Dark Water by Robert Bryndza

Every year, there seems to be an author or series of books that dominates my reading. Last year it was Ian Rankin’s Rebus novels, in previous years it has been Jo Nesbo’s Harry Hole books and Kate Atkinson’s entire back catalogue. This year, it’s Robert Bryndza’s Detective Erika Foster novels.

These books are not great works of literature, but I love them! I can’t get enough of them. The stories are so addictive and fast-paced that I spend every minute I’m not reading them wishing I was reading them. So I read the third book in the series, Dark Water, in three days flat. This could have been my favourite book of the lot.

While searching for a huge stash of drugs in a disused quarry, DI Erika Foster comes across the remains of a small child. It isn’t long before she is identified as Jessica Collins, a seven-year-old girl who went missing without trace 26 years earlier.

Can Foster and her team succeed where the original investigators had failed and solve the mystery of the disappearance and death of Jessica Collins?

Jessica’s family never recovered from her disappearance, nor did the original detective, Amanda Baker. Can either the family or Baker shed new light on the case? Or was a local paedophile to blame all along? But seems like someone doesn’t want the case to be solved and will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden.

I read this book so quickly because I just had to find out what had happened. And I can safely say that I never saw the ending coming!

If you enjoy a fast-paced crime novel, you will love Dark Water. It is the third novel in the DI Erika Foster series and you may wish to read The Girl in the Ice and The Night Stalker before it, but it isn’t necessary. I can’t wait to read Last Breath, the fourth book in the series, now.