Today I’m joining the blog tour for Leave No Trace. My review is written with thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me on the tour and to the publisher for my copy of the book.

Blurb:

One detective driven by instinct, the other by logic.
It will take both to find a killer who knows the true meaning of fear . . .
 
When the body of a man is found crucified at the top of Mount Judd, AIDE Lock – the world’s first AI Detective – and DCS Kat Frank are thrust into the spotlight as they are given their first live case.
 
But with the discovery of another man’s body – also crucified – it appears that their killer is only just getting started. With the police warning local men to be vigilant, the Future Policing Unit is thrust into a hostile media frenzy as they desperately search for connections between the victims. But time is running out for them to join the dots and prevent another death.
 
For if Kat and Lock know anything, it’s that killers rarely stop – until they are made to.

Review:

I absolutely loved In The Blink Of An Eye so I was really excited to see what Jo Callaghan had in store for Kat and Lock – and it’s their first live case, which means the jeopardy is even higher. Can Artificial Intelligence (AI) help Kat and her team to find a murderer before it’s too late?

I will be the first person to say that I’m not the biggest fan of anything remotely scientific, but I love how, once more, Jo Callaghan has weaved the scientific content into a very believable, engaging police procedural story which gives the reader the opportunity to consider the increasing role of AI in modern life. Even since I read In The Blink Of An Eye, the use of AI has increased massively, so this aspect of the novel makes it feel particularly fresh and relevant.

Jo Callaghan is brilliant at building her characters. Every single character in Leave No Trace has a really convincing and intriguing back story, which informs everything they do, and this gives them all incredible depth. Kat and her team are characters I want to get to know and follow for a long time. I also love the way Lock has developed over time and I really enjoyed seeing his more human characteristics shine through.

The investigation in Leave No Trace is a particularly emotive one, and at times this means it doesn’t make for an easy read. Throughout the novel, there are chapters written from the killer’s perspective and this really helped me to get into their mindset, although I had no idea until the very end who it actually was. Jo Callaghan tackles some sensitive issues through the investigation and I really appreciate her doing so in such a hard hitting way. The tension in Leave No Trace is on another level and I was gripped the whole way through.

I believe there is another Kat and Lock novel in the pipeline and I cannot wait for it!

Leave No Trace is available from Amazon.

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