Balancing the trauma of her own life, Natalie investigates missing transients. What could have happened?
A school teacher is found dead - delving into her life and possible suspect in a coma, Natalie struggles to move both cases forward.
I loved the premise for this plot - definitely too long.

Haunting and engrossing. Natalie is a newer police officer and one afternoon while on call she catches the case of a murder of a favorite school teacher, who also happens to be one of her sisters best friends. Through a series of twists and turns you are brought deeper into the lives and lore of this quaint New York town, it’s history of witches and murder. This book was so hard to put down!

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you NetGalley, Alice Blanchard and Minotaur Books for this edition and hearing my honest review. Looking forward to reading more with you
#partner

This was a slog of a novel if I've ever read one. It started out slow, the middle was slow, and then end was entirely too packed with twists t I be enjoyable. Not a series I'll continue.

Twists and turns, dark and a bit supernatural. This is the kind of story that would go well in audio format for a fully immersive experience.

Great book! I was hooked from the start, thank you so much for providing me a copy of this book to read. This is something I would love to purchase.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book. I really liked this book! The main character, Natalie Lockhart, not only solved a current murder-she kept going and she solved several murders that had occurred over the years. Unfortunately, one of the murders was her older sister Willow. The author tied all of the crimes together and gave the reader a very believable ending. This book also got better as I got into the book-I found myself reading faster just to find out what had happened and how everything was connected. I can't wait until the next installment in this series! Highly recommend!

Thrilling page turner!
I really enjoyed Trace of Evil.....what a twisty-turning, intriguing and certainly, suspenseful story! Talk about a story that will keep your interest!
The main character is Natalie, a police detective. When she is tasked with closing 9 cold cases, things take a very unexpected turn. And, what a surprise ending!
If you like a book about a small town, murder, mystery and a eerie history of witchcraft.....pick up Trace of Evil for a wild, suspenseful ride.
I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I ending up not finishing this book. I was having a hard time staying engaged in the story and it wasn't quite what I was looking for.

This is one intense, twisted, dark and addictive novel! Not only is this a very well-written book with wonderfully-interesting characters, but the suspense builds at just the right pace as the story unfolds. Compulsive, gripping and horrifying! Will keep you on the edge of your seat!

This was my first Alice Blanchard book and also her first Natalie Lockhart book. The next book in the series is The Wicked Hour, which is available 12/01/2020. Let me start off with why I chose this book to read. I chose it because I like to read mystery, suspense, crime novels, if that is not already obvious by my previously reviewed books. I also am a fan of supernatural books that involve witchcraft, which is what this book sounded like it would be about.

This book has a few different case going on, the death of Natalie's sister (which is already solved), "the Missing Nine" (which every new office investigates, in this case Natalie), the death of Daisy Buckner (wife of a cop), and then their is the childhood incident involving Natalie that she is still trying to investigate as an adult (she calls the person the Boogeyman). Given that their are so many different cases or investigations going on at any one given point, it can be hard to follow and keep all of the different characters, suspects, and case information straight. Having several cases/investigations going on at one time is one aspect of a book that makes it difficult for me to like the book, as I like a book where it is easy to follow and keep the story straight.

As I previously mentioned, this book has a supernatural witchcraft aspect to it, at least it does minimally. The book even starts by giving you the history of Burning Lake, which has a witch trial history. It is a big part of the towns history and some of its citizens practice witchcraft, which include those still in Middle School and/or High School. The amount of witchcraft history starts off heavy and then it tapers off until near the end where it picks up again. I was quite disappointed by this, as I said I love a good witchcraft book. The book deals with the white and dark magic. It gets quite dark towards the end.

I was not quite fond of the end of the book. It got way too dark for me and not quite sure that it was truly necessary. The end of the book really handles Natalie's boogeyman, which I don't feel like adds anything special to the book and I feel like the story of the Missing Nine could have been handled better towards the end as well. I was really intrigued initially by the Missing Nine's story but there is not a lot of development into that story until the end where it explodes.

I will say that the story has one really good twist that I did not see coming, but that is the only twist. Otherwise, I found this story to be quite underwhelming.

Rating: 2 out of 5. I give it this rating because I found the story to be difficult to follow. There were aspects of the story that I felt were unnecessary and/or could have been written better. I also did not feel like this book drew me in and hooked me from the beginning. It took me a few months to finish.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

I just couldn't get into this book. I tried and tried but it just wasn't my cup of tea. I'm sad to say I had to DNF it.

I enjoyed this book. It was a solid whodunnit mystery with intriguing characters. I recommend reading.

What I liked:
- Whodunnit mystery
- Police procedural (at times)
- Speckled with witchcraft
- Complicated family dynamic with murdered sister
- Troubled town history
- Possible serial killer on the loose

What I needed to love it:
- I needed more from Natalie. I needed to feel more connected to her personally.
- I wanted Natalie and Luke to give in to their desires.

I love female protagonists, especially when they are cops. I fell in love with Natalie's character from the beginning. This story follows her investigation into "The Missing Nine" while uncovering secrets and lies that will leave you dumbfounded. She carries her own grief with the loss of her sister who was very near and dear to her heart. She follows in her father's footsteps. Will she make him proud? The thrill the author takes you on is such a ride and I loved every minute of it.

Finally finished my ARC of Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard. I really enjoyed this one. Murder. Witchcraft. A new detective must determine who killed her sister's bestfriend. With many twists and turns, you think you know... but do you? I enjoyed the characters and the writing style of this book. I hope to read more of this series ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was entertaining and head enough characters to keep you guessing as to who the killer was. I wasn't a huge fan of the big reveal at the end. Seemed just a little contrived.

3.5 stars

A small town is about to be rocked by a murder of one of their own, and everyone in town is a suspect:

Burning Lake is an interesting town that has connection a sordid past with hanging witches, and this fact means that witchcraft and forming a coven is something that the locals, mainly teenagers, drift towards. Natalie Lockhart is a rookie detective who handed the Missing Nine, nine people who have disappeared from Burning Lake over several years and with each new detectives who is promoted they give fresh eyes to the decade or older cases. However, Natalie is about to be handed one of the toughest cases that would fall onto any detective's desk, the murder of someone you know and the wife of a cop, Daisy Buckner. As the investigation deepens Natalie gets more suspects the more evidence that is found and the risks get higher and higher.

While I was reading this book, I was totally convinced that it was a debut novel, I was surprised that it was not. While the plot and main character seemed laid out there were some what I think basic details missed that would have changed this book from a good read to an amazing one, aka The Devil is in the Details. This book would have been such a stronger book and story if Blanchard would have done some extra research about police officers, their culture and some general forensic information. Even a google search would have helped her with these details. So I guess i'll deal with the no so good first and then get to the good.

First off, police do not carry pagers any more, everyone has smart phones and that is what they would use if you are on call. Police Department will issue the officers a work phone for this purpose so there would not be a rotating pager for whomever is on call that night. Can you think of how many times a rotating pager would get lost? Second, if you take a bullet in your vest you will have to replace that vest as it has been compromised, you would no longer be safe if you were to take another bullet to the vest. Sure you can keep it but it would have to be replaced as it would be no longer safe to wear it but it would probably have been needed to be taken into evidence first as part of the proof about the shot as well as to obtain the bullet out of it.

Thirdly, there is a lot of emphasis on time of death. Time of death is the least precise forensic out there, there are too many factors that can affect when a person was killed. Simply asking the coroner or pathologist when the person died shows a lack of research, they cannot narrow it down to hours, more like days. Additionally when Natalie enters the house and states that she could smell the dead body, this is not true, decomposition of the body where a smell occurs does not normally happen within the first few hours of death, it begins two to three days after as it takes a bit for the bacteria within your Body to start breaking it down for food which in turn releases gas. I was able to find most of this out with a basic google search so I feel that Blanchard could have done that as well. Blanchard did get more to the right track when she started to try and figure out what Daisy had done that day and who had seen her last but this is later in the book. Lastly, you as a police officer always always secure the suspect(s) and scene first, yes you can save a person if they need saving but once that is done after you secure your suspect(s), if you don’t there is still a risk to you and the victim that could lead to even more dire consequences. You don’t know what other weapons that may arise by you not securing them. I feel like this aspect is common sense.

Alright now to the good part. WOW, what a plot and story, I did not have everything figured out till the very end, there were too many suspects in this small town where everyone and everything and everyone are interconnected. God, I love small town books and Burning Lake is no exception. I appreciate that Blanchard kept this book to one murder, one who done it, with the historical cases also being investigated. i think sometime the plot and book becomes too muddied with so many homicides that all interconnected and even though there was only one recent murder to investigate that didn't mean I was able to figure everything out, it was a great twisty, did not see that coming ending, which is always amazing when that occurs.

Burning Lake is an interesting town and it has the reputation for burning (though the actually hung them) witches just like Salem did and the town uses this as their “claim to fame”. This also means that people dabbling in witchcraft is a common theme amount the youth and this creates a whole different avenue if investigation for the police department. This book is set in our time in our world so the whole witch thing is more wishful thinking but it does not mean that people, mainly teens, aren’t willing to try a spell or two, however, witchcraft needs to be considered with every crime that is committed. This adds an extremely unique perspective in this book and one that I have not read before outside of the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal genres. It appears that Blanchard did so research on witchcraft as she talks about symbols, knots, spells and what those spells hope to achieve and I found it all very fascinating.

Natalie is an interesting character, she’s smart, know how to play the game and really caring about her family and those who shew grew up with. Even the lady who had a psychotic break and ends up on the street, Natalie is there if she needs help. It never seems like Natalie gets exhausted with trying to juggle all her cases and family life, she just keeps going and going with little sleep, so maybe she is a super human detective. There is a hint of a romance to come, it kind of became redundant throughout the book (oh i've liked him forever, maybe now will be the time he makes a move ect) and I don’t think the book or plot needed it as it doesn't really add anything to the murder investigation or story.

Don't get me wrong, overall I enjoyed this book. I feel like Blanchard likes the idea of writing from the point of view of a rookie detective but lacked the knowledge or research about police, police culture and investigations to really pull some of this book off. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the plot and story that Blanchard laid out in this book and the small town setting. I would read another book from Blanchard and if she were to release another book featuring Burning Lake and Natalie.

Enjoy!!!

Natalie Lockhart, as the newest member on the police force of her hometown of Burning Lake is tasked with being the fresh eyes on the case of "the missing nine" - 9 unsolved murders of her sleepy town. While bringing her coworker home after an evening out, they arrive to find his wife, Daisy, brutally murdered. As she works to solve the case, she follows a series of leads that take her deep into Daisy's life and into her own family's past and present. Hopefully the start of a new series.

This one was a whirlwind right from the beginning. It had me hooked. I honestly couldn’t put it down. Natalie was a fantastic character and I really enjoyed her and can’t wait to see what more happens with her story since I saw that this was the first in the series. The writing was exciting and captivating. The chapters were nice and short which I really like.

Natalie Lockhart is a rookie detective in Burning Lake, New York, an isolated town known for its dark past. Tasked with uncovering the whereabouts of nine missing transients who have disappeared over the years, Natalie wrestles with the town’s troubled history – and the scars left by her sister’s unsolved murder years ago.

Then Daisy Buckner, a beloved schoolteacher, is found dead on her kitchen floor, and a suspect immediately comes to mind. But it’s not that simple. The suspect is in a coma, collapsed only hours after the teacher’s death, and it turns out Daisy had secrets of her own. Natalie knows there is more to the case, but as the investigation deepens, even she cannot predict the far-reaching consequences – for the victim, for the missing of Burning Lake, and for herself.

Trace of Evil is the first book in a new series from Alice Blanchard. This story focuses on Natalie Lockhart, a 30 year old detective in Burning Lake, NY. Twenty years ago Natalie's oldest sister Willow was brutally murdered and on this anniversary her other sister's best friend is found murdered in her home.

The base story is good but I did have issues with the book. I think my main issue stems from the fact that this is the introductory novel in the series. There is the main case that I mentioned but there is also this other "case" from Natalie's past that was not needed in order to tell the main story and I felt made the book longer than needed and more involved. I would have recommended this secondary story be book 2 in the series.

That being said I will pick up the next one and see what new cases Natalie finds on her plate.