Devil's Way - Characters

 SPOILERS!!!

Devil's Way - Facts

 The novel starts in Dartmoor Nature Park, and the Julings have camped near Devil's Tor. Devil’s Tor is a small grouping of low granite rocks which sits atop a vast reasonably flat area of Dartmoor. 

Devil's Way 2 - The End (Pages 84 - end)

 RATING: VERY GOOD

SPOILERS!!!

New Book - Devil's Way - Kate Marshall 4 - by Robert Bryndza (Pages 1 - 84)

 First Published: 2023

The novel starts in June 2007.

Fatal Witness - Characters

 SPOILERS!!!

These are the characters in this novel for further reference:

Regular characters:

• Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster is the main character. She is  a 45-year-old widow whose husband was killed in a drug raid that Erika led. Erika is passionate, with a strong sense of justice, but she can also be cold and rude. Yet, despite her flaws she is well-liked by her team. She is now working at Lewisham station.    In previous book Erika had an on-off relationship with her colleague, Peterson. What broke them was when James was shot and part of his stomach had to be removed. Erika felt guilty because it was her responsibility. James finally decided that they should just be friends. Then Peterson discovered he had a son he didn’t know about, and now he is happy with him and his ex-girlfriend.  With Paul Marsh, her former boss, she has a peculiar relationship and in a previous book they had a moment in which they started kissing passionately, but they eventually talked and said  that it wouldn’t happen again. In this book she gets reacquainted with her first boyfriend in Slovakia, Igor, and they have started something that may lead to a real relationship. 
• Igor Mack (44) is the Argos delivery guy who brings Erika her bed and washing machine. Igor turns out to be Erika's first boyfriend in Slovakia, and after this initial encounter they become more than friends. Igor is divorced and has a child
• DI Kate Moss is one of the two detectives Erika usually works with and her best friend. Moss is a lesbian and  is married to Celia and they have a child, Jacob. Kate is honest in her comments, cheerful and good fun.
• DI James Peterson is the other detective Erika works with.  Peterson has a dark episode in his life when his sister took her own life after being abused by a priest when she was a child. Peterson claimed to be in love with Erika, and he was patient with her, but when he was shot, something changed, and he and Erika broke up. Some weeks ago he discovered that he had a six-year-old son, who his ex-girlfriend hid from him. Now he is happy to have him in his life, and he and his ex-girlfriend are back together.
• Detective Constable John McGorry was Erika’s 24-year-old colleague in Bromley, and when she was transferred to Lewisham, she requested John be transferred as well. John is pleasant and talkative, which often drives Erika crazy, but she trusts him.  John has a girlfriend, Monica.
• Commander Paul Marsh is  Erika’s superior.  Marsh and Erika first met when they both trained for the police, and Erika introduced him to his wife Marcie. Paul and Marcie separated for a while after she had an affair with a younger man, but in a previous book they got back together. Marsh made a pass at Erika in a previous and they kissed. Nothing happened because they were interrupted. Erika thinks that Paul has changed and he is too worried about politics rather than doing what is right.
• Isaac Strong is the police forensic pathologist. He and Erika are good friends. Isaac is gay and in a previous book his boyfriend was murdered, and he was even accused of his murder. Now Isaac is single, and he is one of the few people Erika trusts to talk about her personal problems.
• Sergeant Crane is an officer in Erika’s unit.
• PC Kay Hornby is an officer in Erika’s unit.
• Superintendent Melanie Hudson is Erika’s boss.
• Kyle is James Peterson’s six-year-old son.
• Fran is Peterson’s partner. When they first were an item, they broke up six years ago, and she hid the fact that she was pregnant and had a son. Years later she contacted Peterson when she lost her job and returned from Germany where she had been all this time. Now they are back together.
• Assistant Commissioner Camilla Brace-Cosworthy is the  commissioner, and Erika’s superior.
• Assistant Commissioner Gareth Oakley was  Marsh’s boss and now he is retired.
• Marcie Marsh is Paul Marsh’s wife. Erika introduced them years ago, but there is no real friendship between her and Erika.  Marcie and Paul separated because she met a young man in her art classes and fell for him, but now they are back together. Marcie and her husband went through the worst situation parents could have when their daughters were kidnapped. Thankfully, the girls were rescued by Erika, and now Marcie looks up to Erika, who has become as a heroine for her.
• Mia and Sophie Marsh are Marcie and Paul’s twin daughters who were kidnapped in the last book. Thankfully, they were rescued safe and sound.
• Edward Foster is Erika’s father-in-law. Edward initially blamed Erika for Mark’s death. Yet, the man had time to think things through and realised that Erika does not deserve his anger. Edward sounds like a good man, and I’m glad that Erika has someone to turn to. In this book the man suffers a fall while at home, and Erika realises that she has been neglecting him. Erika goes up north to look after him while he is in hospital, and she realises that the house is in a mess and he has failed to pay some of his utility bills, and there is no telephone or gas service in the house. She is told that Edward has also been having renal problems, which have made him confused. Erika sorts out the problems and hires a carer to look after Edward.
• Colleen Scanlan is the police media liaison officer.
• Mark Foster was Erika’s husband. He died in a drug raid alongside other police officers, and since Erika was the one leading the operation, she was blamed for his death and the other officers’.
• Jerome Goodman is the drug dealer who caused the death of Erika’s husband and the other officers.
• Celia is Moss’s wife.
• Jacob is Celia and Moss’s son.
• Lenka is Erika’s sister. Her husband is into some illegal activities.
• Marek is Lenka’s husband. He claims to have an ice-cream parlor, but in reality he works for the Mafia.
• Karolina is Erika’s niece. She is nine.
• Jakob is Erika’s nephew. He is seven.
• Baby Erika is Erika’s two-year-old niece, but everybody calls her Evka.
• Eunice Peterson is James Peterson’s mother. She and Erika don’t see eye to eye because Eunice blames her for her son being shot
• Lee Graham is the forensics and computer expert.
• Lydia is the woman who Erika hires as a carer of Edward.
• Denise is Igor's ex-wife
• Thomas Mack (12) is Igor's son. 

Other characters:

• Tess Clarke is the woman who alerts Erika when she is walking home. A body is found in the flat where her sister lives, and at first she thinks it is her sister, but it is one of the neighbours. However, when Vicky, her sister, returns, she is killed when she is staying at Tess's house.
• Vicky Clarke (27) is the woman who was thought to be the dead body found in the flat. Vicky is killed when Erika and her team track her down and is staying with her sister. The reason why she is killed is because she was close to finding out who was the persona assaulting some women in the drama school. 
• Colin McCabe is the killer and sexual predator. He is a drama teacher in the school, and he used his position to sneak into young women's rooms and rape them. When Vicky started to investigate the case, he got scared and that is why he killed her. When Erika found out he was the killer, he tried to escape by killing Cilla and Erika. 
• Charles Wakenfield is the man living next door to Vicky, and he is a suspect from the beginning, and he is even arrested twice. Erika is almost sure he is the killer when she discovers that he was the caretaker in the drama school where the women were assaulted. Yet, she realises who the real killer is in the worst possible way
• Sophia Ivanova lives opposite Vicky and is studrying ot be a doctor. Sophia befriends Vicky as her sister is too conservative and she wants to have fun and boyfriends. She uses Vicky's flat to have her trysts, and she even has a fling with Vicky. Sophia is the woman who is killed when the killer mistakes her for Vicky.
• Tess Clark is Tess's husband. He owns a restaurant which is not doing well. Jasper becomes a suspect when he tries to run away from the police. Erika discovers that he has been in prison before for raping a couple of women. 
• Cilla Stone is the teacher who Vicky goes to when she gets scared after Sophia is killed. Cilla is also killed when Erika confronts Colin as the killer, and he realises that he has to get rid of Cilla for what she knows as well as Erika. 
• Julian Wakefield is the Assistant Commissioner of the Police. He is Charles Wakenfied's brother, and he uses his influence to protect his brother.
• Maria Ivanova is one of the sisters living opposite Vicky. She is very strict in her views, and that is the reason why her sister becomes friends with Vicky.
• Henrietta Boulderstone is the woman who owns the building where Vicky's flat was. Henrietta becomes a pain in the neck for Erika when she meddles when she is questioning the neighbours.
• Fiona Watson is the Family Liaison Officer.
• Ray is a dance teacher in the drama school who goes to stay with Cilla alongside Colin.
• Shawn Macavity had a relationship with Vicky., and he also had a fling with Sophia. He got scared when he found Sophia's body. 
• Reece Robinson is a porter in the hospital where Sophia worked. They had a sexual relationship.
• Lily Parkes is the girls who Colin used to blackmail Charles into silence. She asked him to sleep with Charles, and as she claimed to be underage, Charles was afraid to be sent to prison. 

Fatal Witness - Facts

 At the beginning of the book we learn that Erika has moved house, and she has bought her own place in Blackheath in London. Erika atells ehr sister that it is called Blackheath because it was an area used as a plague pit. That idea seems to be an urban myth. Blackheath could derive from the 1665 Plague or the Black Death of the mid-14th century. A local burial pit is nonetheless likely during the Black Death, given the established village and safe harbour (hithe) status of Greenwich. At those times the high death rate meant that a guaranteed churchyard burial became impractical.

Fatal Witness 4 - The End (Pages 248 - end)

 RATING: VERY GOOD 

SPOILERS!!!

Fatal Witness 3 (Pages 140 - 248)

 SPOILERS!!!

Fatal Witness 2 (Pages 56 - 140)

 SPOILERS!!!

New Book - Fatal Witness - DCI Erika Foster 7 - by Robert Bryndza (Pages 1 - 56)

 First Published: 2022

This is a new novel in a series that I love.