SHADOW SANDS

A criminologist uncovers several shocking secrets at a remote reservoir.

While swimming in Devon’s Shadow Sands reservoir, 18-year-old Simon Kendal notices a man loading a body into a boat. Soon, Simon’s being pursued himself. Days later, Kate Marshall, a lecturer in criminology at the local university, finds Simon’s submerged body, fully clothed, while she’s scuba-diving with Jake, her teenage son. When she reports her discovery, she’s annoyed by the officious manner of new DCI Henry Ko. After speaking with Simon’s grieving mother, Lyn, Kate, who’s already discovered the Nine Elms cannibal serial killer, feels compelled to investigate further. Simon, a competitive swimmer, would never have gone into the water fully clothed. Kate enlists eager student Tristan Harper as an assistant. Things are rocky on the homefront for Tristan, who’s constantly at odds with his sister/roommate, Sarah, and her fiance, Gary, and he’s eager to log some hours away. The local paper suggests that Simon drowned; the medical examiner finds a puncture wound. Kate gets a very different picture of Lyn when she interviews Simon’s close friend Geraint, who was camping with him the night he died. Putting the pieces together, Kate finds something wonky in the timeline. Who can be trusted? Meanwhile, another mystery unfolds. Visiting professor Magdalena Rossi, who had an earlier flirtatious encounter with Tristan, is accosted while doing research at the reservoir and then goes missing. When Kate and Tristan begin researching the history of Shadow Sands, what they discover is truly shocking.

With its delightful detective duo, Bryndza’s refreshing, twisty thriller stays upbeat even in dark moments.