This is a well paced murder mystery
It is well written.
The story was a little tame and unbelievable at moments.
Not enough grit for me

So gripping and some great twists. I loved DI Blood and would love to read more cases with her. Loved the pace of the book too.

This novel was a very pleasant surprise. It is a 'whodunit' and cold case murder investigation which is slow to give up its secrets. We don't even know WHO the murdered man is until about forty percent of the way through the book.

Isabel Blood was a well-developed character who is struggling to maintain her work-life balance. She has personal baggage, but tries valiantly to keep her own troubles separate from her workplace. I really enjoyed her police team, and the characters were very vivid in my mind. They all worked well together and had a good rapport.

Cold cases always interest me. Crime investigation has progressed so much over the years that using modern methods to solve historical crimes makes for interesting reading.

This is an old-fashioned mystery novel, though it is set in the present day. Some readers have said it is a 'cozy' mystery, but I would disagree. It had far more heft than a cozy, yet it maintained its Vera-like charm . This was a gripping police procedural, with an interesting, well crafted plot and likable characters. Kudos to Jane Bettany for writing such an engrossing and polished debut novel. Her writing style was clear and enjoyable to read.

"In Cold Blood" was an excellent introduction to a new fictional detective. I have purchased the second and third titles in the D.I. Blood series and they are loaded and waiting for me on my Kindle. Surely that is endorsement enough?

Great thriller which kept me turning the pages well into the night. Great characters and plot. Highly recommend to others!!

I was super happy to be involved in another #booktour with @hqstories and this title was a gem! This book had me hooked from the beginning. Isabel’s personality leapt off the page and I really enjoyed the way the chapters flowed between her life at work and the case, to the ties of her past and her current home life. It was fast paced in that it kept you moving along but not too fast that you got lost. I really enjoyed this book and would love to read more by Jane Bettany.

In Cold Blood is set in the fictional Derbyshire town of Bainbridge and the novel’s main protagonist is Detective Inspector (DI) Isabel Blood (56), wife of Nathan, an illustrator and designer, and mother to Kate, a primary school teacher in Matlock, Bailey, who’s currently travelling with his girlfriend, and Ellie (14).

Amy and Paul Whitworth have recently purchased a 1960s house to renovate and sell. While digging out the foundations for a large extension, Paul is horrified to find a human skeleton at the bottom of the trench that he made. Although tempted to keep quiet and pretend they didn’t find the bones, the pair phone the police and tell them of their discovery.

DI Isabel Blood is attending a parents’ evening for daughter Ellie when she’s told about the body and has to rush off to the crime scene. She’s shocked to discover that the location is 23 Ecclesdale Drive, which is the house where she used to live with her mother and father, until he upped and left suddenly when she was only 14 years old.

When the crime scene investigator, Raveen Talwar, tells them that the body is of a male and it has been in the ground for 20 to 40 years, Isabel is concerned that it may be her missing father, Donald, as he hasn’t been in touch with her since he disappeared.

As the police make enquiries about previous residents of the house and talk to the current and past neighbours, we discover there’s a lot more to the murder than meets the eye and that a previous missing persons case was not investigate thoroughly enough. Investigating a historical crime brings its own problems and the team are limited by the availability of technology at that time and by the fact that several people connected with the victim are now long dead. It’s definitely not going to be straightforward case to solve and they’re going to need some lucky breakthroughs!

Isabel Blood is a great character and I really enjoyed getting to know her. She’s rather dedicated to her job – as most police officers are – often to the detriment of her husband and her youngest daughter but she’s also likeable, fair and very thorough, sharp-witted and shrewd at work. She’s never got over the abandonment by her father and it has affected her whole life and her relationship with her mother, Barbara, who now lives in Spain and has been keeping her own secrets.

Detective Sergeant (DS) Dan Fairfax (33) makes a good sidekick for Isabel and I’m curious to learn more about Detective Constable (DC) Zoe Piper (29), who seems to work far too hard and doesn’t have much of a home or social life.

I’m a great fan of police procedural novels and this was an excellent read! The case was a fascinating one and the story was cleverly plotted and well written and unfolded at a satisfying pace, keeping me intrigued with numerous twists and turns and some rather surprising revelations! There were several culprits, with various motives, and I must have suspected everyone at some point or another.

In Cold Blood was an engaging read with some good old-fashioned police work. I really hope this is the start of a new series as I thoroughly enjoyed this compelling and entertaining book and can’t wait to find out which case DI Isabel Blood investigates next!

I really enjoyed this book, several times I thought I knew where it was going but then it took a different turn

4 Stars from me

I loved this introduction to DI Isabel Blood and her team. Like a lot of well known fictional detectives, she has a lot of baggage that haunts her and forms part of the reason she joined the police.

The story is structured in a way that made me begin to doubt virtually every character - including the hapless two who were doing up number 23... They were interesting.

Isabel's relationship with her mother was flawed and hampered her understanding of the past, I liked this element, it was such a human touch so mundane and yet so true. All those unspoken words and all those subtle ways that just exist within families - when simply talking openly could solve so much.

Overall, a nice detective story set at a good pace - surely any fan of these style of books would love it.

A great debut crime novel from Jane Bettany, set in Derbyshire and with an interesting main character in DI Isobel Blood. It was actually great to find a female detective with a life - it’s not all work for her and she has a private life. Most of the focus is on the case, which I like in a crime novel, The Whitworth family start renovating their home and are horrified to find a body buried in the garden. DI Blood is called on to investigate, but when she hears the address of the property she starts to feel uneasy. Ecclesdale Drive is very familiar to her, because No 23 was where she spent her childhood and where her father went missing. She feels uneasy, then when the body is dated to forty years ago, she knows it’s the exact time when they lived in the house. Could this be him?

The novel is packed with suspense. Her mother is still tight lipped about what happened when the DI was 14 years old. I enjoyed the reminisce about her past at the house, her relationship with her mother, and also the other members of her team who were well-rounded characters I’d like to know more about. I loved that our heroine is an older woman who’s intelligent, interesting and doing well in life, despite this intriguing story in her past, I look forward to spending time with her again. .

I thoroughly enjoyed reading In Cold Blood by Jane Bettany (not to be confused with Truman Capote's classic non-fiction novel of the same name), a character-driven police procedural / mystery in the more traditional mould.
D.I. Isabel Blood is an intuitive and competent detective, based in the (fictional) town of Bainbridge, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom.
Siblings Amy and Paul Whitworth are in the process of renovating their first investment property, purchased with the proceeds of their late father's estate. When digging foundations for a new patio, Paul uncovers skeletal human remains.
In the midst of a troubling parent-teacher interview with her husband, Bainbridge D.I. Isabel Blood receives a phone call summoning her to the crime scene. But this proves to be no run-of-the-mill murder investigation for D.I. Blood - the house where the discovery has been made is her own childhood home...
Further complicating matters, and actually requiring her to take a step back from the investigation (which occurs all too rarely in crime fiction when such situations arise!), is the fact that her own father went missing from the home over forty years ago, never to be heard of again.
From this wonderfully fraught premise, the novel unfolds as Blood's team begin sifting through the home's history and attempt to identify the skeleton.
In Cold Blood doesn't sit in the dark, twisty thriller end of the genre - while by no means a "cosy mystery", it's more of a character drama, which brought to my mind the late P.D. James's style of writing (which I love). In the course of solving the historical mystery, the central character goes through her own catharsis, gradually uncovering and coming to terms with her family's hazy and rather complicated past.
The supporting characters are well-developed and three-dimensional, from Isabel's stickybeak earstwhile neighbour to her small team of detectives and her family at home. Jane Bettany's depiction and understanding of relationships between characters makes this a fascinating read, over and above the main crime investigation plot.
I found the pacing of the narrative appropriate to the style of the book, and realistic in the context of a modern team investigating an apparent historical crime. It's certainly not an edge-of-your seat action read, but enthralling in a more subtle way that rewards a thoughtful reader.
In Cold Blood was a great read, and I hope that we'll see more of D.I. Isabel Blood in future titles. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy character-based mysteries, complex plots and slow-burn narratives.
My thanks to the author, Jane Bettany, publisher HQ Digital (an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers UK) and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I think I have to file this one under....nicely done, but maybe too nice for me. 😈 This is a well-written police procedural/drama which is really more about DI Isabel Blood and her family than it is about law enforcement. A body is found in the garden of a house that DI Blood used to live in with her family, implicating old family ghosts. Though very ably written, the book is a little “cozier” than I prefer in my police thrillers. The action was somewhat slow and it also requires a bit of suspension of disbelief about police procedure. That said, if you like your mysteries cozier, with a little romance, and a little bit of family style drama, this is definitely a good choice. DI Blood and her family and colleagues are all very likable and Jane Bettany is a very good writer. An fine choice for a fan of procedural sand nicer protagonists, but maybe not so much if you’re like me and always kinda hoping they’re secretly evil.

Thanks so much to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this title in return for my honest review.

This book was written wonderfully and really captures the readers attention from the start.
The characters were brought to life by the authors detailed writing style, allowing you to really feel a connection to them and the situations which arose throughout this book.
A plot that is full of twists and turns that keeps you guessing throughout. The ending was a complete shock and really ended this wonderful book in the best possible way.

This is the first book in the D.I. Isabel Blood series.
>>The story begins when Amy and Paul Whitworthb who are siblings begin renovating their new house in Derbyshire town of Bainbridge in order to sell it when they discover a body that has been buried in the back garden. After this incident, we are introduced to the protagonist of this story- Isabel Blood who is a crime investigator. She got shocked when she came to know that the crime took place at 23 Ecclesdale Drive because she used to live there with her parents until she left the house when she was about fourteen years old. Her father left the house and never came home.
>>While investigating, the crime scene investigator told Isabel that the body is that of a male and the crime has been committed 30-40 years back. Isabel was dumbstruck because she used to live in that house during that time frame. After which, a lot of questions start arising in her mind. She started thinking that the body could be of his father who went missing.
I wish I could give this book all the stars… I loved the plot and how the characters were written. I felt that the storyline was never broken throughout the book, and the suspense kept flowing strongly.
>>I love reading thrillers with female protagonists and that is why I picked the book in the first place. Another reason for picking this book was the blurb. To be honest, the story was even more chilling as compared to the blurb.
I really loved the character of Isabel and her mother who have emerged as strong characters after what happened in their lives.
Can't wait for her next book in the series.

Isabel Blood is the perfect detective, but finds it particularly challenging to work the case of the body found in the backyard of her childhood home. Great writing leads to caring about the characters. I found that I cared about each one of them. As Isabel interviewed and investigated each suspect, I wanted them all to be innocent. And her personal involvement with the crime's venue, and the mystery that was uncovered about her own past, kept my interest throughout. Great read!

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this pre-published version in exchange for my honest review of the book. #incoldblood#netgalley

4 stars

In Cold Blood is a mystery with quite a bit of social commentary on the route between the discovery of a skeleton buried in someone's back yard and the ultimate apprehension of the perpetrator(s). If you have issues with the pronouns people apply to themselves, you should move along.

For everyone else: DI Isabel Blood (nice name for a detective) and her team are called to the site where a skeleton has been unearthed by a brother and sister rehabbing a house in which she used to live. DI Blood has some anxious moments where she considers if the bones could belong to her long-missing dad, and the teeniest thought that her mother may be a murderer.

Fortunately, that turns out not to be the case, but it raises another question: whose body is in this shallow grave, and what, if anything, do all the neighbors remember about the woman who lived there?

Most have no idea about Celia, the woman who lived in the house, what she did, or who she was. The next door neighbor and her autistic son are about the best witnesses, but they also track down Celia's niece, who was in Australia during the timeline reconstructed by DI Blood and the forensics team.

The investigation continues, with some lines of inquiries trailing off into nothing, which is not very exciting when it happens, but it's realistic.

This is a debut novel, but doesn't read like one. - the story is well told, and the twisting, winding road to the truth and the perp is an interesting one.

Solid four of five stars.

Thanks to HQ Digital and NetGalley for the review copy.

This was an interesting and unique debut into the crime genre. I don't think I've ever read a book that was so politically correct before. DI Isabel Blood is a middle aged detective with three children, one of whom she had later in life. She is investigating a crime with a unique victim that has been dead for over twenty years. She also has an absent father who may or may not be the body buried in the back garden.

I was intrigued with this story line until I realized that none of it really mattered. The detectives age is irrelevant to the story. The fact that she is an older mother is irrelevant to the story. That fact that Isabel hasn't seen her father for most of her life is irrelevant to the story. More than a third of the story revolved around his absence and not about the investigation. When the story did circle back to the crime, main protagonist Isabel Blood didn't do much investigating. That was done by her subordinate DS Dan Fairfax who was a much more interesting character.

Overall, the story wasn't bad. I found it to be more of a family drama rather than a crime-centric story. Granted this was a debut to a series but it was all pretty average with too many unanswered questions.

Thanks to HQ and Netgalley for my advanced copy.

Very enjoyable mystery, moved along quickly and the characters were eminently enjoyable. I did see the killer coming fairly on but it didn't detract from the story, which had an interesting, and very relevant to today's world, premise.

My only criticism is that the tale could have had a bit more bite, a few razor edge antics if you will, to spice things up, perhaps a desperate Zoe, trapped under fallen timbers that the killer flung at her, being rescued by Dan, a meaningful but secretive glance passing between them... Just a thought, i don.t need romance to liven up my mysteries, but it did need something. But otherwise a thoroughly readable book, I'll definitely look out for more by Jane Bettany.

Thanks Jane Bettany, HQ and Net Gally for my ARC.

This was a nicely written police procedural which is really more about DI Isabel Blood and her family than it is about police procedure. A body is found in the garden of a house that DI Blood used to live in with her family, implicating old family ghosts. Though very ably written, the book is a little “cozier” than I prefer in my police thrillers. The action was somewhat slow and it also requires a bit of suspension of disbelief about police procedure. That said, if you like your mysteries cozier, with a little romance, and a little bit of family style drama, this is definitely a good choice. DI Blood and her family and colleagues are very likable and Jane Bettany is a very good writer. An excellent choice for a fan of nicer protagonists, but maybe not so much if you’re like me and always kinda hoping they’re secretly evil.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jane Bettany and HQ for the ARC!

What a great novel, a full 5-stars for my rating.

The premise of the story follows the main character, DI Isabel Blood as she investigates human remains, which have been dug up in the backyard of a home she once lived in from birth until she was 14 years-old. As the story unfolds, pieces of her past are also revealed, including the mysterious disappearance of her father.

I love the murder mystery genre but what really set this book apart was the development of the characters. They are genuine, complex, and written into the plot believably, but also unpredictably. I loved the twists and turns within this novel and will be on the lookout for future books by Jane Bettany.

Thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins Publishers, and Jane Bettany for the advanced eBook copy in exchange for my honest review.

TERRIFIC debut introducing DCI Isobel Blood in this intriguing police procedural. Great characterization & storyline with lots of thrills along the way. First time reading this author but will definitely look for more. RECOMMEND!! Thanks to NetGalley & HQ Digital for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.