I was sent a copy of this book for review purposes and all thoughts are my own. This post features affiliate links
At the start of the year I reviewed Robert Bryndza’s Nine Elms, the first in a new series featuring private investigator Kate Marshall. I instantly warmed to the former detective and the growing friendship with her new partner, and eagerly awaited the next instalment. It turned out I didn’t have to wait long – less than a year! Because Shadow Sands was officially released earlier this week and I was lucky enough to get my hands on a review copy.
When Kate Marshall finds the body of a young man floating in the Shadow Sands reservoir, the authorities label it a tragic accident.
But the details don’t add up: why was the victim there, in the middle of the night? If he was such a strong swimmer, how did he drown?
Kate is certain there is more to this case than meets the eye. As she and her assistant Tristan Harper dig deeper, they discover a bloody trail that points towards an active serial killer hiding in plain sight. People have been silently disappearing for years, and when another woman is taken, Kate and Tristan have a matter of days to save her from meeting the same fate.
What I like about Bryndza is that he likes to start his books in the middle of action, then leave you hanging while he works on some character development, then you’re thrown back in the deep end where you don’t get to come up for air until the very end. It’s all go, but not at the expense of his characters.
Two years have passed since the Nine Elms copy cat case. Two years which Kate has spent trying to live a normal life, lecturing at the university and spending holidays with her now 16 year old son. But when they discover a body in the reservoir, the ‘evidence’ doesn’t quite add up and Kate (along with her trusty research assistant, Tristan) finds herself on the trail of another serial killer.
My only niggle with this book is (and it’s not a spoiler to mention this) that it focuses on a male serial killer who preys on women. Bryndza is great at weaving a complicated case but I’d like to see something a bit different in the next instalment.
If you like your heroines flawed and raw, get your hands on a copy of Shadow Sands. I recommend reading Nine Elms first but it is recapped in Shadow Sands if you want to dive straight in.
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