Ruth recently moved into a new house following the break-up of her marriage. One day, she arrives home from work to find a stranger dead in her bed. There’s no sign of a break-in, so how did he get there? Does someone have a key to her property? DI Isabel Blood is supposed to be on leave to spend time with the father she hasn’t seen in over 40 years, but she needs to work on this murder case. It proves even more difficult because someone has been very careful and only left one partial fingerprint. There aren’t any further clues in the house. Then Ruth herself goes missing, but could that be because she’s guilty? Or is she the next victim? A brilliant read that I found difficult to put down! Thank you to NetGalley and HQ/HQ Digital for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

This was such a brilliant whodunit thriller that I didn't want to put down. I picked it up in the morning and by lunchtime I was finished. I liked the idea of the story and the police procedural really had me intrigued. I liked getting to know Isabel Blood the Detective and finding out a bit about her, I reckon the series is going to be very popular. When Ruth gets home to find a man dead in her bed, the question on her lips is who is he and what was he doing there? she doesn't know him, but when the police start to investigate Ruth goes missing but why? can Detective Isabel Blood work out what went on here and where Ruth has gone? It had a gripping pace the whole way through and is full of interesting characters and lots of suspense. You never really know who to trust. This is Jane's first book and I cannot wait to read the next one as this one was incredible.

This is the second in a series following the life and cases Isabel Blood, a detective inspector in her mid 50's, and her team. who are based in a fictional Derbyshire town. The plot follows the investigation into the discovery, by a single woman,of a murdered man in her bed. Along with the investigation, we are shown aspects of DI Blood's personal life and her reconciliation with her French father after 40 years. This is not a serial killer story nor is it a gory book just good old-fashioned whodunit writing of high quality. The plot is complex but believable and is a very good read. If this series continues I can see it as being ideal for a television series in the Vera mold.

I love the D.I. Isabel Blood series by Jane Bettany. This is the second book I’ve read and can’t for the next one in the series. Ruth Prendergast returns home to find a complete stranger dead in her bed and she hasn’t a clue who he is or how he got there. It’s down to D.I. Blood’s team to solve the mystery of how he managed to wind up dead in a locked house with no signs of forced entry and why that house ? The book had me enthralled from beginning to end and was full of suspense. It kept me guessing until the end.

Without a Trace is the second book in this series, but it can be read as a standalone. I was initially drawn to it as I don’t live very far from Derby, although the town it is fictional. I can’t think of anything worse than finding a dead body in my house, although, Ruth had just done that. The poor woman had not long moved into the area and had not got a clue who this man was. It was a quiet area that she lived in with a couple of the houses empty and people that were out at work through the day in the others. The police were not going to have a lot to go on. I liked Detective Isabel Blood straight away, who had taken time off work to enjoy family time. To say that her family was complicated would be like saying that ice wasn’t cold. The added stress of being called in to support the murder investigation did not make life easy. I enjoyed this book, which had a good balance of work and home for Isobel. It wasn’t gruesome either, with over the top details of the crime. I liked working out the clues as they came up too. A very unusual story. I am looking forward to more books from this author. I wish to thank the publisher and Net Galley for an e-copy of this book, which I have reviewed honestly.