A young boy disappears on a camping holiday and is never seen again. Eleven years later his grandmother asks private investigators Kate and Tristan, to find out what happened to him. Despite their reservations in their ability to succeed with this case, they agree to look into it. As many lies, secrets and deceptions are revealed along the way a conclusion is reached. Without giving anything away I found the first half of the book quite slow and I also guessed the ending. However, it was a well conceived story that had some interesting twists and was also quite thought provoking. I like the characters of Kate and Tristan and think they work well as a team and assume there will be other books featuring them.

Devils Way by Robert Bryndza tells the story of Private Detective Kate Marshall who investigates a story of a 3 year old who went missing 10 years ago. This was a great plot with great characters. I will need to go read the other Kate Marshall stories. Although it can be read as a stand alone. I would recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley for letting me review this book.

I have to start off my review by saying how hugely excited I was to have read the afterward which mentions that the author’s next novel will be a standalone thriller! Of course I love his books in his series’ but OMG, as a huge fan, this is incredibly exciting news!

Anyways, I can’t believe we are already onto the fourth novel in the brilliant Kate Marshall series. Poor Kate is having a rough time of it after a near death experience whilst out on her daily, early morning swim. Thankfully for us she recovers in no time and finds herself on a new case that she takes on after meeting her client whilst in hospital.

After serial killers, missing children are probably next on my list of most fascinating cases. With such high profile cases such as Jamie Bulger and Madeleine McCann, I think it’s the not knowing that is hard to overcome. I could only imagine how painful it must be living with never knowing whether their child is alive or dead and being left with always wondering. Kate and her partner Tristan have a good success rate with missing people and I was quietly confident that no matter what the fate of the child turned out to be, they would uncover it.

There is a lot of investigation work going on and I was gripped at the way that Kate and Tristan worked together to try and solve this case. From their interviews to the slog of wading through evidence and trips to where the event of Charlie going missing happened, it really makes for some tense and informative reading on how not only private investigators work but the police also.

Devil’s Way is a heart-racing and at times emotional read that grabbed hold of me from the very first page. I have no idea how the author does it but his stories pick you up from the word go and don’t put you down until the very last page whilst taking you on a rollercoaster of a journey in between. I was constantly second guessing at what had happened to Charlie as well as to who was behind his disappearance. The author ensures there are plenty of red herrings to send you of course and looking in the wrong direction. A fast paced, page turner that will keep you up all night!

Dark, atmospheric and thrilling - the best yet!

I’m no stranger to Robert’s books. Having read them all and owning a few personally addressed copies. Throughout all of my reviews I’ve always noted that my preference has been for his Erika Foster series but suddenly I can feel a change in the tide.

This book was remarkable and really thrilling to read. Much like the first in the Kate Marshall series it’s thoroughly entertaining and a really kind bender of a plot. Having said that, I think this is my favourite Kate/Tristan book so far.

The setting of the crime is so detailed and beautifully written you could imagine truly being there. Robert mentions in his acknowledgments that he has spent considerable time in Exmoor, roaming the land. That relationship he has with the land and knowledge of space really shines through throughout this story and makes his fiction feel like truth.

Kate and Tristan are fab characters but I often find that whilst I know their backstories I still don’t feel like I know them. It’s only with this series that I have this half-connect with the main characters. And oddly, I feel I know them much better when they’re not working together. Their relationship comes across much clearer when they are talking about one another rather than to each other. Which brings me to the next observation, other than work they don’t actually talk to one another, hang out and have banter. Perhaps this is what makes me so undecided about this series? As the Erika Foster series is much better rounded in character development.

All that aside, this truly is such a fantastic read and one that can be read as a standalone novel. Each book in the Kate Marshall series is focused on one particular mystery that needs solving. Whilst they all hint back to book 1 and Kate’s backstory. That particular book has no hold on any of the stories that follow it.

Thank you so much to Robert for my signed hardback copy and of course the delicious chocolate!! Keep writing, I love your books and I can’t wait to see where they both go now x

Another great read by Robert Bryndza

Private detective Kate Marshall wakes up in hospital after almost drowning and soon starts talking to another patient. Jean tells her of her 3 year old grandson Charlie who disappeared eleven years ago.
Kate and her partner Tristan agree to take on the missing person case, and they soon find that there was a murder soon after the disappearance that could be connected. Then there’s a disturbing short story that was published by a group with a connection to the murdered person - but is it true or just a story - Kate and Tristan try to find out.
A good read with a couple of twists.

Thanks to NetGalley and Raven Street Publishing, I recently discovered Robert Bryndza’s books and have enjoyed them immensely. As such, his newest installment in his Kate Marshall series, “Devil’s Way,” boasts an intriguing premise that I was excited to delve into. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit short for me. I found the story to be fairly lackluster and the overly descriptive prose pertaining to the campsite area caused me to tune out and disengage. There are definitely some high points in this book, but overall, it’s just not the gripping, suspenseful novel I was expecting it to be. And yet, while “Devil’s Way” was a little disappointing, I’m considering this to be a one-off and look forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

This was my first encounter with Kate Marshall and her delightful sidekick Tristan as well as with Robert Bryndza. I'm so glad that I found them. The Devil's Way is a wonderful exploration of just how hard cold case investigations can be and brilliantly exposes how the least important piece of evidence can change the nature of the case in a nano second. The building of Kate and her troubled life is no doubt familiar to her previous fans in other books but to a new reader it was enough to make me want more of her earlier incarnations. The Devil's Way is set in Devon and Cornwall with a focus on the Dartmoor area, it evokes the dark and brooding landscape as well as the frustrating tragedy of a child who goes missing. and the impossibility of revisiting the case eleven years later when the landscape has changed and locals have 'moved on'. The twists and turns as it unravels in the latter half of the book are both totally convincing as well as creative and clever. Well done Robert Bryndza. A great addition to the criminal investigation world and the doggedness of the private investigator fraternity. Many thanks to ravenstreetpublishing.com via @netgalley for the opportunity to be introduced to this writer via an unbiased review. The opinions are my own.

Devil's Way is the 4th book in the Kate Marshall series. It definitely helps if you've read the previous books since you get the back story of Kate and her partner Tristan, but it's not necessary to enjoy the book. I really like both Kate and Tristan, so I've enjoyed this series a lot.

In this book, Kate is in the hospital recovering from a swimming accident when her roommate tells her the 'story' of her missing grandson, hoping Kate can help. Kate is intrigued by the case, and as she starts to dig into what happened, she becomes more curious and takes on the case with Tristan.

I figured out the 'mystery' pretty quickly, so the ending wasn't surprising to me. I do enjoy the characters and relationships in this series. Fans of the previous books will enjoy this one!

Robert Bryndza doesn't fail. This book, well, you need to read it. That is just it. This book got me feeling some things. I loved this and I know I can't wait to get a physical copy.
Robert's writing is great and the characters were likeable.

This is not my first Bryndza novel and it absolutely won't be my last! In the 4th book in the Kate Marshall series, we find Kate with a win under her belt as she forges ahead with her detective agency.

There were some bits that seemed awkward - Kate's near drowning at the beginning seemed that. But I kept asking myself, how else would she have met her new client... and I could not figure out any other way for that to happen.

I will give no spoilers here, but Kate and her partner, Tristan, are tasked with trying to solve a missing child case... a cold case that has been unsolved (and largely forgotten) for eleven years. And once Kate and Tristan begin to unravel this mystery, we see Kate really begin to hit her stride. She is very excellent at pulling out threads from the tangle of a case.

I truly enjoy how Bryndza brings the reader into the mystery solving equation... he unfurls the clues and allows you to contemplate with Kate how this all fits together.

The solving of this mystery was really done well... however, the epilog also felt very awkward to me. It felt a bit too "tied up with a bow" for me.

There is some discussion of Kate's previous cases, but Devil's Way can easily be read as a stand alone book without having read any of the previous books. I very much recommend this book and the Kate Marshall series!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Raven Street Publishing for the ARC of this book.

Kate and Tris are back!
Kate has an accident whilst swimming and meets Jean in hospital. When Jean discovers that Kate is a private detective she tells her about her missing, presumed dead, grandson Charlie. When Jean isn't there the next day, Kate thinks she hallucinated the whole encounter. However<,Jean gets in touch and hires them to find her grandson.
During the course of their enquiries they come across the murder of a social worker and several things link her to the family. She was murdered shortly after Charlie went missing so it appears to be a dead end.
With her usual tenacity Kate keeps at it and with the help of old and new friends they move forward with the case.
This is an engaging read and I really enjoyed it.

An enjoyable puzzle which zips along. But we only meet the guilty party/parties just before they're arrested so we don't have that wonderful 'oh, I didn't see that coming' moment when you've already met them earlier in the story. So, yes, a good story but lacks the killer punch to be a great story.

Another terrific who done it from this author. There are several clues and dead ends in the investigation of a lost boy, One never knows where each clue will lead.
I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I have loved Robert Bryndza’s books featuring Erika Foster. This is my first read of the Kate Marshall series. Though I have started with book #4 directly, had no problems as it is written as a standalone story.

Kate Marshall, a private investigator, gets caught in a riptide while swimming at sea, is rescued and recuperates in hospital. In the next bed at the hospital is Jean, who upon learning that Kate is a private investigator, speaks to her about her three-year-old grandson who disappeared 11 years ago. Jean & Charlie shared a tent while camping in Dartmoor, while his parents were in a tent a short distance away. Jean steps out for a smoke, is caught in a brief chat with her partner and returns to find that Charlie is missing. After many years, Jean wants to know what happened. As Kate and her business partner Tristan investigate, they find several aspects which need further digging into –theories that Charlie probably fell into a gorge have unexplained aspects, and also a social worker in touch with the family after a complaint from a neighbour was murdered shortly after Charlie disappeared – it is not clear if there is a connection.

I loved the descriptions of the locale, and the speculation of what could have happened - of the police many years back as well as Kate & Tristan. I prefer books which keep the plot elements realistic, rather than introduce far-fetched twists which do not tie up well, and Bryndza’s books have some solid investigative work. I liked the contrast in characters between Erika Foster, as a police officer and Kate as an older private investigator – the build-up is subtle and very realistic. At about 80%, I could guess what was to come in the rest of the book, and the last sections could have been a little better. Nevertheless, this is a very engaging story and much recommended!

My rating: 4.5 / 5.

I haven't read any of Robert Bryndza's books before, but I'm happy to have discovered him now.
I couldn't put this thriller down.
Set on Dartmoor, this is the story of two private detectives, Kate and Tristran, who are asked to try and discover what happened to 3-year old Charlie who disappeared on a camping trip 11 years ago.
Great characters take part as the mystery unravels with an exciting reveal.
Pass me the next one please!

‘The morning started out as regular as any other.’

Private Investigator Kate Marshall is rushed to hospital after being rescued from a riptide during her morning swim in the sea at Thurlow Bay. During her recovery in hospital, she befriends Jean Julings, an elderly woman on the same ward. Jean tells Kate about her grandson Charlie, who went missing eleven years ago during a camping trip on Dartmoor. Charlie was three years old.

‘Do you think you can help me find him?’

Before she leaves hospital, Kate agrees to investigate. But she and her partner Tristan find that Jean has a past which could have put Charlie in jeopardy. Could Charlie have been abducted? Or did fall into the Devil’s Way, the river close to where the family was camping? Kate is still weakened by her accident and Tristan plays a much larger role in this investigation.

Further investigation reveals that a social worker who had raised concerns about Jean and her daughter was found brutally murdered not long after Charlie’s disappearance. There are plenty of twists in this story as the truth gradually emerges. While I worked out part of the answer before the end, I was particularly impressed by the realistic ending.

This novel could be read as a standalone, but I will be seeking out the first two books in the series (I have read the third) to follow Kate’s character development.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Raven Street Publishing for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Thank you for an advanced copy of this book.
This book follows the life of a private investigator and her attempts to find out what happened to a boy that went missing 11 years ago. In her investigations, she unravels more secrets that she intended. I enjoyed this book very much and all the mystery surrounding the story.

I've been a fan of Robert Bryndza's thrillers ever since I first met detective Erika Foster back in 2016, and I've read every single thriller book he has published since. His newest series featuring Kate Marshall is quickly becoming another favorite, and Devil's Way is already book number four of the series. With the same PI lead characters and plenty of twists and turns, this sequel ended up being yet another successful detective thriller that is extremely hard to put down. Then again, that is what I've come to expect of his books!

One of the things that I love of this series is the fact that the main characters are private detectives, which means a different type of crime investigation that is rather refreshing. Kate Marshall is a former detective of course, and she still has plenty connections as well as having lots of experience solving cases. The fact that she doesn't have access to police resources means that she has to be creative in her investigations though, and I like what it adds to the plot. The story in Devil's Way can once again be followed quite easily without reading the previous books, but if you want to have more background of the characters I would advice you to read at least first book before you start this one. It will give you a better idea as to where the characters stand and why they behave in a certain way... Both previous sequels are well worth your time as well though.

I always enjoy spending more time with main characters Kate and Tristan, and I like the dynamics between them on both a personal level and during their investigations. The case in Devil's Way is another intriguing one, although the plot starts on a more personal level with Kate's accident. It takes a surprisingly long time for the main investigation to start, but once it does the story truly kicks off. There are plenty of twists and secrets to keep you busy; the multiple POV structure and flashbacks help adding suspense while also keeping certain things from you. I do have to say that I saw the big twists coming VERY early on, which kind of put a damper on things and I kept hoping I was wrong.

This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the story though, and as always there is something about the way Robert Bryndza writes that makes it impossible to put a book down once you start reading. And even though the case itself didn't properly start until a little later in the story, there was tension from the very beginning! As a whole, Devil's Way turned out to be another solid sequel and I already can't wait to find out what the next book will bring.

3.5

Devil's Way jumps forward in time but we're still with Kate & Tristan now as a well established detective agency. I still really like the relationship between our two lead characters & will continue this series, but this one fell a little flatter for me, lacking the intricacies & twists of the previous books. I think this is because I had worked out what had happened very early on & was just left following the story to see how it all came together.

Having said that I have seen so many fantastic reviews for Devil's Way that I know it is only because I lucked (or unlucked) out in twigging the twist very early on 😬

My thanks to Raven Street Publishing for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Devil’s Way’ by Robert Bryndza.

This is Book 4 in his Kate Marshall series of crime thrillers. Kate is a former Met police detective now running a private detective agency in Devon with her former teaching assistant, Tristan. Background is provided for readers new to the series.

June 2018. Kate Marshall swims every day in the sea but one morning she is pulled into a riptide current and nearly dies. After rescue she is rushed to the hospital. During her recovery he befriends Jean, an elderly lady on the same ward. She learns that eleven years previously Jean’s three-year-old grandson, Charlie, went missing during a camping trip on Dartmoor. Was he abducted? Or did Charlie fall into Devil's Way, a rushing river that vanishes into a a gorge close to where they were camping?

By the time Kate is well enough to go home, she has agreed to take on the case. Kate and Tristan look into the events of that fateful night and uncover that there may have been aspects of Jean’s past that could have put Charlie in jeopardy. The brutal murder of the family’s social worker not long after Charlie vanished is also of concern. Is this crime related? No further details to avoid spoilers.

Overall, I felt that ‘Devil’s Way’ had a strong plot and was a definite page-turner that was also rich in characterisation. This is a series that has become a must-read for me.

Highly recommended.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5.