A suitcase is dragged from the Thames and on opening the body of a man is discovered, head, arms, legs all severed and placed carefully within the confines of the case...."They paused, all staring at the battered naked body, at how neatly the pieces had been packed inside: a leg each side of the torso; the knee joints folded into the top right and bottom left corner; arms crossed over the chest and the decapitated head tucked neatly underneath."..... What a wonderful, gruesome start and introduction to the charismatic, headstrong Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster. So with the help of her close associate Detective Inspector Kate Moss (not that Kate Moss!) the two police officers need to discover the perpetrator of this gruesome murder made all the more grisly when a second body is discovered in similar circumstances. At the same time a young Nina Hargreaves falls under the charismatic influence of the psychotic Max Kirkham as they embark on a murderous journey

Although I loved this fast paced thriller I did find that the characters of Max and Nina reminded me so much of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley ( both are mentioned twice in the novel) First we have the adulation of a young girl influence by her boyfriend and eager to please him whatever the cost. Hindley was infatuated by Brady on first meeting this lonely odd looking young man at Millward's Merchandise Gorton. Mention is made of Max's love of books.."It took five car loads to get all the books into the flat.." Ian Brady regarded himself as well read the Russian writer Dostoevsky, with his explorations of human psychology, was a particular favourite,he highly regarded Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. The use of a van to transport innocent children lured to their destiny by false kindness of an attractive woman, this occurs later in the story. Nina Hargreaves also kept a diary including much detail about their crimes, Ian Brady infamously kept notes, pictures and even maps of the Moors in his private collection. By referring to this in my review I am not in any way criticizing the author, merely making an assumption based on my reading.

To me the mark of a good book is the author's ability to create and project strong characters that have a lasting impact on me the reader. Erika Foster is a wonderful, passionate driven individual with a questionable personal life. Her boyfriend Inspector James Peterson's is on sick leave recovering from a knife wound that Erika feels is entirely her fault...."The blue and green light cast by the television played over his skinny face. His high cheekbones jutted out, and she could see the outline of the bones under his forehead."..... Superintendent Melanie Hudson is her immediate superior "a tough cookie" but keen to support her officers when asked. Naturally there is an assortment of career minded police officers, Commander Paul Marsh (Erika has a secret admiration for him) and the unapproachable Superintendent Paris worried about the affect of Erika's actions on his political ambitions.

This is the type of crime novel that is eminently readable, with a fast driven theme and lively dialogue. It is perhaps not wise to read a series out of order but I am looking forward to reading the first four Erika Forster books in the very near future. Many thanks to the good people at netgalley for a gratis copy in exchange for an honest review and that is what I have written.

I couldn't wait to read this book as I have enjoyed all Robert Bryndza's previous ones and it certainly didn't disappoint. DCI Erika Foster and her team are back in this creepy and chilling book. This book can be read as a stand alone but I would recommend reading the others first as Erica and the team become your friends as you know their history. As with the other books in the series you know who the two killers are from early on but that makes it difficult to put down and you want to read more to see how Erika hunts them down. The story weaves from present day to past events and link together as the book progresses. There are some shocking and horrific scenes but it will keep you gripped from start to finish. A must read for crime lovers. Can't wait for the next book in the series. Thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was my introduction to feisty, no-nonsense DCI Erika Foster and I’ll definitely be back for more. I loved her style and was furious when a long-time colleague betrayed her, putting her out of action at a crucial point in her hunt for a particularly evil serial killer. Robert Bryndza introduces us to the murderer early on in this thriller, his fifth in the series, which increased the suspense for me. The story rushes along relentlessly and the relationship the killer forges with an impressionable young girl is frighteningly believable. The race at the end to try and save the twin daughters of a senior police officer left me breathless. Recommended!

I LOVE Robert Bryndza and his Erika Foster crime series, they are all totally addictive and in my opinion just get better as they go along.

Cold Blood is particularly chilling and gruesome, when a body washes up on the banks of the Thames in a suitcase, and Erika puts two and two together she realises that it's linked to another body which has been discovered in similar circumstances, and quickly it seems they're on the hunt for another serial killer.

I loved the Nina and Max chapters and was fascinated by this macabre and controlling relationship, desperate for Nina to find her strength and rise up against Max.

I love how in the DCI Foster series we get to know the team and their relationships, I was however very disappointed in Peterson and expect him to behave far better in the next book!

A definite must read for crime fans, it is a series but totally possible as a standalone, it will leave you wanting to go back in the series though!

This latest Erika Foster book opens with a suitcase containing a dismembered body being washed up on the River Thames. As Erika and her team investigate, another body is found and a serial killer seems to be loose.
In a parallel tale, Nina, a rootless teenager, looking for excitement becomes obsessed with a man called Max.
The story of Nina and Max, and the investigation slowly converge, with a lot of drama along the way, and Erika’s life becomes more complicated.
I had a lot of trouble believing in the Nina/Max relationship, and found the Mariette story totally incomprehensible.
A small example, how can a woman obsessed with cleaning have a very dirty flat?
Where did the drugs found on one body come from, and why?
The convenient cave behind the waterfall, and the well.
Nina’s diary was far too well written for a girl with her education.

This wasn’t Robert’s best book, too many loose ends and unexplained events.
I’ll read the next on in the hope that things improve.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

2.5 stars for promising but failing to deliver.

Though I can't remember which the other Erika Foster book I've read is, I do know that I have read one and was keen to get my hands on this (thanks NetGalley for letting me have it). It started promisingly -- body found in a suitcase, such a classic. However, overall, it seemed to be hastily put together plot without much thought about the motivations of the murderer/s and the mechanics of the crimes. The structure too was a problem.

Structure first. While cutting to Nina's story was probably inevitable to understand what was happening and why, the diary format coming in suddenly was jarring. The author should have chosen to either do away with the dairy entries or found a way to tell the entire Nina/Max story through journal entries only. Somehow, even though telling the story from both sides, the cops' as well as the killers', has been used to great effect in crime writing, in Cold Blood it had the effect of taking away any sort of suspense. There were no surprises at all, no twists, nothing really to look forward to in (second half of) the book other than finishing it so I could start on a new one.

The other thing that jarred was to do with Foster -- when she went away to Slovakia (view spoiler), it put a spoke in the momentum of a really good story, and it wasn't the same after. Finally, I found it difficult to reconnect with the story with the same intensity after her return.

Next, the motivation of the murderer/s. Max Kirkham seemed to me an opportunistic criminal, not the brilliant mastermind that the cops and readers are supposed to think. All of the murders were done on the spur of the moment, and I wasn't convinced about his "brilliance" at all. Nina Hargreaves was more convincing as a stupid young woman completely in thrall with an older man. However their so-called double act was highly misrepresented as the murders didn't seem planned to any great effect (in fact, we don't even know how some of them were done) and comparisons to Hindley and Brady and the likes were ambitious, to say the least. The kidnap plot at the end seemed unconvincing as well.

Finally, the version I read seemed to be an unedited copy. In fact, it needs a good bit of line-editing to tighten the prose, especially to get rid of the numerous intances of using the same word twice in a sentence. Also, about every character that makes an appearance is described. Which means each time someone comes on, we have "was a small/large/tall/thin/short/tiny man/woman with xx hair" and so on. This is tedious to say the least. I do not want to know what people look like, not unless there's something pertinent about their appearance that is important to the story.

This is my second Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster book. (Yes, you’re right, I haven’t read them in order at all!)

It’s fast, chilling and excellently written.
The hub of the story involves two killers. We learn how they meet and how their relationship goes downhill. We get to know their obsessions, the pact they make together and the dynamics between them. It’s all complicated and gruesome/noir.
Max is a deranged killer. Nina is hopelessly in love with him and will do all she can to keep him, even to the point of… (well, you’ll have to read the book to find out!)

Then we have Erika Foster. She spends large amounts of time battling her police bosses and fighting cut-backs in budgets. She is let-down by colleagues and feels lonely and middle-aged. I felt genuinely sorry for her. There didn’t seem to be much light on the horizon except for her sister and her nephew and niece whom she visits in Slovakia during her recuperation.
The passages between Erika and her boss, Marsh, were particularly sad because Marsh is trying to get back with his wife and Erika has no one. There is also a heart-breaking passage where Erika is recovering in hospital and she has a memory of the child she decided not to have. For me, that passage showed the author’s real strength as a writer.

The plot is addictive.
I have to say, that when I finished it, I wasn’t sure that I actually enjoyed the story. This doesn’t mean it’s not a good book, it really is. I think it’s simply that the killing duo were so ruthless and somehow depressing, and that, combined with Erika’s struggles made it a gritty read.
As I said, it’s fast, chilling and excellently written.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with a copy. This is my honest review.

There is something that disturbs me even more about a body being dismembered, even more than the actual killing, it is for me the ultimate disregard that this person was ever an human being. Now here on the Thames was a second victim of a yet unknown crime, unknown missing persons and unknown where the hell you can buy a suit case that big! This really was literally a case to be pieced together by Erica Foster.
This is the fifth book in the Erica Foster series and Robert Bryndza characters have materialised more and more into ‘real people’ with every single book. In this story personal and professional emotions are very much woven together, with some barriers having to be let down while brick walls are built against others. These are people that I have taken into my life and care about and at times I just wanted to clip one person round the ear and say God Damn You Waken Up!
Like in real life it is always a combination of circumstances that bring all the people into the right, or wrong place at the same time so this story is told on different time lines as to how everyone comes together. The most disturbing one is that of how a young girl falls under the spell of an older controlling and very disturbed man. OK total nut case! Whoa there are some scenes that are readable with just one eye open and squinting with the other. (If in doubt please read first paragraph again) But my oh my I have to admit that I loved every single encounter with this gruesome pair. Some of the scenes were just so surreal to the point that I shudder every time I go into my kitchen. One of my shamefully favourite chapters.
This is a superb story in a brilliant series and although it could be read as a stand alone don’t take that option you would be short changing yourself. I wish to thank Bookouture for an ARC of this book which I reviewed honestly.

This was fast paced and with a great upending atmosphere, sort chapters keep the plot flowing and my interest picked. I’m glad to be back in DCI Erika Foster’s life with her flaws and virtues, been able to see her rise to the occasion every time. I’ve been here since book one and it’s been a thrill since then, reading Foster’s character growth while she learns to be a little more open and to be at peace with been a young widow.

More on Goodreads.

Erika Foster is back with a bang in Cold Blood and Robert Bryndza once again does not disappoint and delivers another thrilling read that leaves you physically, emotionally and mentally drained when you read that final page. And, that's just after a few hours with your Kindle. How Erika is even still standing or functioning normally after the past few cases she has worked on is anyone's guess...

I have to admit for the first almost half of this book it didn't grip me as much as Robert's earlier novels. Despite the fact that two bodies had been found dismembered inside a suitcase, (can I just make an aside and ask what the big fascination was amongst the characters with not being able to buy big suitcases anymore? I've just been on holiday with two family sized suitcases and a smaller suitcase and this was for two people with a 30kg allowance each. I'm not sure what shops or airlines these people are shopping and flying with but anyway...) everything just felt like a by the books crime story until I was about 35-40% into the book and I became gripped. Robert has written about two truly hateful characters here who commit the worst crimes imaginable and what was most scary about the whole thing was how believable this couple were. Following them and witnessing their crimes, it was a story you expect to wake up to and see on the morning news such is the world that we live in nowadays. That said, one of the two characters could be a real taking point amongst anybody with an interest in psychology etc because it's fascinating how what was at first an innocent and untainted mind can be changed simply by making a few silly decisions.

Looking back now on me saying how long it took for me to get into the book, I am actually more impressed than annoyed at this because it just shows how well Robert managed to bring this whole story together. In the beginning the reader is just as clueless as the police as to who the bodies in the suitcases are, who the murderers are, and how everything is connected together. The whole story flows beautifully, and I was gobsmacked towards the end with how the whole thing turned from murder into something far more sinister and scary to read about. Scary because with the murders they are over quite quickly, the story evolves into something that has a personal effect on the team themselves and also had quite an emotional impact on me as a reader. Robert has created a fantastic cast of characters throughout this series, and by this fifth book we are heavily invested with both the old and new faces that we have met along the way. I was also very surprised at one little twist regarding a series regular but we will say no more about that.

Erika Foster is as always the star of the show and is now easily one of my favourite detectives to read about. She's been put through the wringer multiple times but she is put through it again here in Cold Blood. I absolutely love her attitude towards policing and I read this book only a few days after seeing Maggie Oliver on Loose Women talking about how those higher up the chain often want fast results as opposed to actually putting in the time and effort to investigate particular cases and I always hope that officers like Erika do exist within the force. Officers that aren't afraid to push the boundaries and speak up to their superiors and ultimately, get the results that they are looking for. As is the case with most crime novels most elements are tied up quite nicely but the emotional scars left on Erika by previous cases are here to see and she's a character I've started to see as a real person, I enjoy reading about her and I always look forward to meeting her again on her next adventure, of which I hope there will be many, many more.

Cold Blood is a truly thrilling read from start to finish. Perhaps a more sedate and different story than we have come to expect from Robert but there's a real focus instead on the characters and their development and also on the human psyche itself in terms of the two killer we follow over the course of the book. It's thought-provoking crime and it's done beautifully and masterfully here by one of the genre's newest (despite this being book number five) and best authors. I cannot recommend this series highly enough.

Another great book from Mr Bryndza.

This is the fifth book in the Detective Erika Foster series but could probably be read as a standalone (although why would you when there are four other great books in the series). The story picks up not long after the events of the previous book and follows a fairly similar format, beginning with the discovery of a body. Bryndza does seem to be upping the ick factor however as this time the body is found dismembered in a suitcase. When it's linked to another body Erika is positive a serial killer is at large once again (I'm so glad I don't live anywhere near or know Erika) and fights to get a team to investigate.

The story is told from the pov of both Erika and someone who may have been involved in the murders or who may know who did it. As result this isn't really a who dunnit but more of a police procedural mixed up with the psychology of a killer. For me it was probably the Erika chapters that worked best. There was something a little unconvincing about the killer(s) story. I didn't 100% buy into it for some reason.

As far as Erika goes there are bits of her I love and bits that really bug me which I suppose is the sign of a well rounded character. Sometimes I'm cheering her on (mostly when she's fighting her corner against the big bad bosses) and at others I want to shake her (stop pushing everyone away) but I'm always on her side and want the best for her.

She doesn't get the easiest ride in this book, it just seems to be bad on top of bad (please give her a break soon) but I do get the feeling that she is starting to change and we can expect better things for her in the future.

There are quite a few secondary characters (her team seems to be ever expanding) and while we don't get as much of certain ones as I would have liked (McGorry, Isaac) I was very happy that Moss was present throughout and that Marsh made a return. I find the relationship between Marsh and Erika fascinating so it's always good to have them interacting. They have a long and complicated history and things get even more complicated in this book when he becomes part of the case.

It is a pretty fast paced read and was definitely one I found difficult to put down. The author knows just how to hook you and keep you reading late into the night. I do feel though that I need to highlight a couple of issues with it. I hate doing this because I do love the author and his books but the little mistakes and inconsistencies scattered throughout drove me nuts (for example, "nice weather for ducks" is not an unheard of expression in the UK, the description of the bones in the arm isn't right, and the twins who can't be told apart on one page are referred to by the correct names on the next). I'm afraid I'm one of those people who once they spot a couple start spotting everything and I had to drop the rating a little for it.

I also felt like it could have done with a bit more depth and detail. The story would possibly have lost a bit of pace but I do think it would have added to the tension and made me a little more invested in the story and characters. There's just something a little bit jarring about it at times. It's so frustrating because it's so close to being absolutely brilliant but just slightly misses the mark because of small silly things that probably only bug me.

Overall however it is an enjoyable read that I flew through and will continue to recommend to everyone I know. Personally, I can't wait for book 6.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ARC. As always all views are my own.

A great plot with a lot of action and suspense that run right through to the end. The author continues to add more depth to Erica's character and although Cold Blood can be read as a standalone, it's well worth reading the series. I highly recommend this read to anyone who is into mysteries and great police procedurals.

She fell in love with a killer, now she’s one too.

The suitcase was badly rusted, and took Erika several attempts, but it yielded and sagged open as she unzipped it. Nothing could prepare her for what she would find inside…

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.

I was waiting for ever to read Cold Blood, or so it seems. I have read the other four Detective Erika Foster novels and loved them, so I expected a really good read. Which is exactly what I got. I love Robert Bryndza and hope he writes many more books with Detective Erika Foster as the lead.
The only problem is I don’t want to wait for it. I want it NOW! 5*

I was quite excited to see Cold Blood on NetGalley and a few sisters quickly requested this one and I added it to our sisters reads right away. I called it a Cold Blood Book Party and wow I didn’t realize how true to the title this book really was. Our party felt more like a “Cold Blood” bloodbath leaving some of us in utter shock. As always I really loved our “Cold Blood” discussion and reading this one along with them.

We did have one sister reading with us who went into this one not reading any of the other books and didn’t really know what to expect from the author. For the sisters who did we were a bit shocked and to some of us it felt like it was a totally different author altogether - then the author we have grown to love. The scenes were gruesome, graphic, and gory even for a sister who’s a fan of the darker stories. I felt this was a big bold and risky move here by Robert Bryndza that paid off for my Twisted Sister Norma as she really liked the creepy and chilling side to the storyline, for me and a couple other sisters not so much.

At first, when we meet the more eviler, disturbed, and ruthless characters Nina and Max, which are also the most disturbing characters that Robert Bryndza has ever written before, I was feeling a bit bad for Nina being sucked into Max’s world. After reading a bit they felt like they were going all Bonnie and Clyde and then more like Natural Born Killers to us. Leaving us with a very uneasy feeling about those characters.

We did enjoy getting back to Erika and her team and really enjoyed the dynamics between Erika and her team but would've liked more from them than Nina and Max. Maybe a little more Peterson and less Marsh and we think it’s time to cut poor Erika some slack and give her a little happiness in her personal life.

I will admit this one did leave a few of us feeling a little uneasy about reading any future installments from Robert Bryndza but I am sure The Twisted Sister Norma will be changing some of our minds. We do hope maybe Robert Bryndza will tone down some of the gruesome and evil characters a bit. We recommend this one to thriller lovers who like the darker and creepier thrillers and with a little heads-up to other readers. Maybe if I had a warning I might have felt differently towards this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Robert Bryndza for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book for a fair and honest review.

All of our Traveling Sisters Reviews can be found on our sister blog:
http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereadi...

Cold Blood (Detective Erika Foster #5) by Robert Bryndza is amazing! I hace read all the DCI Erika Foster books, and this one does not disappoint in fact this one is very dimensional and I loved it.
This story starts off with a suitcase???? Confused? Don’t be the suitcase contains a body! A few chapters in you the reader realize that this is the work of a serial killer and the investigation begins in earnest! Like every Robert books you watch Erika put the pieces of the puzzle together when there is a wrench dropped in the mix. Erika suffers an attack that actually adds to the story. It gives Erika the insight on what her boyfriend went through in the last book, but it doesn’t make Erika stop working the case but if you know Erika you know she would never stop.

I felt that the chapters that alternated between Erika and the Killer made the story more dimensional. I found myself angry and feeling sorry for the killer. I also like that all the regular characters are just as wonderful as I remember. It’s fast paced, wonderful and a great installment that I am ready for more already! Many thanks to the author publisher and netgalley for my advanced copy. 5 fabulous stars for Foster!

ROBERT BRYNDZA is back with another installment to the Detective Erika Foster Series!
When I first found out that DI Erika Foster was back with another installment to this series I quickly requested a copy of this book as I am a huge fan of this series!  I have enjoyed all of the other previous books in this series and this was no exception.

COLD BLOOD (Detective Erika Foster, #5) by ROBERT BRYNDZA is an action-packed, dark, chilling, and a gripping police procedural thriller that once again pulled me in right away into this edgier, disturbing, and bolder storyline which worked for this Twisted Sister.

ROBERT BRYNDZA delivers another well-written read here with non-stop action, although some things in this storyline is a little on the graphic and gruesome side, I found the storyline quite intriguing and creepy. The story is told in multiple perspectives alternating between the present day investigation from Erika’s point of view, through journal entries from the point of view into the background of our serial killers lives, and then into a parallel storyline bringing the case and both stories together in the end.

I absolutely love Erika Foster’s character and found myself a little bit disappointed and irritated with some of the events that her character went through within this book.  I really would like to see a little more happiness for Erika in her personal life!

To sum it all up it was an entertaining, exciting, tense, fast-paced, and a quick read with a satisfying ending. Would recommend!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Robert Bryndza for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book for a fair and honest review.

Erika Foster is back! And bruised, and battered, and badass…
Cold Blood is the fifth book in Robert Bryndza’s Detective Erika Foster series, and he definitely ups the ante here when it comes to stakes, character development and cold-blooded murderers.
Two suitcases wash up on the banks of the Thames. Inside are two dismembered bodies- and nobody knows who they are, or how they got there. It looks like a job for Erika Foster, and as she and her colleague Moss work to uncover the mystery- and a whole lot more other murders besides- the plot starts to thicken…
Five books in, Bryndza is confident enough to keep taking his characters in new and unexpected directions, which may please some fans and anger others. He certainly doesn’t plump for happy endings, and his willingness to keep pulling back the cover and serving us up plot twists is important in a story which feels almost as much about the characters in it as the murder mystery itself. Erika’s relationship with her ex-boyfriend, and the guilt she has over his injury, is given time to breathe, as well as- unusually, for this kind of book- her family. She even makes a trip to Slovakia to see them, which feels like a welcome breath of fresh air for a heroine the author definitely puts through the ringer.
Bryndza makes sure to give each character their own point of view, backstory and character arc (of sorts) which dovetails very neatly with the murders. In this novel, we’re given the chance to actually meet the killers beforehand: Nina, a young, impressionable teenager, and Max, the dangerous man she falls in love with. Having their story thread running alongside the murder investigation, and watching how Nina and Max turn into killers, adds extra excitement, and had me gripped the whole way through- especially at the ending.
The plot itself serves up excitement in spades- of course- with challenges coming not only from the murder investigation but from Erika’s clashes with her superiors, the personal issues that her colleagues have and her trying to balance an all-consuming career in the police with a life outside it. Bryndza is a master of his craft, and his description of life in the police, backed up with some very competent (at times, it felt almost too competent) police work into the murder, is combined with an assured pace, thrills and plot twists to create a great police procedural novel.
Cold Blood strikes a fine balance between the thrills and spills of a gripping plot, and the time that Bryndza takes to really develop his characters. Easy to read, even if you haven’t ever heard of Erika Foster before, I’d recommend this if you’re looking for an easy, exciting read to see you into Autumn.

3.5 Stars* (rounded down).

Erika Foster is at it again. This time she is called in to investigate when a suitcase is found along The Thames river. Inside it? A dismembered body. It's pretty gruesome to be perfectly honest. Then the body count continues to rise and a kidnapping ensues and Erika and her team work feverishly to solve the crimes. Unfortunately, even Erika doesn't get out unscathed in this one.

While I enjoyed the storyline involving Erika, Moss, McGorry, Crane, Hudson and Marsh, I did not enjoy the storyline involving the characters of Max and Nina. I felt that it was way too gruesome and gory and also felt that it was too sexually explicit for my liking. I have read every book in this series and have loved every one of them till now. I was somewhat disappointed that Bryndza chose to push the envelope in this way and hope that he will return to his tried and true in the next installment.

I will say however that the character development was very well done as Bryndza got into the heads of each and every character, including Erika, Moss, Max and Nina. He led all of us on a while ride here with twist after twist, for me however, I just wish it had been a less violent one.

This was a Traveling Sister read for me. It included: Norma, Brenda, Holly and Sarah. Traveling Sisters Group Reviews can be found on Norma and Brenda's Blog:
https://www.twogirlslostinacouleereading.wordpress.com/

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Robert Bryndza for an ARC of this novel one exchange for an honest review.

Published on NetGalley, Goodreads, Amazon and Twitter on 9.24.17.

Well Robert Bryndza has done it again. I've just finished reading 'Cold Blood' and am still reeling from that terrifying, heart-pounding ending!!! 

In this book, a suitcase containing the dismembered body of a man is washed ashore the Thames. After the gruesome discovery, DCI Erika Foster and her partner Moss immediately start their investigation, but first they have to try and identify the victim. Not an easy task without any ID and with a smashed in face! Erika soon learns that another suitcase with similar grisly contents had already been fished out of another part of the river a few weeks earlier. That suitcase contained an unidentified dismembered female body. The similarities between the two discoveries leave no doubt that these are both the work of the same killer. Who were these people? How were they connected? Who has done this to them? And why? 

Nina and Max, a young couple, meet at their place of work and start a relationship. It's immediately evident that Max is involved in some secret dodgy affairs, but Nina doesn't care. She's in love with the bad boy and is prepared to do anything, even sell her soul if needed, to keep him happy and by her side. At first it seems there is no clear connection to the case being investigated by Erika, until the two stories are skilfully twisted, weaved and converged into one...

I've been a big fan of Robert Bryndza ever since I read 'The Girl in the Ice', his crime fiction debut and the first book in the Erika Foster series. His writing is absolutely flawless and the plots he comes up with time and time again, simply clever, original and ingenious. ​

Oh yes! I had one hell of a time reading Cold Blood. It is a fantastic, fast-paced, suspenseful thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The murders are gruesome, the characters (both good and bad) bold and true to life, and the plot superb. With Nina and Max the author showed some degree of boldness too I have to say. You'll understand what I mean when you read their story. I may be wrong but I think Cold Blood is possibly the darkest book in the series to date. It's not a 'whodunit' as some of the other books in the series are, as the reader can guess pretty much early on who's behind these atrocious murders. But Erika and her team do not and they must put together and in the right order all the scattered puzzle pieces and form a picture that will help them catch whoever is behind the killings. 

Having read all 5 books in the series now, I truly consider Erika Foster one of my favourite fictional characters. I love her character, attitude and determination. I also love the fact that she's very tall lol! Not a very common trait among female lead characters. But I also feel so terrible for her. She's always so lonely and sad, mourning her dead husband and living and working so far away from her close relatives, with no true friends other than her colleagues. The author is always so hard with her, but in Cold Blood I have to say he was even harder. I hope in future books Erika smiles and laughs more and finds love again.

When I'd read it, I thought Mr Bryndza could never come up with a book better than The Girl in the Ice, however he has proved me wrong with every book he has written since. This series just gets better and better and I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

With huge thanks to Bookouture for approving my request to read and review this fabulous book through Netgalley.

Robert Bryndza does it again, the books keep coming and they get better each time. I had to read this latest book in one sitting as HAD to know how it would end. Erika grows more and more interesting with each book and this time despite being injured and let down/“surprised” by 3 separate colleagues she still manages to resolve one of her most gruesome cases yet. Bring on book 6!