As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot (plenty of reviews like that already).

This is apparently the second in the "DI Isabel Blood" series, but the fact that I have not read the previous book did not matter, as this works just fine as a standalone.

I liked the fact that Isabel is "of a certain age" (as am I!) and enjoyed the setting of the book - although the main town is fictional, there are plenty of references to real places in Derbyshire, which added to the authenticity for me.

The main plot is a little outlandish but well thought out - I appreciated the lack of gory detail which so often appears in police procedural novels. The inclusion of Isabel's backstory with her father added another layer to the plot, and made her character more rounded. I felt that some of the supporting characters could have been developed more, but maybe that will happen as the series progresses.

I'm now hoping to read the first book in the series, and will certainly read more by this local author.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

This is really good character driven crime with a satisfying conclusion. Not gratuitously violent and with a good backstory, I would definitely recommend this as a police procedural and was engaged and interested throughout.

This book starts with a very unusual situation. Ruth Prendegast moves into her new home and finds a man, unknown to her, tucked up in her bed. Dead. There is no blood, no signs of struggle... but who is this man and why is he in her bed? To solve this mystery is 57 year old DI Isobel Blood and her team. I quite like this kind of book where old fashioned policing is required to solve the crime. We follow police around with their interviews trying to work out what has happened. The DI's leave was cancelled when the murder happened. Her estranged father was coming to stay. When he arrives he has his son, Isobel's half brother, with him. There is a big family secret that threatens their reunion.

There were lots of things I enjoyed about this book- the investigation, the interviews and the opportunity to work out myself what happened. But, I wasn't keen on the story around Isobel's family. It was just all a bit unlikely and I wasn't convinced by it. The DI's team were also somewhat lacking in personality... we know they eat a lot and talk with their mouths full... otherwise we don't learn much about them. I wasn't keen on the ending but all the ends were tied up.

Overall, this is a good idea but it was a bit too long in the middle and I didn't feel I really connected to the characters.

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 reconcilliationwith her French father after 40 years. This is not a serial killer story nor is it a gory book just good old fahioned 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 tevision series in the Vera mould.

If you are into cosy crime then this is the book for you. The plot was interesting but in my opinion could have been developed more. For me the story had no depth and I kept waiting for something to happen. A quick read, well written but could have been so much more. Saying that I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

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.

Imagine going home and finding a dead body tucked up in your bed - awful, right? What about when you don’t know the man, horrendous, I guess. With a start that gets the detective in you going, you are hooked before you finish the first chapter. A well written, steady paced thriller. Plenty of clues to help along the way but watch out for the red herrings. This book will leave you guessing till the very end.

My main issue is the writing style..... I struggled, I really did. From the opening page describing rain by saying "its stinging wetness" and then she steps into "the warm centrentrally heated fug" and "yanks Mail fron the teeth of the letterbox"....... I feel like were either trying to get our moneysworth from our thesaurus or just up the word count and it ends up dragging the whole story down! The writing is really good but just far far too full of unnecessary descriptive prose and it grinds on the reader lol. Or me anyways. I found it particularly distasteful when we felt the need to point out the "black DC". Why is him being black relevant to the story? As a black woman, I'd rather be described as my occupation, not the "black jeweller" because it's insulting that that is the only way to describe us, Also that the same isn't done with other characters. It doesn't state whether they're white, Asian or anything else. And i don't see it'd really matter overall unless it's a relevant part of the story. This was a token black guy for no reason what so ever other than so the author feels she's being inclusive for clout which I find rather distasteful. A bit like, "I can't be racist because my cousins, friends goldfish is black". I did force myself to stick with it and it was a good story. I enjoyed the actual plot although the dad bit was a weird sideline. If I ignore the descriptive issues and the race baiting then yeah, it's a book that would fill an afternoon. As a black lassie, that left a bad taste in my mouth though so put me off the author as a whole sadly

Great read
The second book in the DI Blood series.
Ruth Pendergast has just moved to the area for a fresh start after her divorce.
After a hard day at work she returns to find a dead man she's never seen before in her bed with a knife in his chest.
D I Blood is just about to start her 2 weeks leave but she's now under pressure to return to help slove the murder.
She needs to find out who the victim is and catch a killer but with no clues it's a hard job.
I liked the way the team worked together and look forward to reading more about them in the future.
Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for the ARC

A very interesting and thrilling read!

I had to finish this book in one go, I could not put it down and was up until the wee hours of the morning to get it done

I am afraid I really struggled with this book. The premise sounded great but I felt it was so slow moving and bogged down with unnecessary dialogue and descriptions. . It was obvious the author had real knowledge of police procedure, but I felt it really slowed the progress of the storyline and pace so much I ended the book by skim reading the pages.

I have been researching my own ancestry using online sites on and off for a number of years. A number of skeletons have popped up but nothing of any great interest.

Jane Bettany has her character take it further and has her act on the information, leading to murder.

Isabel's father arrives from France with her half brother, Fabien. This is another family with secrets that have been rattling their bones to get out. When they finally escape the make up of the family changes dramatically.

The final twist reminds amateurs that even science comes with warnings. What you put in affects what you get out.

A young woman arrives home to find a stranger dead in her bed. Who is the man, why has he been killed and by whom are the key questions for the investigation team led by Isabel Blood. She is somewhat preoccupied by a reunion with the father who had abandoned her as a young girl and this provides an intriguing side story.
An entertaining police procedural with a satisfying ending and a quick read.

I think it would be helpful to read the previous book prior to this one as there are lots of particularly family references to what happened before.
A well written, easy to read police procedural with interesting characters and a decent plot

Book two in the DI Blood series, set in Derbyshire. It's filled with detail and well developed characters, as well as plenty tension and an interesting plot. There was no real depth to the story but it's a quick and easy read, with a few twists and a surprise ending. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I found this book incredibly slow. Perhaps I'm just used to a grittier pace to my murder mysteries. But about three quarters of the way through, I lost interest in finding out who killed the guy. I just didn't care. I found the characters a bit one dimensional and Isabel was neither interesting nor particularly likeable.. The back story about her father was irrelevant and added nothing.. ( One thing that really irked me was a reference seemingly out of nowhere, to a 'black DC' - at no other point did she feel it necessary to describe anyone as a 'white DC'.)
For anyone who enjoys a fast paced murder, this will fall short, but if you enjoy a slower paced investigation you'll enjoy this as it is actually well written.

An enjoyable thriller that was fast paced and had me gripped from the beginning until the last sentence. it was twisty, unpredictable and had a great storyline. I really enjoyed it.

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.

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.