Sunday Morning Coming Down and Under the Ice

I read the first 3 books in this series and then missed the next three. I have some catching up to, but couldn't resist reading this one.

Frieda Klein is a psychotherapist who lives in London, which she considers the city of her heart.  She walks at night when she can't sleep and in the day to resolve her thoughts and emotions.  These walks give the reader some idea of Frieda's personality and some interesting London history.

The first book in the series (Blue Monday), introduces a host of secondary characters who will continue to be important to the series.  I enjoyed Blue Monday, but was happy to see that the succeeding books coalesced into more fluid narratives with better pacing, more intriguing character development, and with contained and completed plots.  Although each book does have a completed plot, there is an intriguing overarching narrative that concerns a villain from the first book who makes occasional appearances, sometimes physically, but not always.

Evidently, Sunday Morning Coming Down was supposed to be the last book in the series, but the authors (Nicci Gerrard and Sean French) have not quite concluded the series.  There was a surprise at the end that intrigued me, and I can't wait for the next one.  In the meantime, I will be checking the library to see if they have Thursday's Children, Friday on My Mind, and Saturday Requiem.  

OK - brief synopsis of Sunday Morning:  A corpse under the floorboards, a message from Dean Reeves, attacks on Frieda's friends.  I think the bad guy in this one is revealed too early, but this is another compelling novel of psychological suspense, and the idea of the next book is compelling.  Frieda is a flawed, but compassionate protagonist, who is fiercely protective of her friends.

NetGalley/Penguin UK

Psychological Suspense.  July 13, 2017.  Print length:  405 pages.

Under the Ice by Gisa Klonne features Judith Krieger and Manni Korzillius, both of whom were involved in a previous case that did not end happily.  

Judith has taken a leave of absence and has only a short time before returning to work, when she is contacted by an old school mate about the disappearance of another school friend, Charlotte Simonis. Judith reluctantly agrees to look into Charlotte's disappearance during the short time remaining on her leave.  As Judith becomes more invested in the case, she finds herself agreeing to a trip to Canada.

Manni is assigned to the case of a missing fourteen-year-old school boy.  Jonny Robel's disappearance from a camp doesn't provide much to go on, but Manni thinks the father is hiding something.  The case becomes more twisted as it proceeds, and Manni desperately hopes to find the boy alive.

Some themes are tackled indirectly--aging, loneliness, and isolation--while school bullying enters into both investigations.

This is the third in a series, and I don't know if they have all been translated from the German, but the characters and plots in this novel kept my interest and the themes are universal and pertinent.

NetGalley/Bonnier Zaffre

Mystery/Police Procedural.  2006.  2017.  Print length:  302 pages.