, strangles them in a sexual frenzy, and traps them into a life of slavery?
This was a huge bestseller of over a million copies, and although slightly pedestrian, worthy of a recommendation.
My other reviews for Robert Bryndza:
The Night Stalker (Erika Foster #2)
2016 / Tradeback / 394 pages
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