A body is found frozen after disappearing over a decade ago. Tyler is convinced there is a link to his father’s apparent suicide but his usual supportive superior officer (and also his godmother) has vanished along with a corrupt cop on the run…
Cold Reckoning is the third book in the DS Adam Tyler series. Some dimensions of the plot directly lead on from the last book Nighthawking so I would advise reading the series in order.
Tyler generally handles cold cases and this one is frozen! The victim is linked to a murder 16 years ago that Tyler’s father was investigating. The body has been hidden for all that time but why and where? Tyler hopes this is a chance for his father’s death to be reviewed and finally proved not to be a suicide. He has made an unlikely alliance with his colleague Doggett but both are trying to keep new recruit Mina Rabbani away from the case for her own safety. One senior officer has gone on the run rather than face corruption charges and another has vanished completely (massive cliffhanger from previous book!)
This was my favourite book of the series so far. I felt much more in tune with Tyler and his focus on finding the truth about his dad merged seamlessly with the new case. He lets his emotional side come to the fore and this allows him to build relationships with his colleagues. The style of writing is clear and I liked the segments about Edith which added mystery as to how they related to the main plot threads.
Cold Reckoning is a tense and engaging crime thriller and police procedural.
Book blurb:
The darkness from his past will finally come to light.
For sixteen years, DS Adam Tyler has been searching for answers to his father, Richard’s, death. Convinced it wasn’t suicide, he has been investigating the case in secret.
When a body is found in a frozen lake, linked to a cold case from 2002, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the death of his father—except Tyler knows Richard was investigating the same case shortly before he died. And Tyler doesn’t believe in coincidences.
As he throws himself into finding out what really happened that day, Tyler uncovers a string of botched investigations, mysterious disappearances and, ultimately, deep-seated police corruption. There are dangerous people who don’t want Tyler asking questions—and the truth always comes at a price.
This time, it could cost him everything…
