The Girl in the Ice by Robert Bryndza

Title: The Girl in the Ice
Author: Robert Bryndza
Published by: Bookouture
Publication date: February 2016
Read: August 24 - 27, 2017
Genre: Mystery; Thriller
Pages: 396 (kindle edition)
Series: Detective Erika Foster #1
Mareli's rating: 2.5 stars
Recommend to: Readers of fast paced thrillers. Or if you watch crime series with female detectives, you might like this one as well.
Description: When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation. The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London. What dark secrets is the girl in the ice hiding? As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer is closing in on Erika. The last investigation Erika led went badly wrong… resulting in the death of her husband. With her career hanging by a thread, Erika must now battle her own personal demons as well as a killer more deadly than any she’s faced before. But will she get to him before he strikes again?
A page-turning thriller packed with suspense. If you like Angela Marsons, Rachel Abbott and Karin Slaughter, discover Robert Bryndza’s new series today. 
Watch out for more from DCI Erika Foster. Goodreads

Like most other avid Goodreads followers, I consider the annual Goodreads Choice awards as a treasure map for the next year's list of good reads. The 4 and 5 star ratings.  So how is it possible that my rating for The Girl in the Ice came in below the majority? Let's think about it - The Girl in the Ice has all the trimmings that a really good mystery thriller should have:

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Where the sweet bird sings by Ella Joy Olsen

Title: Where the sweet bird sings
Author: Ella Joy Olsen
Published by: Kensington Books
Publication date: 29 August 2017 
Genre: General Fiction
ISBN:  9781496705648
Mareli's rating: 3 stars
Recommend to: Lovers of adult fiction that deals with loss and grief
Description: People respond to tragedy in different ways. Some try to move on. Some don’t move at all. A year after her young son’s death due to a rare genetic disease, Emma Hazelton is still frozen by grief, unable and unwilling to consider her husband Noah’s suggestion that they try to have another child.
As the future Emma once imagined crumbles, her family’s past comes into sharp relief. Searching for the roots of her son’s disease, Emma tries to fit together the pieces in her genealogical puzzle. Hidden within an old wedding photograph of her great-grandparents is an unusual truth Emma never guessed at—a window into all the ways that love can be surprising, generous, and fiercely brave . . . and a discovery that may help her find her own way forward at last. (Netgalley)

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The Memory of Water by J.T. Lawrence

Title: The Memory of Water
Author: J.T. Lawrence
Format: Audiobook (Audible)
Read/listened: August 4 - 9, 2017
Genre: Thriller; Black Humor (is that a genre, or just preferred reading?)
Mareli's rating: 3.5 Stars (loved the story, didn't care for the narration much)
Recommend to: If you find Jay Gatsby an intriguing character, you will have a field-day with Slade Harris
Description: Slade Harris will do anything for a story, including murdering the woman he loves. Slade doesn’t think twice about jumping out of a plane or conducting disastrous love affairs to gather material for his work, but his self-indulgent life is catching up with him. Stumbling through his late thirties hopeless and a little drunk, Slade has a dazzling, dangerous idea which will change his life forever. It’s going to be Slade’s ultimate story ... and all he’s hoping for is to survive it. Goodreads

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Thursday Quotables #7 - A Monster Calls

An opening line like that has the same effect on me as: "You had me at hello"..... 

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is one of those Russian-doll books.  A gift within a gift that leads to yet another gift. So I just have to share it on Thursday Quotables hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage during your past reading week. Whether it's something funny, startling, gut-wrenching or just really written beautifully - this is where you must share! Just remember to link back to bookshelffantasies.com 

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Monday Shout Out - I don't need therapy, I need books

It's the second week of August already. My goodness.... How did we get here without therapy? Actually, I didn't. But it doesn't help all that much. Or at least not as much as a good book does. 

This past week I've had two books that were better for my soul and state of mind than any therapist could possibly be. I might go as far as saying it was better than chocolate. At least one was better than chocolate. 

So is life any better? No. But at least books don't fail me anymore. Yes, the sun does shine a bit brighter on my book pages this morning. So let's get reading for this week!

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Friday Meets 4 August 2017

Greetings from a rather dreary Jeffreysbay and an even drearier me. Thank heavens for a couple of good books awaiting my utmost attention. Kindle, audio, physical and coloring books. 

Meet me on Friday @ Friday 56 for a bit of Book Blogger Hop to kick-start the weekend with Book Beginnings.

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Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

Title: Leaving Time
Author: Jodi Picoult
Published: November 2014
Read: 02 August 2017
My Rating: 5 Stars and listed as a favorite
Goodreads Blurb: Number One bestselling author Jodi Picoult returns with her compulsive new novel - about the lengths we go to for those who have left us behind; about the staying power of love; and about how three broken souls might have just the right pieces to mend each other.
Jenna Metcalf was with her mother the night she disappeared in tragic and mysterious circumstances, but she remembers nothing.
Over ten years have passed, and still Jenna reads and rereads her mother's journals, hoping to find some clue hidden there, in the meticulous recording of her scientific research with elephants.
Desperate for answers, Jenna uses all her savings to recruit the aid of a private detective - and a psychic.
Jenna knows her mother loved her. She knows she would not leave her. And she will not rest until she finds out what happened that night. In her most gripping mystery since House Rules, Jodi Picoult brings us a powerful story of a young girl's determination to uncover the truth, however shocking and life-changing it might be.

"The moral of this story is that no matter how much we try, no matter how much we want it.... Some stories just don't have a happy ending"

That's life, I guess. Sometimes, we don't end up with a and they lived happily ever after. And sometimes, that's just the way it is. Sometimes your grief is as big as an elephant. Sometimes the only consolation is an elephant. 

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