#BookReview of #BlackReedBay by Rod Reynolds | @Rod_WR | @OrendaBooks

‘Introducing the intrepid Detective Casey Wray.
When a young woman vanishes from an exclusive oceanfront community in the middle of the night,
Detective Casey Wray’s takes on a case that leads her in chilling, unexpected directions …’
– Black Reed Bay

[ About the Book ]

Don’t trust ANYONE…

When a young woman makes a distressing middle-of-the-night call to 911, apparently running for her life in a quiet, exclusive beachside neighbourhood, miles from her home, everything suggests a domestic incident.

Except no one has seen her since, and something doesn’t sit right with the officers at Hampstead County PD. With multiple suspects and witnesses throwing up startling inconsistencies, and interference from the top threatening the integrity of the investigation, lead detective Casey Wray is thrust into an increasingly puzzling case that looks like it’s going to have only one ending…

And then the first body appears…

For fans of Susie Steiner, Sarah Hilary, M J Arlidge, James Lee Burke and Tana French

[ My Review ]

Black Reed Bay by Rod Reynolds will be published in original paperback September 2nd with Orenda Books (ebook May 31st) and is described as ‘a twisty, breath-taking police procedural.’ The first in a new series introducing Detective Casey Wray, Black Reed Bay is a book that will completely captivate 100% of your attention so be prepared for a seriously gripping read.

As I speedily turned the pages of Black Reed Bay, one very glaring fact hit me – Rod Reynolds is English, describing himself as ‘a lifelong Londoner’, yet he writes like a local. Black Reed Bay has been called contemporary American Noir and from the-get-go the reason is very obvious. The level of detail, the sense of location is staggering, transporting every single reader to Long Island and on to the beat of Casey Wray and the Hampstead County PD.

Casey and her partner Cullen are a good team, working well together, always knowing, by a look, the form of each other on any given day. A shocking 911 call sends them both into a spin as they listen to the earlier recording of a voice of a young woman in a panic looking for emergency assistance. She clearly fears for her life. Her name is Tina Grace. They start investigating the call only to discover that no one knows where Tina Grace is. Her last known movements are examined, folk are questioned, but no trace of Tina Grace is evident. Is she in hiding? Has she been kidnapped? Was she attacked? Or should they be looking for a body?

As every stone is turned, Casey is aware of some discrepancies with witness statements and it very soon becomes clear that not all is as it seems. There is pressure from her superiors to wrap up the case with speed but something smells off and Casey’s instincts prove correct when a body is discovered within the vicinity of where Tina Grace was last seen. And it is only the first body….

Casey Wray is determined to unearth the truth but she discovers that she is in way deeper than she could have ever anticipated. A hall of mirrors awaits Casey and, with every move she makes, she is faced with the dreadful reality that there is something very off, very rotten at the centre of this case.

Casey Wray is an excellent main protagonist. Her character is wonderfully developed but not too much, still leaving us with a sense of curiosity about her. We witness her fragility, her humanity but also her determination and pure grit to see a job through to the end, whatever the cost.

Black Reed Bay, although a work of fiction, is inspired by The Long Island Serial Killer. ‘Between December 2010 and April 2011, ten sets of remains were discovered in and around the remote Gilgo Beach area of Long Island. Additional finds have raised the possibility of as many as sixteen victims.’ No one was ever charged, the murderer remains unidentified. This chilling case gave root to Black Reed Bay, but Rod Reynolds is quite clear that all his characters are completely fictionalised and are works of his imagination.

Rod Reynolds expertly builds the suspense, throwing out curve balls and obstacles, blocking the reader from seeing too far ahead. There is absolutely no point in second-guessing Rod Reynolds intentions while turning the pages. This is a novel that carries the reader along at break-neck speed never letting up. As the first book in the series, Rod Reynolds has set himself a very high standard but I have no doubt that he will yet again have us all in awe of his ability to write such an exciting, thrilling and bloody marvellous series.

Black Reed Bay is an exceptionally written novel. Atmospheric, authentic, confident, smart and polished Black Reed Bay really is the perfect crime fiction novel. Bravo Rod Reynolds!!

[ Bio ]

Rod Reynolds is the author of four novels, including the Charlie Yates series. His 2015 debut, The Dark Inside, was longlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger, and was followed by Black Night Falling (2016) and Cold Desert Sky (2018); the Guardian have called the books ‘Pitch-perfect American noir.’

A lifelong Londoner, in 2020 Orenda Books published his first novel set in his hometown, Blood Red City. Black Reed Bay will be published in 2021. Rod previously worked in advertising as a media buyer, and holds an MA in novel writing from City University London.

Rod lives with his wife and family and spends most of his time trying to keep up with his two young daughters.

Twitter: @Rod_WR