Title: Fatal Witness
Author: Robert Bryndza
Publisher: Raven Street Publishing
Synopsis:
How do you find a killer who has destroyed all the evidence?
Detective Erika Foster is on a late-night walk near her new house in Blackheath when she stumbles upon the brutal murder of Vicky Clarke, a true-crime podcaster.
Erika is assigned to the case and discovers that Vicky had been working on a new podcast episode about a sexual predator who preys on young female students around South London, staking out his victims in their halls of residence before breaking in at the dead of night. When Erika discovers that Vicky’s notes and sound recordings were stolen from her flat at the time of her murder, it leads her to believe that Vicky was close to unmasking the attacker, and she was killed to guarantee her silence.
The case takes on a disturbing twist when the body of a young Bulgarian student doctor is discovered in the same building, and this makes Erika question everything she thought she knew about Vicky. With very little evidence, the clock is ticking to find the killer before he strikes again.
My review:
Another brilliant instalment in the Erika Foster series! It’s been many years since we had a new Erika Foster novel and I’m so excited to see her return along with familiar colleagues like Peterson and Moss.
In Fatal Witness, Erika and the team are investigating the murder of a young woman killed in a frenzied attack – but all is not as it seems. I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll just say that, as expected, the case has red herrings and surprises to keep the reader intrigued, and some interesting developments in Erika’s personal life. Erika has bought a property in Blackheath and I liked reading about some familiar areas of London.
The writing is, as ever, skilful and the storyline is perfectly paced: we get plenty of procedural details about the investigation as well as action and drama as the case concludes, but it never feels over the top. I also liked the fact that the victim had been working on a true crime podcast before her death – elements like this always pique my interest!
I’m very excited to see what happens next in the series, whenever that will be – this will always be one of my favourite crime series!
My rating: 4.5/5
Many thanks to the author for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest review.
[…] “The writing is, as ever, skilful and the storyline is perfectly paced…this will always be one of my favourite crime series!” – read my full review […]