時間：10時間7分
発音：イギリス英語
評価：4 out of 5
【あらすじ】
ロンドンのサウスパークで氷の下から若い女性の死体がみつかった。被害者は華やかな社交界の一員として知られていたが、ロンドン警視庁警部エリカ・フォスターの捜査により、彼女の知られざる一面が明かされていく。
【感想】
なんだかミステリの新しいシリーズを読みたい気分だったので、Audibleで話題になっていたエリカ・フォスターシリーズの1作目を選んでみました。2016年現在シリーズ2作目まで発表されている比較的新しい作品です。聞いてみての感想は、可もなく不可もなし。シリーズ1作目だけでは判断しがたく、2作目までは読んでみようかなという程度には面白かったかなと。
興味深いなと思ったのは、主人公の女性警部が東欧出身の移民なのです。イギリスの家庭で子守として住み込みで働く人の事をAu Pairs と言うらしいのですが、貧しい移民として1人でAu Pair としてイギリスに渡ってきて、ロンドン警視庁の警部にまでなれるんだな、というのが意外でした。
そしてこれは作者の意図するところかどうかは分からないのですが、Chief Inspectorという立派な地位があるにもかかわらず、エリカは周りから下に扱われているのです。これはエリカが女性だからなのか、そう感じるのは自分の被害妄想なのか。このなんとなくモヤ〜っとする”共感”が気になって続きまで読んでみようという気になったのでした。
オーディオブックはイギリス英語。落ち着いた女性の声で癖もなく聞きやすかったです。
Synopsis:
Detective Erika Foster was called in to lead a murder investigation of a young woman who was found beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London Park. The victim, a daughter of a powerful Lord, seemed to have been a socialite. Yet, as Erika dug deeper into the case, the facade of a prestigious family life crumpled and started to reveal dark secrets.
My thoughts: Spoiler alert!
Since the huge success of “Gone Girl”, there are dozens of mystery books which have “girl” in their titles. After I enjoyed “Gone Girl”, I proceeded to “The Girl on the Train”. I hated it so much that I promised myself never to be deceived by that word in the title again. But it was more than a year ago, and when I found “The Girl in the Ice” on a bestseller book list, I decided to give another “girl” book a go.
Detective chief inspector Erika Foster was traumatized by the past. A drug bust went wrong and several of her colleagues died because of her bad decision. Her husband was one of the victims who was caught in the gunfight. She was still grieving for her husband when she was called in to lead the murder case.
Andrea was the favorite child of a powerful man. Her fiancé ran a successful business. She was loved by everyone, except for the fact that she didn’t have any friends. Who had wanted her dead?
Soon, Andrea’s ex-boyfriend was arrested. It seemed to be a simple case, but Erika’s instinct told her otherwise.
Every time Erika got close to the truth, her boss told her to knock it off. It was obvious that the boss was pressured by higher-up management, and it convinced her that she was on the right track. And then, she found out that there were several prostitute murder cases which could be linked to Andrea’s killer.
It was interesting that Erika and the victims shared common backgrounds. They were born in poor Eastern countries and immigrated to England as Au Pairs. Erika could have been one of these prostitutes who were strangled to death and abandoned.
I felt the tone of this book was too grumpy at first, but this book kept my interest to the end. This is a good start to a new series, and I am going to read the second book in the series, published last month.
YL 7.5〜8
語数：122,140語（Readinglength.comより）
【今日の一枚】
ペルーのリマで撮ったカラフルなアパート。
