Really interesting idea for a murder site and a satisfying mystery with good characters. I have read all of this series and highly recommend them, but they would be better read in order. Jane Bettany is relatively unknown against other writers of police procedurals, but she is well worth reading and deserves more recognition.

I always enjoy a new police procedural and this was very engaging. A complicated plot where it appears Locard’s exchange principle just hasn’t happened, which leads to a tortuous and interesting path to the outcome. I enjoyed the family history thread which was fascinating. Add in a complicated family problem for D.I Isabel Blood and you have a satisfying and well written read. I shall go back to the first in the series and hope there are going to be more.

Isabel Blood Is Back..
Detective Isabel Blood is back in this intriguing mystery which starts with a woman discovering a dead man at her new home just after she finishes work. Bizarrely, the desceased just happens to be tucked up in her bed and she claims that she has never set eyes on him before. A tangled web for the Detective and her team. At the same time, Isabel has her hands full with some pressing and rather more personal issues. An enjoyable, character led, read.

The premise of this book is interesting. A woman comes home from work to find a man in her bed. He has been murdered and she's never seen him before. A few days later, she herself goes missing.

This is a police procedural, concentrating on the police who are trying to solve the murder. As such there was little tension in it until near the end. I felt it would have benefitted from some chapters from the point of view of the missing woman showing her emotions at finding such a horrific scene in her bedroom and what happens next. Instead we have endless descriptions of what various police officers were eating - mainly very unhealthy food, it has to be said - and a subplot concerning the family relations of the main investigating officer. The characters never came to life for me and I didn't get any sense of place from the novel. All in all it was a disappointment after what seemed like a promising beginning. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book, and read it over the weekend as I couldn't put it down.
The murder investigation was really complex with lots of twists and surprises, and the family reunion was also quite tense so I was keen to find out what happened at work and at home. The theme for the whole book was families and secrets, so it all tied together quite elegantly.

Ruth comes home to her new house to find a dead body in her bed....a total stranger. But there's no sign of a break-in.

Then Ruth disappears....

Who had a key? And where is Ruth?

DI Isabel Blood really doesn't need a visit from her long-lost father while she's trying to unravel all this

Excellent

An enjoyable, but fairly run of the mill police procedural book and It did feel at times that there was almost too much emphasis on the minutiae of police work at the cost of characterisation. I liked the detective team but, knowing the peak district area of Derbyshire we!l, was slightly disappointed by the sense of place. However, I would be interested to read what happens next to DO Blood and her team. 3.5 stars
Thank you to netgalley and HQ for an advance copy of this book

This was the first book I’ve read from the author and with DI Blood. I’m sure it won’t be the last! I was gripped from the first couple of chapters and drawn in to the scenario. I’d definitely recommend

I enjoyed the first book featuring DI Blood and this one was just as good.

A man is found in bed with a knife through his chest. The homeowner doesn’t know him, so how did he get into her house and who killed him? These are the questions DI Blood and her team need answered as they investigate the murder. With no clues whatsoever, can they determine who is responsible and why?

A great story with lots of suspense and an excellent twist.

It was an exciting prospect to read Without A Trace, as Jane Bettany is a new author to me. I thought this book was extremely good and very engaging, with good descriptive scenes.
DI Blood has an interesting family background and there is an absorbing murder mystery to be solved.
I now must read her first book: In Cold Blood and eagerly await the next in the series.

Balancing a murder enquiry - with no clues or suspects - and a visit from her father who she hasn't seen for 40 years is a difficult thing for DI Isabel Blood. A really good, interesting read with lots of clues and red herrings.

Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

Without a trace is a story that started out well. Ruth a divorcee has not long moved into a new house. When she arrives home from her recent employment as a HR manager she discovers , with horror, an
Unknown dead man in her bed.
D.I. Isabel Blood is just about to start two weeks leave, she is about to reconnect with her father, a storyline that must have been part of the previous book in this series. But pressure is put on her by her boss to return to work and investigate this murder with her team.
Although there is much to do , first finding out who the victim is before trying to apprehend the murderer, I was finding it difficult to connect with any of the characters, particularly her team members. Usually you read more about their personality’s and background, but here I felt it was lacking in depth so I couldn’t connect with any of them.
The team do well in all they uncover and it is a story with some twists, the ending is somewhat surprising but to be honest by then I was just satisfied I’d finished the book. There are reviewers that have really enjoyed this book unfortunately for me it just felt an okay read.
My thanks to net galley and publishers for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

This is the second in Jane Bettany's 57 year old DI Isabel Blood of Bainbridge CID series set in Derbyshire, I haven't read the first book but found this worked reasonably fine as a standalone. HR Manager Ruth Prendergast has only moved in recently to her new home, relocating to a new area and job after her divorce, in her hopes of establishing a new beginning. She arrives home exhausted after work and doing some shopping, putting a pizza in the oven for supper. When she goes to her bedroom, she receives a horrifying shock when she finds a dead man in her bed, with a knife in his chest. This is not a man she has ever seen before, she phones the police. Isabel is on leave, making her way to the airport to pick up her father, Donald Corrington, whom she hasn't seen for decades, when she gets the call to get to the crime scene.

Fortunately, she can rely on DS Dan Fairfax to begin the initial investigations before she joins him on the oddest of murder inquiries. How did the victim and murderer get entry into Ruth's new home? So begins a case that proves to be a tough nut to crack, with the pressure on from the boss to solve it as quickly as possible. The murdered man turns out to be a unlikeable garage mechanic, Kevin Sprigg, who likes to drink, a man with a history of previously assaulting a woman. He has a son, Alfie Moss, married with two children, but Alfie had been estranged from his father who had abused his mother, having not seen him since he was a young child when his parents had divorced. Isabel's police team, which includes DC Zoe Piper and DC Lucas Killingworth find themselves frustrated at every turn in their hunt for the killer, and then Ruth disappears. Is this connected with the murder?

For quite a while I didn't think this was going to be my kind of crime fiction, I found it far too detailed in relating every move made by each individual member of the police team and their often mundane conversations with each other. However, this changed as I got progressively more and more engaged with the story and with the central mystery, and the suspense and tension increased. Isabel has to balance running the murder case whilst at the same time handling the emotionally complicated visit of a elderly father, arriving unexpectedly with her half brother, Fabien, whom she had never met. She wants her father to come clean about his past and his bigamous marriage to her mother to Fabien, and to build a closer relationship with him and Fabien. This turned out to be a engaging and entertaining crime read that I enjoyed, and the murder case had some surprising twists and turns. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Although the story is a clever one, I didn't enjoy this book. It isn't particularly well-written and the characters are all rather one-dimensional, with unconvincing dialogue. It is apparently set in Derbyshire, a county I know well, but I didn't get any real sense of place. Rather disappointing.

Without a Trace by Jane Bethany

Coming late to the party as haven't read the first in the series , but I'm definitely a fan of DI Blood.
A great read full of suspense and a great plot to keep you interested right to the last page . Set in lovely Derbyshire , which added to the enjoyment of the book. Can't read to read the next one.

I loved the first in the DI Blood series so was really looking forward to Without a Trace, the second in the series. This is a solid and gripping police procedural, I enjoyed the relationships between DI Blood and her colleagues and the Derbeyshire setting. For me there was a little too much focus on DI Blood's relationship with her father and I feel that those sections of the book could have been shorter. However, the plot moves along at a good pace and I was gripped throughout . This reminded me of Michael Wood's Matilda Darke series, which I'm a huge fan of. Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I reviewed the first in the DI Blood series In Cold Blood by Jane Bettany in September 2020 and I have been excited for the next instalment and this one didnt disappoint either.

I was hooked from page 1 and in true Jane Bettany style the twist at the end was completely unexpected.

I didnt guess the killer and completely loved the storyline. I really like Isabel and her dedication to the force. The team work really well together and I love the dynamics between them.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is the second in a series of books featuring DI Blood. What a glorious name for a detective! I read the first, a fabulous read and winner of the 2019 book competition run by Gransnet. Set in Derbyshire, Without a Trace is a fast-paced thriller with lots of twists that had me racing through the pages long into the night. It was lovely to hear more about DI Blood’s back story too and how she juggled a murder investigation alongside her complex personal life and an investigation that defies explanation. A woman new to the area. A stranger found murdered in her bed with no signs of a break in. No clues. A crime novel to devour in one sitting..

I had only read the first page when I knew that this novel was going to be a joy to read. Sometimes you can just tell when you’ve found a good author can’t you? The plot was intriguing and very well thought out, but for me it was the brilliant writing that made the story so good. All the characters were described so well that I ‘became’ them for a time. It sounds a bit silly, but the way Chapter 1 describes Ruth coming home from a long and vile day at work took me back to my own working days (no longer, thank heavens) and everything she did or felt was exactly what I used to do or feel. I never found a man dead in my bed though (more’s the pity)!
I loved DI Isabel Blood and her team, and the way all the characters were brought to life by the wonderful writing style. Just authentic people that you can relate to and feel connected with. I enjoyed the intriguing little side story about Isabel’s father, and the way it was an aside and did not detract from the main story of solving the murder. There were the usual twists and turns that we’ve come to expect in any crime book, and the police investigation was thorough and very believable. I wouldn’t describe this book as a gripping, stomach clenching, thriller. For me it was a beautifully written and interesting whodunnit, and I’m looking forward very much to the next one. Great stuff!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC in return for an honest review.

A solid 5 star novel. Great characters. Loved the writing style. Plenty of suspense to keep me guessing. All you need for a perfect thriller. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.