SHADOW SANDS

 4 stars out of 5

I've read and thoroughly enjoyed several books by this author,

including the first in this series, Nine Elms. So even though I have at least three pre-release books on my Kindle that have review dates prior to this one, I simply couldn't wait to dive in.

And it certainly didn't disappoint. As this one begins in 2012, ex-cop Kate Marshall continues to put her life together years after an incident involving her ex-husband nearly ruined her life. At age 42, she's out of rehab and sober, but her parents took custody of her son Jake and haven't yet relinquished that designation. Now, she's a university lecturer in criminology, and Jake visits from time to time. Most recently, his visit didn't end well; diving in a reservoir near a hydroelectric plant that covered an abandoned village, they find a buried church - a good find - and a dead body - not so good. When the local police come to investigate, they conclude that the young man's death was accidental.

A few weeks later, however, Kate gets accosted by the young man's mother, who has heard of Kate's former police activity and insists that her son - an Olympic-quality swimmer - couldn't possibly have had an accident like this. Uncertain what to do, she tells her university assistant and good friend, Tristan Harper, that the mother is willing to pay good bucks to find out what really happened. They decide to look into things, trying first to confirm that the coroner's report was at best inaccurate.

Their investigation puts Kate and Tristan at odds with a very powerful local family that owns a vast amount of land near the hydroelectric plant. Meanwhile, one of their female university colleagues goes missing, adding yet another case to be solved and putting all three lives in danger.

From my perspective, it's another hard-to-put-down book in which the action never stops. Many thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

Shadow Sands by Robert Bryndza (Thomas & Mercer, November 2020); 310 pp.