I’d heard so many good things about Robert Bryndza’s series featuring DCI Erika Foster – but I’ll admit that I was irrationally put off by the book cover (I am a bit freaked out by photos of people staring at me!) I was wrong to judge a book by the cover – this is a really good police procedural and everything I love in a crime novel.
In this book – this detective’s seventh outing – Erika Foster stumbles upon a brutal murder in Blackheath where she has just moved into her new home. The woman is identified as Vicky Clarke, a true crime podcaster – a job that opens up many lines of enquiry as Foster and her team try to find out what Clarke was investigating. Add in a few suspicious neighbours and restrictions placed on Erika by her superiors and we have all the ingredients for a tense, tightly-plotted and twisty crime story.
I liked the fact that the story had a really decent pace – I raced through this book, especially loving the points where Bryndza threw in some brilliant twists. I couldn’t put this down, especially as the sense of peril increased – I wanted to shout at Erika not to put herself in some of the situations she did, some of which worked out fine and others less so!
The narrative focuses very closely on Erika herself and she makes for a compelling lead. Her house move and adopted cat were eminently relatable and made for a good contrast to the intensity of her work life – I have been there with missed Argos deliveries… She seems like quite an isolated figure which makes her interesting as she makes strong decisions (and all her own mistakes!)
I haven’t read any of the previous books in the series, but I didn’t struggle to pick up Erika’s story at all. I think it works well as a standalone as Bryndza gives us as much of the back-story as we need. I would definitely be interested in reading more about Erika and I don’t think I know too many spoilers to enjoy the previous books.
I’d recommend this to anyone who enjoys well-plotted and convincing police procedurals. If you’re new to Erika’s world, there’s lots to enjoy here – and if you’re a long-time fan then you don’t need me to tell you this is good!
Thanks to NetGalley for my copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
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Header photo by David von Diemar on Unsplash
