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viola579's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
paronomaniac's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Deadnaming and Transphobia
Minor: Murder
achoward's review against another edition
4.0
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.
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.
mags_louise's review against another edition
4.0
4.25⭐
Having just been introduced to D.I. Isabel Blood in the very engaging Last Seen Alive I was excited to read the two books I'd missed out on, and her introduction In Cold Blood did not disappoint. As this is a very intriguing mystery that blends the personal with the professional extremely well.
As D.I. Blood is called away from her daughters parents evening to a house in Bainbridge where bones have been found buried in the back garden and this sets of not only a potential murder investigation that harks back to the 1980s but a personal crisis for Isabel who used to live in the house before her dad left never to be seen again.
And as Isabel searches for answers at work and at home two stories are told that genuinely had me captivated and I was as desperate to find out the truth as D.I. Blood and her team were.
I would happily recommend.
Having just been introduced to D.I. Isabel Blood in the very engaging Last Seen Alive I was excited to read the two books I'd missed out on, and her introduction In Cold Blood did not disappoint. As this is a very intriguing mystery that blends the personal with the professional extremely well.
As D.I. Blood is called away from her daughters parents evening to a house in Bainbridge where bones have been found buried in the back garden and this sets of not only a potential murder investigation that harks back to the 1980s but a personal crisis for Isabel who used to live in the house before her dad left never to be seen again.
And as Isabel searches for answers at work and at home two stories are told that genuinely had me captivated and I was as desperate to find out the truth as D.I. Blood and her team were.
I would happily recommend.
kirstenmcl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.25
clairetomonaga's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
cinephilegirl_'s review against another edition
3.0
I was specting that DI Isabel Blood at her 56 years old would be some sort of these new kind od UFC (unlikeable female character) but she is not. And She is amazing.
At the very beginning the twins Amy and Paul Whitworth are renovating an old property from the sixties when they found human remains (a skeleton) buried in the backyard. At first they decide not to do anything but finally, the called the police. The drama begins whit the fact that the detective live in her teens in that house and her father went missing. Could the body in the garden be him?
Spoilers ahead….
It is not him. So she can be involved in the investigation.
End of sopilers.
After that the thriller is truly gripping. The pace is fast and is like a cool procedural british show. Slowly I’m getting used to the DI, DS titles instead of detective, or police man so used by the americans in their thrillers.
It has a lot of plot twists and I can say I was very addictive. Once you start it you kept going until find out who? Where? When? How? It happen. And There is paper work after the big break trhu!
I really recommend it for fans of the thrillers and I hope there will be more adventures from DI Isabel Blood.
At the very beginning the twins Amy and Paul Whitworth are renovating an old property from the sixties when they found human remains (a skeleton) buried in the backyard. At first they decide not to do anything but finally, the called the police. The drama begins whit the fact that the detective live in her teens in that house and her father went missing. Could the body in the garden be him?
Spoilers ahead….
It is not him. So she can be involved in the investigation.
End of sopilers.
After that the thriller is truly gripping. The pace is fast and is like a cool procedural british show. Slowly I’m getting used to the DI, DS titles instead of detective, or police man so used by the americans in their thrillers.
It has a lot of plot twists and I can say I was very addictive. Once you start it you kept going until find out who? Where? When? How? It happen. And There is paper work after the big break trhu!
I really recommend it for fans of the thrillers and I hope there will be more adventures from DI Isabel Blood.
cinephilegirl_'s review against another edition
3.0
I was specting that DI Isabel Blood at her 56 years old would be some sort of these new kind od UFC (unlikeable female character) but she is not. And She is amazing.
At the very beginning the twins Amy and Paul Whitworth are renovating an old property from the sixties when they found human remains (a skeleton) buried in the backyard. At first they decide not to do anything but finally, the called the police. The drama begins whit the fact that the detective live in her teens in that house and her father went missing. Could the body in the garden be him?
Spoilers ahead….
It is not him. So she can be involved in the investigation.
End of sopilers.
After that the thriller is truly gripping. The pace is fast and is like a cool procedural british show. Slowly I’m getting used to the DI, DS titles instead of detective, or police man so used by the americans in their thrillers.
It has a lot of plot twists and I can say I was very addictive. Once you start it you kept going until find out who? Where? When? How? It happen. And There is paper work after the big break trhu!
I really recommend it for fans of the thrillers and I hope there will be more adventures from DI Isabel Blood.
At the very beginning the twins Amy and Paul Whitworth are renovating an old property from the sixties when they found human remains (a skeleton) buried in the backyard. At first they decide not to do anything but finally, the called the police. The drama begins whit the fact that the detective live in her teens in that house and her father went missing. Could the body in the garden be him?
Spoilers ahead….
It is not him. So she can be involved in the investigation.
End of sopilers.
After that the thriller is truly gripping. The pace is fast and is like a cool procedural british show. Slowly I’m getting used to the DI, DS titles instead of detective, or police man so used by the americans in their thrillers.
It has a lot of plot twists and I can say I was very addictive. Once you start it you kept going until find out who? Where? When? How? It happen. And There is paper work after the big break trhu!
I really recommend it for fans of the thrillers and I hope there will be more adventures from DI Isabel Blood.
annarella's review against another edition
4.0
This is the first book i read by this author and won't surely be the last as it was a gripping and entertaining read.
I liked the solid mystery, the well thought characters and the plot that kept me hooked.
Can't wait to read the next instalment, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I liked the solid mystery, the well thought characters and the plot that kept me hooked.
Can't wait to read the next instalment, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.