Cold Blood (Detective Erika Foster #5)

Author: Robert Bryndza

Genre: Adult, Thriller, Mystery, Crime

Publisher: Bookouture

Publication Date: September 20th 2017

Format: eARC (300 pages)

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Synopsis:

When a battered suitcase containing the dismembered body of a young man washes up on the shore of the river Thames, Detective Erika Foster is shocked. She’s worked on some terrifying cases but never seen anything like this before. 

As Erika and her team set to work, she makes the link with another victim – the body of a young woman dumped in an identical suitcase two weeks ago. 

Erika quickly realises she’s on the trail of a serial killer who’s already made their next move. Yet just as Erika starts to make headway with the investigation, she is the victim of a brutal attack. 

But nothing will stop Erika. As the body count rises, the twin daughters of her colleague Commander Marsh are abducted, and the stakes are higher than ever before. Can Erika save the lives of two innocent children before it’s too late? She’s running out of time and about to make a disturbing discovery…there’s more than one killer.

My Rating: ★★★★★

Well, Robert Bryndza has done it again! I am astounded by his ability to keep producing books in this series at such an alarmingly quick rate whilst keeping them fast-paced, interesting and thrilling. I fell in love with DCI Erika Foster and her team way back with Girl in the Ice and every time I pick up a new book in the series I fall straight back in love with them all. Cold Blood does exactly what the title says; it will make your blood run cold.

There will be no spoilers, do not fear!

DCI Erika Foster and her trusty team (including Moss, my FAVE) are on the tracks of a merciless killer. One who dismembers bodies, puts them in suitcases and disposes of them. Whilst trying to piece together the jigsaw and track down the killer, Erika herself is the victim of a brutal attack, she is also deceived by someone she trusted implicitly. With it soon becoming clear that they are searching for more than one killer, to what lengths with Erika and team have to go to get these murderers off the streets?

This case is by far the creepiest and most chilling of the series so far and I’m SO glad. I enjoyed the previous book but didn’t find the case to be as creepy as I had wanted; well Cold Blood certainly makes up for that. As per usual, we as the readers know who the killers are from fairly early on in the book, which is something I have grown to really like in this series. I really liked that there were two killers because it was interesting to read the dynamics between them and there was a really complex relationship between them. One of them I was absolutely terrified of, they are cold-hearted and my skin would crawl just wondering what they may do next. The other killer I actually had a huge amount of sympathy for after coming to know more of their background and seeing how things played out. There are plenty of twists and turns along the way that will keep you gripped and flipping those pages until the very end!

As well as a really chilling case, Cold Blood opened up even more doors into Erika’s personal life and I really enjoyed that. Erika is so work-driven that it was refreshing to get a bit more of a peek into her emotional side and there were some moments in this book where I wanted to wrap her up in cotton wool and care for her. My love affair with Kate Moss (I kid you not) continues, I just love how sassy and funny she is. I would have liked to see more of Peterson but it’s understandable that he wasn’t so present in this book, I’m keeping fingers and toes crossed he will make more of an appearance in the next one! Once again, Bryndza has written a whole host of characters who feel so real and layered, I love the way he writes them all.

Cold Blood is chilling, fast-paced and full of suspense. With a whole host of layered, interesting characters and mysterious, thought-provoking writing, this book is sure to keep your gripping the edge of your seat from beginning to end!

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and Robert Bryndza for my advanced copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Have you read Cold Blood or another book in the Erika Foster series?

What are your favourite police procedural novels?

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