Robert Bryndza

Author Robert Bryndza's popular fictional detective, Erika Foster, must solve another mystifying case and put a murderer behind bars. As Fatal Witness opens, she has just purchased and moved into a sprawling, dilapidated Victorian house in the Blackheath area of London. A heath is a patch of semi-wild ground, she explains to her sister, Lenka, and the area was used as a burial pit during the Black Death plague. Hence the name. But now it's an up-and-coming, walkable neighborhood and the show more house has a view that will never be obstructed, thanks to the area’s sad history. Neither the furnace nor most of the home's multiple fireplaces work, and Erika hasn't gotten around to purchasing needed furniture -- including a bed -- so she winds up sleeping in the bedroom with the single working fireplace on an air mattress (that quickly pops) with the cat who immediately adopts her that she christens “George.” Erika is beginning to create a future for herself after mourning her husband, Mark, for the four long years since he died during a botched drug raid, along with five other colleagues. After having some dinner, Erika is walking home when she hears a woman scream and immediately responds to the apartment building from which the sound originated.

She discovers Tess Clarke, who has happened upon the body of her sister, Vicky. Tess and her husband operate a restaurant, Goose, in a tonier section of London known as "the village." When Vicky did not show up for work there, Tess went looking for her sister. Erika finds a disturbingly gruesome murder scene showing evidence of a fierce struggle in an apartment building populated by eclectic tenants, including the two Bulgarian sisters, Maria and Sophie Ivanova, who are studying medicine, and Charles Wakefield, the brother of Julian Wakefield, Assistant Commissioner of Police. Wakefield is a decidedly odd chap whose apartment appears to be stuck in a time warp with no indication that its occupant leads a twenty-first century life. In fact, his brother owns the apartment in which he lives and all associated bills are in Julian's name. Charles does not have a driver's license, telephone, computer, or television, and his passport expired in 2012. It is as though, from a bureaucratic viewpoint, he disappeared a decade ago. When additional officers and the forensic team descend upon the crime scene, Wakefield's bizarre behavior escalates to his assault upon a paramedic . . . and good cause to arrest him.

Erika considers Wakefield a suspect, especially after learning that Vicky confided in Tess about his "creepy" persona and habits, which included listening outside her apartment door. But aside from his brother, Wakefield has another protector. The owner of the apartment building, Henrietta Boulderstone, insists that he joins her in her penthouse apartment each evening for a drink, thereby providing him an alibi and establishing that he could not have killed Vicky within the time parameters the evidence establishes. Erika is not convinced, especially when detectives find a threatening note hidden in a drawer, and is intent upon finding out who sent that note to Wakefield and why in order to determine if it links him to Vicky’s murder.

Vicky was an aspiring actress who had recently converted her bedroom into a recording studio. She was hoping to narrate audiobooks and had recently launched a podcast, calling herself "V.A. Clarke, True Crime Detective." Oddly, no notebooks or other documentation pertaining to her research is found in her apartment. Also, Vicky failed to upload the latest episode of the podcast. But where is that recording? Was Vicky's killing motivated by something she revealed -- or was about to reveal -- in the podcast?

Bryndza introduces Cilla Stone, a flamboyant, retired drama teacher in her sixties, residing in Scotland. She, along with Colin McCabe, was one of Vicky's teachers at Goldsmith's Drama Academy, and the two women remained close. Charles was the school's caretaker from 2007 to 2012. Over the years, several female students have reported being assaulted by intruders in their on-campus housing, but no arrest has been made. And college officials attempt to stonewall efforts to obtain information about those crimes, including details about the university’s investigations – if any – completed after the students’ complaints were tendered. Is there a connection to the murder Erika is investigating back in London?

Of course there is, and Bryndza's story is clever, intricately-constructed, and contemporary. Once again, he focuses on Erika's fierce commitment to her career and ensuring that justice is meted out. She is assisted by her loyal colleagues, Detective Inspectors Peterson (with whom she is no longer romantically involved) and Moss, and Isaac Strong, the Forensic Pathologist who calls himself her GBFc9Gay Best Friend0. Erika deftly navigates bureaucratic and politic roadblocks erected by Wakefield, Commander Paul Marsh, and Superintendent Melanie Hudson that threaten to impede her investigation, sometimes risking her career in the name of solving crime. Her personal life always takes a backseat to her professional endeavors, as demonstrated by her unwillingness to take time away from her search for the killer to shop for a bed and be at her new home to take delivery of it. And although she still misses Mark, she views her purchase of a new home, "for all its faults," as a "fresh start. I finally feel like I'm moving on . . ." she tells Lenka. When she finally manages to be at home when her new furniture arrives, it is delivered by Igor Mak, her first boyfriend with whom she lost touch after she moved from Slovakia to the United Kingdom when she was just eighteen years old. Bryndza delivers a sweet, hopeful reunion that causes Erika to feel "a little flutter of excitement" strong enough to make her forget all about the case she is working on.

Bryndza never disappoints, again weaving an enthralling tale about an educational institution that turned a deaf ear to female students' complaints about safety concerns in campus residences. He also explores familial duties, responsibilities, and expectations, and the sometimes-steep price of pursuing and revealing truth. He is a master at employing misdirection, and injects shocking plot twists and stunning revelations -- as well as a few red herrings -- at expertly-timed junctures that propel the story forward. The pace never lags, gradually accelerating as Bryndza places Erika in extreme danger from a crazed and menacing criminal who will use any means necessary to prevent his or her crimes being expose and evade apprehension. Will Erika survive to continue renovating her new home, possibly exploring a renewed relationship with an old flame as she does so, and solve future crimes? Finding out is, as always, highly absorbing and entertaining.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book. show less

Kate Marshall's life has changed since readers last saw her in Shadow Sands. It is May 2015, and eighteen months have passed since the sudden death of Kate's dear friend of nine years and Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor, Myra. It was a shock when Kate learned that Myra willed her both her business and her home, which Kate now uses as an office, on the condition that she quit her job as a lecturer in criminology at Ashdean University and launch her own detective agency. Nine months ago, in show more partnership with Tristan, her former assistant, they launched the business.

As the story opens, Kate is contacted by Bev Ellis, who explains that her daughter, Joanna, then twenty-eight years old, disappeared in September 2002 -- "just vanished into thin air." Two months ago, Bev begun cohabiting with her partner of nearly thirty years, Bill, the wealthy owner of a company that provides building materials for large road construction projects and a collector of fine art. Bev has just been notified that the police are deeming the case "inactive" and ceasing their efforts to locate Joanna. She needs answers about her daughter's fate. She knows that Joanna is most likely dead, but implores Kate to do what the police have given up on accomplishing: finding Joanna's body so that Bev can lay her to rest. Bev is tired of being patronized by male officers, and convinced that Joanna was the victim of foul play. She was an up-and-coming investigative journalist for a local newspaper with dreams of landing a job in London with a major publication and had recently married Fred, who was not a suspect in her disappearance because local villagers confirmed his alibi. Fred apparently thwarted her career ambitions by refusing to consider a move to London. Six months before Joanna vanished, she published an exposé on Noah Huntley, a local member of Parliament who was accepting bribes in exchange for awarding council contracts. After the story was carried by the national press, Huntley lost his seat in a special election. Joanna's car was found in the parking structure near the newspaper's office, her phone underneath the vehicle. It was powered off and bore no fingerprints -- not even Joanna's. Her laptop computer and notebooks were never located. Her editor confirmed that she was not working on any particularly controversial stories that might have placed her in danger, and her husband insists she had no enemies. Vague notes about them were found in the files removed from her desk.

Kate and Tristan are shocked to learn that Bill has managed to procure twenty boxes of materials that make up the official police file. Bilo produces a letter from the police superintendent thanking him for supporting a benevolence fund and confirming that the files have been loaned to him for three months. Kate's contacts in the police department and knowledge of forensics, coupled with witness statements, the timeline put together by the investigating officers, and the other materials contained in the official file convince her to take the case. She and Tristan take custody of the files, and get busy scanning and analyzing the voluminous documentation. They quickly uncover many salient details that Bev omitted during their meeting with her. And a photograph establishing that Joanna met with Huntly two weeks before she went missing. Huntley claimed that Joanna requested the meeting because she was applying for a job with the Daily Mail and Huntley was a member of the board of directors. She allegedly sought him out to ensure that he would not torpedo her chance to secure the job. Kate and Tristan soon discover that there were more angles to Joanna's investigation of Huntley than were included in her published exposé, including misappropriation of public funds and encounters with male prostitutes.

A note in Joanna's handwriting references David Lamb, who disappeared in 1999 at the age of nineteen, and Gabe Kemp, who went missing in 2001. Both had "no fixed abode." As the investigation proceeds, it encompasses a quest to determine their fate, as well as Joanna's. Both may have been "rent boys," a British term for male prostitutes, and the search takes decidedly dark turns. Bryndza intersperses chapters focused on Tom, who meets Hayden Oakley at Brewer's Arms, a small gay bar. Tom is a businessman who buys Hayden expensive drinks, as Hayden plans to lace his drink with Rohypnol. But Tom is a step ahead of Hayden, who realizes too late that he has been outwitted and is in danger. But who is Tom? Is there a connection between him, Joanna, and the two missing young men? And why didn't the police perform a thorough background check on Bill and his business interests? Could Joanna have been on the trail of serial killer?

Darkness Falls is a straight-forward examination of Kate and Tristan's efforts to solve a case that seems to become exponentially more complex with each discovery of relevant evidence. Readers have come to expect intricately plotted and inventive mysteries from Bryndza, and Darkness Falls further cements his reputation as a clever storyteller. In the first two volumes of the series, Nine Elms and Shadow Sands, Bryndza introduced Kate and Tristan, and focused on their personal lives, revealing Kate's history on the police force and the details of her unfortunate relationships with Peter Conway, a psychopathic serial killer, as well as her ongoing struggle to maintain her sobriety and maintain a healthy relationship with her son, Jake. Like every recovering alcoholic, Kate resists the urge to drink one day at a time, attending meetings but declining to enlist a sponsor to take Myra's place. Her guilt about the times when she lost the trust of those she loves most, especially Jake, inspires her to remain sober. And she now juggles her responsibility to operate the caravan park and surf shop that she inherited from Myra with the demands of the fledgling detective agency. Bryndza further develops Kate and Tristan's relationship. Tristan has a complicated relationship with his sister, and struggles to confidently live life on his own terms. He and Kate are loyal, supportive friends, and their interactions and dialogue are believable and endearing. But the focus in Darkness Falls is squarely on the methodical investigation Kate and Tristan conduct in their quest to find answers for a mother who has been grieving the loss of her daughter for more than twelve years and desperately wants resolution and, if possible, peace.

Bryndza has crafter another richly atmospheric and unpredictable mystery, populated with a strong cast of intriguing and often nefarious supporting characters. He expertly alternates the storyline relating Kate and Tristan's efforts with the horrific behavior of Tom, keeping readers guessing as to how the two might possibly intersect and lead to the discovery of Joanna's remains. It's an engrossing tale with a satisfying conclusion that leaves readers clamoring for the next installment in Bryndza's absorbing and entertaining series.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book. show less

Robert Bryndza is fast becoming one of my favorite authors—first with the Erica Foster series and now with his new Kate Marshall series. Kate has had a rough life and now, even with her new teaching job, struggles with alcoholism and nightmares. She also has a teenage son, Jake, to protect from his father, Peter Conway, the serial killer who tried to kill Kate fourteen years ago. Her life is complicated and turns downright terrifying when Peter's copycat killer comes to call. Robert show more Bryndza is skilled at creating flawed but strong female protagonists, and he certainly hits the mark with Kate. Barely able to keep herself sober, she still manages to solve a cold case, stand up to her boss, and save those she loves from disaster. I can't wait to see what the next book has in store for her. show less

The Night Stalker
4 Stars

An excellent follow-up to Bryndza's incredible debut, The Girl in the Ice.

In this installment, D.I. Foster pursues a serial killer who, at first glance, appears to be targeting random victims. However, as the bodies pile up and the clues emerge, it soon becomes clear that the motivation is all to personal.

While the identity of the killer and the reasons behind the murders are revealed quite early on, the police procedural elements make for captivating reading. show more Although some readers may be turned off by Erika's prickly personality and lone-wolf tendencies, her intelligence, resourcefulness and determination to uncover the truth despite opposition from the power that be make her a very appealing heroine.

One small nitpick is the METs eagerness to blame the pathologist despite clear evidence that something else is going on - a plot point that is obviously added to make the case more personal for Erika.

In sum, a well-written and suspenseful thriller. Looking forward to the next installment. show less