The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza

Posted August 28, 2017 by elzaread in Book Review / 3 Comments

28233082Title: The Girl in the Ice
Author: Robert Bryndza
Published by: Bookouture
Publication date: February 2016
Read: August 24 – 27, 2017
Genre: Mystery; Thriller
Pages: 396 (kindle edition)
Series: Detective Erika Foster #1
Mareli’s rating: 2.5 stars
Recommend to: Readers of fast paced thrillers. Or if you watch crime series with female detectives, you might like this one as well.
Description: 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?
A page-turning thriller packed with suspense. If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin Slaughter, discover Robert Bryndza’s new series today. 
Watch out for more from DCI Erika Foster. Goodreads


Like most other avid Goodreads followers, I consider the annual Goodreads Choice awards as a treasure map for the next year’s list of good reads. The 4 and 5 star ratings.  So how is it possible that my rating for The Girl in the Ice came in below the majority? Let’s think about it – The Girl in the Ice has all the trimmings that a really good mystery thriller should have:
1. A gruesome murder
2. Secrets 
3. High-flying family with titles and dysfunctional members
4. Leading detective with a past
5. Trafficking and prostitution

Great, great key elements! This should have been sooooo good. And maybe it was. I might be too old school and look at all the nitty gritty details the way that Poirot or Miss Marple or Columbo or Jessica Fletcher would have. And that’s just wrong. Their time has passed. In the modern day’s detectives’ defense, neither of the above mentioned detectives had to deal with Iphones or tiny little nickers. 

Image result for Poirot with a shocked expression Related image
The Prologue. Page 5. Gosh, it bothered me for the next 390 pages. Where exactly did she hide that phone? Yes, it was a clever and an attention grabbing effect to open the book from Andrea’s last point of view. It worked. It had my attention immediately. It’s just that damn phone and the thong. Then again, glitzy Andrea did proof to have a few glitches. 

You know who would have been able to figure that one out? 

 Image result for Castle facial expressions
Richard Castle. He would have came up with a very clever and a quite plausible explanation. Castle brings me to other small problem I had with this highly acclaimed thriller. 

The leading lady. DCI Erika Foster. 

Just like Kate Beckett in the hit tv-series Castle, Erika also has a troubled past (like they all do). She says whatever she wants to whom ever she wants and doesn’t always follow orders. She also tends to wander off on her own without telling anybody where she is going. You would expect ladies who know exactly what goes on out there to know a bit better, won’t you. Both are beautiful (although I really did struggle to get a clear picture of Erika in my mind), but neither have a whole lot of charm or tact. And that’s where Erika starts to fall short. Unlike Kate, Erika is friendless and teamless. Erika needs Castle’s charm, Esposito’s shady-past-too-I-understand attitude and Ryan’s good manners. Without a friend or a team and a rather aggressive personality, you don’t have much on your side, do you?

Granted, this is the first book in a series, so there are a number of slots that can be filled. The potential is definitely there. Detectives Peterson and Moss (Kate Moss, yes, that is right) showed strong character development and there might just be a strapping team lurking here in future.  My below average rating does not mean I won’t be reading the rest of this series. 

I did enjoy the story line and the dysfunctional Douglas-Brown family was well depicted. I also tend to follow my gut instinct and the way that Erika followed her hunches were realistically portrayed. If only she would wait for backup. Or at least call it in. Stupid, stupid stupid. You know there’s a figure lurking out there, looking for you….. 

The pace was fast and strong and if I can get the image of the phone and the thong and the sexless cat out of my mind, it was a decent crime thriller. 

The Girl in the Ice was a read-together with the lovely Esther from Bite Into Books. Hop on over to her website as well to see her thoughts on this book. 

Mareli 





 


 
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3 responses to “The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza

  1. Well you know I'm a big Agatha Christie fan and I really struggle with letting go of all the little details. The mystery SHOULD make sense. It drives me crazy when there are big gaping plot holes but that's a rant for another time. This sounds decent but maybe not a must run out and read. Though I am curious about the thong/phone issue!

  2. Always call for back up!!! Always always. Silly DCI. 🙂 Seriously though nice review, sounds fun. If a little frustrating? Maybe the next one will be a little better.