Carissa Ann Lynch knows how to write a story to keep you hanging on until the very end.

I had no clue what was true and what wasn’t. I was doubting everything said by every character.

I love her writing and the little twists she puts in to make you stop and think but never put the book down.

There one minute and gone the next, or was she ever really there? If she was, how was all traces of Lily erased so thoroughly?

Nova is in hiding with her young daughter, Lily. She's scared that her abusive husband will find her ... and kill her as he has threatened.

The first night they spend in this dilapidated cabin far away from where she came from, her daughter disappears from her bed. Left in her place is a raggedy stuffed bunny rabbit,

Certain that her husband has found them and taken her daughter, she calls the police. Officer Ellie James assumes this is most likely a case for the courts to decide when it comes to custody battles. As Nova is still married, the husband has a right to their child.

But Officer James is getting some strange vibes from the terrified mother. There are no signs that a child is living there. All the clothes are brand new, some still with tags on them. Some toys are in a bag .. nothing to show they've been played with. No pictures ... no drawings ... no colored pictures.

Nova's nearest neighbor states she has never met Nova or her daughter. Nova's husband says he and Nova have never had a daughter.

Is Ellie searching for a missing child who doesn’t actually exist?

This is an excellent psychological thriller. It's well written with memorable, finely drawn characters. Everyone seems to be harboring secrets. Ellie James is a relative rookie. She started out by shooting an abusive man who also happened to be a retired cop. She's also coping with a mother who is a bit controlling herself.

This would make a great series ....

Many thanks to the author / Harper Collins - Killer Reads / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy of this excellent book. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Nova Nesbitt and her daughter, Lily, age 4, have just moved into a log cabin many hours from her home. It is just the right size for the two of them. Nova has finally gotten the courage to leave her husband, Martin. He is an angry and violent man who takes his temper out on Nova. Even still, she is terrified that he will find them.

The first morning Nova goes to waken Lily only to find her gone. In her place in bed is a scraggly stuffed rabbit that Nova has never seen before. Nova is convinced that her husband has found them and has stolen Lily.

Ellie James, local policewoman, has been called to investigate the disappearance of Lily. Neighbor and landlady to Nora lives next door. Her name is Clara. When interviewed, Martin insists that they don’t have a child and that it’s a figment of his wife’s deranged imagination.

When a gruesome discovery is made in the cabin, Ellie realizes something truly sinister is at work in this case.

This story delves into the lives of women who have been broken down by abusive and controlling husbands to the point that they are totally under their spell.

But there is a much bigger plot afoot here and it will take some clever investigating to discover what has happened.

A good story but I must admit that I got a little frustrated trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Perhaps that’s what makes it a good mystery. Well done.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A solid read that was too predictable. I found the mystery to be cliched and the characters to be too unreliable. Overall a decent mystery.

I was very skeptical as i had never heard of this author. But thanks to #NetGalley i was able to read this book in exchange for a review. I really really liked this book! It was an easy read with richly developed characters and a unique plot. Of course where would a thriller be without the twist at the end, this one had a great twist. I highly recommend picking up this fast paced suspenseful thriller!

I started this book a little unsure, as the description gives away that the missing child that the story centers around, Lily, may not even exist. But as hoped, there's more to it than you think and I quite enjoyed the story. It's a sad tale about a woman named Nora who is either abused and afraid (if you believe her) or mentally unstable (if you believe her husband.). It's told from multiple points of view, including the neighbor of the property where the girl disappears and the investigating officer. Both of these woman are complicated in their own rights, with dark pasts and secrets that drive their motivations and behavior once Nova disappears.

It's definitely not your typical missing child story and the way it is set up leaves you wondering who is actually telling the truth. Or is there more than one truth? The inclusion of the knitting website was intriguing and I like to think that it is based in reality. I loved the ending to the story and felt that everyone got what they truly deserved. It sounds cliche, but I say it like that for a reason!

Defininitely a must for fans of Jessica Strawser's Not That I Could Tell! I fell in love with the characters and the many roles they each played within in the story and to each other. It's proof of just how small the world can be and how women truly do have each others backs, especially mothers.

The mystery of what happened to Nova and whether Lily is truly a figment of her imagination or a real child is quite the driving force in this book. I honestly didn't know what to make of Nova and Lily. There were times when I was sure she was real and times when I thought there was going to evidence that Nova was unstable and making it all up due to some mental disorder. I could honestly see it going either way while I was reading, which kept me interested enough to not put this one down!

I love the stories that are told from different perspectives because it gives you the inside information from all around. But often times, it can be confusing to switch characters when you're so engulfed in the words that you don't take time to realize one chapter has ended and another began. So I liked how this one not only gave the name of whose chapter it was, but also who they were. This book was so full of strong women that it was easy to confuse the names and who they were, especially in the beginning. So having those titles with each woman's name and description came in really handy and I wish more books would do it.

The writing and situations easily appealed to me and pulled me straight in. There's nothing better than when an author can make you truly believe the story you're reading and make you feel like the characters are real live, breathing humans. Lynch has mastered the writing game and I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out for her!

This book just wasn't my cup of tea. I didn't care for any of the characters and I didn't realize this was a book about abusive spouses which I don't really care to read about.

This is my second book written by this author. I absolutely LOVED, My Sister is Missing, and immediately put, Without A Trace, on my TBR list. The premise of this book is terrific. I kept turning the pages trying to figure out if four year old Lily ever existed or if Nora had created a fake child and was an unreliable narrator.

I am a big fan of how Carissa Ann Lynch does not write lengthy books, filled with fluff. It is such a treat to finish an entire book in one or two sittings.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for my e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5⭐️ rounded up to 4

A little girl has gone missing. Lily was last seen being tucked into bed by her adoring mother, Nova. The next morning, her bed is empty except for a creepy rabbit. Has Niva's abusive ex taken Lily?

This is quite a creepy story that will keep you guessing. As the story progresses, the twists were plentiful. The story is told mainly from three people's point of views and all of them being told in the first person: Ellie, the rookie cop sent to investigate Lily's disappearance, Nova, Lily's mother and Clara, the woman who rents out the cabin where Lilynis taken from. Each character has a backstory and a secret. The chapters are short, I do prefer them that way. I thought I knew where this story was going but I was wrong. I never saw that ending coming. I did enjoy this book and I will read more from this author.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Harper Impulse and Killer Reads and the author Clarissa Ann Lynch for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

This book started off well but wasn't really my cup of tea and I soon got bored. I couldn't get interested in the characters and it wasn't a page turner in my opinion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Impulse Killer Reads for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for an advance copy of Without a Trace, a stand alone thriller set in Northfolk, West Virginia.

Rookie officer, Ellie James, is called out to a potential kidnapping. Nova Nesbitt’s child, Lily, is missing and Nova suspects her husband, Martin whose abuse forced her to flee from Tennessee. Then Nova disappears.

I must admit that Without a Trace did not hold my attention in the first half for a variety of reasons. The novel is told from three points of view, all in the first person, Ellie, Nova and Nova’s neighbour and landlady, Clara. Fortunately each chapter is labelled so there is no confusion about whose voice is speaking but the constant switching between them does not allow the reader to settle and get immersed, especially as each character has quite a backstory and big secrets so their narrative switches between the past and present.


The novel itself is very well done with plenty of twists and turns and a large dose of suspense and intrigue as the reader wonders how it will pan out. It is not a long novel so it moves along at a fast clip and becomes absorbing as the reader is given more information and gets accustomed to the characters. It is a complicated plot, mostly designed to hammer home the lengths some women have to go to to escape their abusers. I’m in two minds about this because while it is a subject that needs discussion I’m not overly comfortable with it being hijacked for entertainment as it is in this short, action packed novel.

I also didn’t find the characters interesting. The rookie, Ellie, is difficult to take seriously and her comments at the end about what she has learned are trite in the face of the subject matter. Nova is the stereotypical battered woman so she isn’t developed much past her experiences and Clara is a nut job, impossible to explain without spoilers.

Many readers will enjoy Without a Trace as it is a well written thriller. It just didn’t appeal to me for its format.

A little girl has gone missing.

Lily was last seen being tucked into bed by her adoring mother, Nova. But the next morning, the bed is empty except for a creepy toy rabbit.

Has Nova’s abusive ex stolen his “little bunny” back for good?

At first, Officer Ellie James assumes this is a clear custody battle. Until she discovers that there are no pictures of the girl and her drawers are full of unused toys and brand new clothes that have never been worn…

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book it was a great experience

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Not really psychological or thrilling, I felt some of the characters as a mother but all the characters read so flat, protagonists included, it was hard to get emotionally invested in any other part of the story. Not my thing.

Wow this book is full of suspense and keeps you totally hooked right up until the last page.
This is the story of Nova and her little girl Lily who goes missing. The book is full of twists and turns, you get a countdown of events that take place and for the life of me i had no clue what had happened even though i did try to keep guessing! If you want a book that keeps you on the edge then this is the book for you. I really loved it.

Without a Trace by Carissa Ann Lynch is a fast-paced thriller that will leave the reader breathless. This is one to be read in a single session, as the plot is full-on and entirely gripping.

Fleeing from her abusive husband Martin, Nova Nesbitt and daughter Lily believe they have found safety at a cabin on the property of Appleton Farm. But when Lily goes missing from the cabin, policewoman Ellie James is on the hunt for her father, assuming that the case is a straightforward custody issue. Ellie is on a mission to not only find Lily, but to prove to her fellow officers that she is worthy of their respect. Nova's landlady Clara is also on the scene, and is harbouring some very dark secrets of her own. What is really happening at Appleton Farm?

Told primarily in the alternating perspectives of Nova, Clara, and Ellie, the story unfurls at a 'blink and you miss it' pace, and the twists and turns are plentiful, making this a dark and compelling read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Impulse and Killer Reads for this ARC.

Whoa. This was a creepy premise, that kept me wondering what was really going on. There were some good twists, but I kind of wish when we were seeing from multiple perspectives that they didn’t just say what they’d done in the past, like I think things could’ve been revealed better. That said, I read it in one sitting, and I was super creeped out.