This is a great book. When I started, I couldn't tear myself away from it and read most of it in one day.

This book has it all - a great plotline, an interesting mystery and well-written, complicated characters. The plot is really great, it keeps you on the edge of your seat all the time. There are so many different clues and hints, and you, like the main characters Kate and Tristan, do not know what the final picture is and at times you doubt that there is any mystery in all of this at all. And although the ending is not the most surprising, it all creates a coherent and very satisfying whole.

Which is also due to very interesting and multi-dimensional characters. Kate is fascinating, if only because of her complicated past. But she also has an equally interesting personality and definitely performs well as the main character in this story. Tristan makes an interesting partner for her. I hope that with time, in the next books, his personality will become even more expressive and he will leave a stronger mark on the plot. But the character that I liked the most and who I think is exceptionally well built is Sarah, Tristan's sister. Oh, how I love to hate her! Sarah, who on the surface might seem a bit silly and mean girl, has a surprising depth of character. I wish there had been more of her in this book.

This is my first book by Robert Bryndza. I haven't read the first book in this series, but it wasn't a problem. Except now I'm really curious. Especially since it looks like in the first book, Kate confronted her former lover and serial killer, Peter. So, there is a good chance that I will read the first book in this series soon, or some other books by this author.

Book 2 in the Kate Marshall series. I would recommend reading book 1 first as, apart from being a great read, this refers to some of that plot line.

It was great learning more about Kate and especially Tristan in this book.

The plot was quite dark and it had me totally engrossed. I thought I had worked it out but no, no I hadn't.

A brilliant new series from one of my favourite author's and I can't wait to read the next instalment.

I’ve loved everything Robert writes and when I saw this on NetGalley I knew I had to read it. Little did I know this was book 2 in the Kate Marshall Nine Elms series. This one picks up not long after the first book. Kate is working hard and still rebuilding her relationship with her son Jake.

They have spent their summer together and taken up diving. They dive in the Shadown Sands reservoir turns deadly when they find a body of a young boy.

They both take the discovery as a huge shock and the police declare the death a drowning. This didn’t sit right with Kate and when the young boys mother comes to her for more answers she finds herself questioning everything.

There’s more that meets the eye and a serious of deaths and disappearances over the years had Kate looking into every detail including phantom fog. Someone’s killing innocent people and people in power are covering!

I enjoyed this second in the Kate Marshall series. Kate and her son find a dead body while scuba diving and that pulls her into another mystery. The book also delves a bit more into Kate's relationship with her son and a slight bit more of her backstory. While the book can strain credibility sometimes it is an enjoyable book and I look forward to more in this series.

Another brilliant read from Robert Bryndza!
He is definitely on my "I have to read all his books" list.
I love how the different characters develop from book 1
and we get to know them a bit better. Jake is also developing into a very sensible young man.
Although this book was not as gruesome as Nine Elms for me it was still a mesmerizing read from beginning to end.
I can't wait for the next instalment. Do I see some interference from Peter Conway in the next 1?!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Shadow Sands is the second book about former police officer turned forensics lecturer/occasional PI Kate Marshall and her loyal sidekick Tristan. I had enjoyed the previous book, Nine Elms, although not as much as his Erika Foster series, and this was the same - an effective serial killer thriller but with a less compelling heroine. Part of this may be my own preference for police procedurals rather than amateur detective stories - although this is certainly no annoying cosy mystery.

Set a couple of years after the events of the last book, this finds Kate and her teenage son Jake scuba diving in a reservoir to explore a drowned village when they discover the body of a student who went missing two days earlier. The police, led by an incompetent young DCI promoted because of nepotism not ability, write it off as an accident. When a young Italian lecturer from the university, who was meant to be going on a date with Tristan, also disappears, Kate discovers that other young people have vanished into the fog on quiet country roads. Can our intrepid duo rescue Magdalena before it’s too late?

Bryndza is a talented writer who brings the spooky Devon scenery and terrifying ordeal of the missing woman effectively to life. He introduces the idea of local myths that have sprung up about the disappearances, including a giant footprint, but then abandons these in favour of a fairly generic serial predator explanation (that’s not a spoiler - we learn early that this is what is in fact going on, just not who or any good reason why.) This was a missed opportunity in my opinion. It seems British crime writers these days HAVE to feature a serial killer in every instalment and ignore the implausibility of a detective meeting more than one in their career. I don’t think this is going to change, so I need to start reading more diverse genres for a while, and stop requesting the same kinds of books over and over - although once I’m invested in the characters I still want to know what happens next!

Kate is a fairly standard Recovering Alcoholic Detective With Issues - in this case the trauma of being nearly killed by her former boss and Baby-Daddy, the Nine Elms cannibal. She struggles to connect with her son, who was raised by his grandparents when she fell apart, and although sober for years, drinks a lot of iced tea (this was as tedious to read about as most detectives’ coffee addictions.) I do however like the semi-maternal relationship with Tristan, who has his own problems to come to terms with. I would’ve liked to have seen more of her working at her actual job, these scenes are bypassed in favour of more mundane aspects of her life.

I’m perhaps sounding a bit too critical - this is a solid four-star read, I’d just like the author to venture outside of the same old tropes and come up with something more unexpected & original. He does explain in the afterword that he brought Jake’s father back in because readers asked for it, which is fair enough, but again I think he missed an opportunity there.
Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review. Shadow Sands is published on November 3rd.

I'm one of the few that did not enjoy the 1st book too much. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for another female lead police procedural book. Because I have enjoyed Bryndza's Erika Foster series, I decided to give this series another chance. I'm so glad I did. I recommend reading the first book before reading this one, just to know about Kate's background. But this can be read as a stand-alone because the author gives enough backstory where you won't feel lost.
Once again, Kate and her assistant, Tristan are back to look into the death of a teenage boy. The characters are well structured and the plot moves along at a good pace where I didn't become bored. The mystery builds throughout as I was pulled deeper into the story.  

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Robert Bryndza for a copy of "Shadow Sands" in exchange of an honest review.

Omg, I love this author. What a fabulous story, so cleverly crafted. I raced through it.
I am a Robert Bryndza addict and he certainly knows it!!
Such a great plot, an unsettling and thrilling ride.
Robert Bryndza has the ability to hook me in straight away, and I just sat, read and indulged myself.
I like the fact that it isn’t actually a police procedural, rather more of a private investigation from characters who just couldn’t let it lie.
Kate Marshall was a rising star in the London Metropolitan police force. Young, ambitious and with a keen sense of justice, she solved several high-profile murder cases. She would stop at nothing….until a killer stopped her in her tracks. Since her days in the force are behind her she’s tried live a peaceful life.
Kate lectures in Criminology at a University on the South Coast. She has an assistant, Tristan Harper. I like Tristan, early 20’s, tall, cropped hair, tattoos.
Kate is on a scuba diving outing with her son when they make a shocking discovery of the body of a teenage boy entangled below the surface of the Shadow Sands reservoir.
The victim is the latest in a series of mysterious deaths and disappearances linked to the area—and a mythic phantom said to hide in the rolling fog. When a researcher of urban legends vanishes without a trace, Kate and Tristan must act fast and look deep if they hope to find her alive.
The detective chief inspector’s too-quick narrative of a tragic drowning doesn’t add up, and when Kate follows the evidence, it leads to a darker discovery.
The elusive serial killer they’re hunting isn’t the only one a step ahead of Kate and Tristan. Someone else is making dead certain that the secrets of Shadow Sands stay buried.
The relationship between Kate and Tristan is a special one, and I look forward to more from the intrepid two in the next book.
If you've never read any books by Robert Bryndza....why not?!
I’ve recommended Robert Bryndza’s books to people all over the world and everyone loves them, he’s a global superstar!!
Thanks to Sphere and NetGalley for the review copy of this this fabulous book in which I give my honest opinion.

Robert Bryndza books are just so darn addictive! His Erika Foster series is one of my favourite police procedural series and then Kate Marshall books are just as good. Once you get started you won’t want to stop reading.

Shadow Sands begins with Kate and her son Jake, scuba diving in the Shadow Sands reservoir when they come across a body. It is a young man and police are quick to rule it an accidental drowning. Kate and her teaching assistant and amateur private detective, Tristan are. It convinced. They look into it closer and find that this is not the first time a body has been found at Shadow Sands under suspicious circumstances. But somebody is determined to keep their secret and they are playing a dangerous game. Can they stop this killer before they strike again.

I really enjoyed the development of Kate, Jake and Tristian in this one. Their relationships with each other are growing and we are learning more about them all.

Thanks to Thomas and Mercer for my advanced copy of this book to read.

I really enjoyed Nine Elms, the first in the Kate Marshall series, so I was excited to see where Robert Bryndza would take Kate Marshall. Kate was a Detective Constable until she became entangled personally and professionally in a case that almost cost her her life. Now she lectures in Criminology in Ashdean, Devon. She is assisted in her work by a very capable teaching assistant, Tristan.

Bryndza gives you enough of Kate’s backstory for you to understand that she has a traumatic past. One that caused her to leave the police force for good and which has resulted in her son being brought up by her parents, so you know that her trauma runs deep.

When the book opens, Kate and her son Jake are spending time together. They have been taking diving proficiency classes and on an outing, they go diving in the Shadow Sands reservoir. There they discover the dead body of Simon Kendall and Kate wastes no time in calling the police.

The police are quickly inclined to rule the death a suicide, but Simon’s mother knows her son would not have taken his own life and begs Kate to look into it since the police seem to have made up their minds.

Using her knowledge and contacts, it doesn’t take Kate long to ascertain that something is amiss and that the circumstances of Simon’s death were nor straightforward. Tristan has been doing some research of his own and he finds a Professor in the University who also has an interest in the Shadow Sands area and who is able to tell him about other strange goings on in the surroundings of the reservoir.

Bryndza’s ability to make his central characters incredibly empathetic and likeable immediately make you warm to both Kate and Tristan and it is good to begin to find out more about the latter who becomes much more of a fleshed out character in this book. His facility to draw the reader quickly into a story and to invest them with a stake in the outcome is indicative of a writer who really understands his audience.

Bryndza weaves a complex and thrilling plot, giving us characters who we can care about and some who are all too easy to dislike and who provide excellent suspect fodder. In this multi-layered investigation, everyone is a suspect and you are left wondering what’s been going on at the reservoir and quite why so many people disappear from its environs.

Bryndza reels you in from the very beginning, his tense and exciting plot leading you to suspect everyone and trust no-one, not even the police. The narrative drive is forceful, turning this into a powerful and almost one sit read, as you need to know not only who is responsible, but just as importantly, why.

I love the suspense in this fast-paced story and hearing from both the victim and the killer in their own words produces a visceral reaction that makes the hairs on your neck stand up and a cold shiver run down your spine.

With characters you love to hate and the return of a nemesis for Kate, there’s plenty to keep the reader on the edge of the seat in this action packed suspenseful thriller.

Verdict: With very personal moments for both Kate and Tristan sweetening and deepening a skilled mix of suspense and tension, Bryndza has pulled together the perfect ingredients for the second Kate Marshall novel. Roll on Book Three!

This author is one of my favorites. I love his Erika Foster series and this series is just as amazing. This book ended how I was hoping it would.

3.5 stars

A superior sequel to Nine Elms with a gripping plot, a rapid pace and superb character development.

Former Met police officer and now a criminology lecturer with an occasional sideline in private investigation, Kate Marshall is back in a superior follow-up to Nine Elms, the novel which introduced her and her young research assistant, Tristan Harper. Gutsy Kate saw her career in the Met ended when she discovered that her boss and ex-lover, DCI Peter Conway, was a serial killer and the trauma led to her becoming an alcoholic and her parents bringing up the son she conceived with a killer. Keen to build on her relationship with nearly seventeen-year-old son Jake the pair go scuba diving in the man-made reservoir of Shadow Sands only to discover the body of a fully-clothed teenage boy. Kate asks too many questions for DCI Henry Ko’s liking, particularly when the victim’s mother tells her he was a competitive swimmer and the facts don’t fit the police’s theory. Soon after this the disappearance of a visiting lecturer in the same vicinity adds to Kate and Tristan’s concerns and sees them wonder if the two might be connected.

The case is less far-fetched than the series opener and develops the character of Tristan in a meaningful way with complex Kate facing the added test of her son wanting to visit his incarcerated father. Hugely readable with relatable characters, an involving plot and a sprinkling of humour this a perfect choice for an escapist read.

**CRACK** That is the sound of Robert Bryndza hitting it out of the ballpark yet again! Kate Marshall and her assistant, Tristan Harper are back again in book two of the Kate Marshall series.

Kate is diving with her son when she finds the body of a young man floating in the Shadow Sands Reservoir. When his death is ruled a drowning, things do not add up for Kate. She was once a police officer and knows how to look at clues, evidence and forensics. When she is asked to investigate things, she knows she cannot refuse.

Shadow Sands sucked me in right away. This was not a slow to start-and-got-better-as-the-book-went-along type of book. This book started strong, stayed strong and ended strong. Woohoo!!! Robert Bryndza delivered and has me anxiously waiting for book three in the series.

For those who have read the first book in the series, [book:Nine Elms|44375176], you will know Kate's backstory and that of her son. Her son is back and so is his father, if briefly but his appearance is significant. If you have not read that book, do so. You will thank me. Then read this one! And yes, this book would work well as a stand-alone but if you have read the first book, you will be privy to more information and perhaps, like me, will enjoy the characters development of both Kate and Tristan. Both characters and very likable and both have their own subplots going on along with their investigation.

The main plot, the subplots all helped keep this book moving at a refreshing pace. Once I picked this book up, I did not want to put it down. I found it to be a brilliant page turner. I really enjoy Bryndza's writing. Perfectly paced and nothing felt rushed or drawn out. I also appreciate that nothing seems to come from left field. It is all plausible.

Riveting perfectly paced and heart pounding, a terrific installment in a very promising and captivating series.

Thank you to Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Shadow Sands is the second book in Robert Bryndza's Kate Marshall series, but it can easily be enjoyed as a standalone thriller, in fact I had not read the first book in the series, Nine Elms, before picking this up but I certainly plan to do so now.
Bryndzya's protagonist is a former police officer who left the force under a cloud despite catching the notorious Nine Elms killer, and she is still dealing with the consequences of that investigation every day. Having moved into academia, the last thing she is expecting on a diving expedition to a local reservoir with her son is that they will discover a dead body. When the mother of the victim is dissatisfied by the official explanation of what happened to her son she approaches Kate to ask her to investigate. The verdict of a tragic accident doesn't seem believable to Kate either, and so she starts to dig deeper, and in the process ruffles more than a few feathers. Could a serial killer have been operating in the area for years, and if so why has no one picked up on it officially before now?
Kate is a fantastic and very believable character, with plenty of flaws to keep her grounded in reality. In the book we do learn something about her past and how and why she left the force, and we see her forced to face that past in a shocking way. So many of these type of books have a hard drinking hard boiled protagonist, but Kate feels more human than most, and I particularly liked the way the author shows her ongoing struggles with alcoholism. The pace is punchy and kept me entertained, and if the ending was a little more tame and predictable than I might have hoped for , that is a small price to pay for the hours of entertainment that went before. This was an engaging and entertaining read and I would not hesitate to read more of this author's work.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This book is outstanding. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would! Literally 24 hours before reading this book, I decided to get rid of my James Patterson books: I can no longer sit through the misogynistic portrayal of women. I didn't think I'd find any man who would write a respectful and diverse crime-thriller and definitely not so soon. Welcome to the stage: Robert Bryndza.

Shadow Sands is the second novel in the Kate Marshall series following Nine Elms. The rest of this post will have some minor spoilers so let me summarise by saying this book is packed full of plot-twists, characters that spring off the page and emotions. Bryndza is a masterful writer and I highly recommend his work.

One of my favourite aspects of Shadow Sands is the love interests. For protagonist Kate there is none - she has her own demons and focuses on herself and her son, rather than having a long line of love interests as some crime novels feature. And then there's Tristan - sweet Tristan. In Shadow Sands Tristan comes out as gay, as someone who came out later in life I appreciated the exploration of this. It was very realistic and made some fabulous observations on homophobic behaviour.

"Listen, Tris. Sarah's not homophobic. She loves them coloured cups they do for Pride at Costa."

Bryndza has cemented himself as my new favourite crime writer with this dark instalment. His characters have such depth to them and you aren't bombarded with information, rather you slowly learn more and more about them and can begin to predict their behaviour. Shadow Sands is absolutely fantastic and I can't recommend the series enough. I'll be grabbing myself a physical copy as soon as they're released to match my Nine Elms.

Shadow Sands is available from November 3rd. Thank you to Robert Bryndza, Thomas and Mercer and NetGalley for providing an ARC in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this more than I did book one, probably because Kate has a better grip on life now and the author only referred to her alcoholism a few times. I really like the working relationship she has with Tristan which seems to be an ongoing thing.

This book is action packed and tense, especially the chapters about Magdalena. Will she survive or won't she? It was difficult to guess who the guilty party was - there were so many possibilities to choose from and I did not work it out in advance. A visit to Peter was interesting and it was nice to see prison was not working out well for him.

So all was good and I will be looking forward to seeing what happens in book three.

Shadow Sands by Robert Bryndza is a superb read! An engrossing read and page turner well worth the time spent.

Something is very wrong with the Shadow Sands reservoir and everyone seems to be ignoring it. Kate Marshall, one of the most unusual protagonists, is diving with her 16 year old son Jake when they discover the body of Simon, an Olympic level swimmer who has inexplicably drowned. Kate is only now building a relationship with Jake, who was raised by her parents while she struggled with addiction and guilt over her relationship with his father, a DCI who was also a serial killer. She's working as a lecturer in criminology so when Simon's mother asks her to investigate, she's game. Her assistant Tristan finds himself in the crosshairs when Magdalena, a visiting professor disappears. Are these things linked? This is a twisty one that pulls threads together - lots of secrets in this small town. The characters are terrific and while the main focus is on Kate, there's a good dose of Tristan as well. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Well done.

Robert Bryndza is one of my top favourite authors and never fails to produce a brilliant book. Shadow Sands is the second instalment in the Kate Marshall series and if it’s even possible, this book is better than its predecessor. I was hooked from beginning to end.
Kate and her son discover a dead body whilst diving together in a local reservoir. She is not convinced that the police have arrested the actual murderer and along with her trusty sidekick Tristan, sets about discovering the truth. Things turn more sinister when a fellow university lecturer disappears and the number of missing people starts to mount up.
Kate and Tristan are certain that an all-powerful family of wealthy landowners are connected in some way and the race is on to find the missing woman before time runs out.
Added to the mix is the possibility of a corrupt policeman and the return of an evil character from Nine Elms and what the reader is left with is an amazing, suspenseful read.
Cannot believe the next book in the series is not due out until end of 2021 ! Robert Bryndza needs to write faster.

This series brought us a main character (Kate) who is flawed and very realistic. The story is so well written and the suspense is gripping. I look forward to #3.
Many thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.