Traces Of Her by Amanda Brittany is a fabulous heart racing contemporary psychological suspense. I was intrigued and glued from the start.
The novel is very cleverly constructed drawing the reader in immediately. It is set in 2001 and present day, from alternating points of view in the first person. As we ‘hear’ different voices, we know who they all are except one. I was gripped and guessing as to who this was, but failed in my attempts.
A cold case murder comes alive as a daughter searches to solve who killed her mum when she was young. She travels to Cornwall and unleashes a can of worms.
Family is important. Love binds members together. Twisted love blows relationships apart. A mother’s love is fiercely protective.
There is the theme of control. Control may be exercised in a number of ways but it is never good.
Obsession is a dangerous thing. When an obsession takes over, there are disastrous results.
Traces Of Her was an exciting read. I failed to predict the outcome as I read greedily towards the end with my heart racing. I look forward to reading more by Amanda Brittany.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

I really liked the cover. It is very appealing designed. The writing style is pleasant and very fluently to read. The characters are very well described and look well thought out and consistently interesting. The tension is always present. The descriptions of surroundings, feelings and scenes were also very good. The story is told pleasant and it succeeds from the first pages to dive directly into the story. The storyline as a whole is very coherent and it seems very understandable and authentic. A very fascinating story that you won't like to stop reading.

For me this book sits firmly in the thriller section. Its got some great twists and turns, it makes you think and more importantly its in Cornwall - where all the best Thriller books are based, in my humble opinion.

The story is about Willow and her mum, except we dont follow their life in the book, its all about Rose - Willows Stepsister. Willow disappears often at short notice, but this time is different. She thinks she knows who killed her mum and shes hunting the killer down; Rose, with her teenage daughter in tow, follows her to Cornwall only to find Willow isnt in the cottage and something isnt right. The pair start to investigate.

The story jumps between now with Rose and the past with Willows mum. understanding who was in her life and making you wonder about their motive for now, This is an easy to read story but you need to pay attention to see if you can work out what really happened that night.

For me I wasnt surprised by the answer and the ones that followed but I didnt expect them either. I really enjoyed the book, and would suggest it to anyone looking for their next read but now looking back Im trying to work out where the clues were to the ending, or if they were there at all.

Theres also a small side story with this; Rose's daughter being a typical teenager and having her own issues. I feel that because it was a constant topic in the book (sorry Im trying really hard to not need a spoiler alert!) that it should have had more time given to it as for me whilst it was obvious where Willow was being given priority and importance Rose should have dealt with other issues sooner.

I DNFed this book because I couldn't get into it.
Even if I found it quite well written the characters grated on my nerves and seemed childish and not very clever.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

Present: Rose gets frantic phone calls and messages from her stepsister Willow who believes her birth mother has been murdered and wants to solve it. Rose does not take this seriously as Willow has been known for her frantic nature and tend to disappear from home for holidays and such. However when Rose receives a mysterious package from Willow containing 4 photographs of unknown men among whom she believes is her mother's killer, Rose has to know what is going on in her sister's life. She takes a road trip with her teenage daughter Becky to the picturesque village of Cornwall, a gorgeous cottage where Willow seems to be staying. Only to find out, Willow is not there!
What happened to Willow? Where is she gone??

Past: Meet Ava 2001. A young girl who is shadowed by her older sister and brother at home. Gets pregnant with a local boy and works very hard to survive in her own home without any support from her mother.
What is her connection to the present? How does her life intervene with the lives of the woman in the present? You'll have to read to find out!

The chapters shuffle between Rose and Ava as the author lets her readers mull over the connection and where exactly the story is leading. There are less number of characters in each timeline and they're well developed for the readers to understand them. Reading between timeless might be confusing at times, but Amanda has done a brilliant job in bridging the chapters without letting the plot down.

There were enough elements to keep me engaged throughout the book such as the gorgeous mansion overlooking the sea, and the description of the picturesque village of Cornwall. Rose's teenage daughter is a treat with her sparkly ideas and young impulse. Issues such as rape, neglect in a teenager's life are imposed on the characters and makes us think over those difficult situations.

I read this book on my kindle in one setting and totally devoured it. It was the perfect way to spend my sunday and I'm so glad i found this book. Highly recommended for thriller fans. Thanks to the publisher for inviting me to the official blog tour and my reader copy. All opinions are solely mine and no way biased.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy. A bit confusing at first but soon started to come into focus. Very twisty, when you think you got it here comes another twist! Impressive writing Amanda Brittany. Will be waiting for the next one.

Great read. I finished the book in one sitting. Characters were well developed, and the storyline was compelling and kept me interested.

"Traces of her" is my first book by Amanda Brittany and it certainly won't be the last. If you like domestic suspense/thrillers, this book is definitely for you. It kept me guessing till the very end. When I thought I had it all figured out then another twist came along (even the last sentence was a twist I didn't see coming). I felt so deeply for Ava and how bad her family treated her. With past and present storylines, the author did a good job tying it all nicely at the end.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is who done it murder mystery, but the author writes it from the perspective of the victim, Ava and the step sister of the victims daughter, Rose.
I was pulled into the story about halfway through, even though I had a pretty good idea who the killer was. I found some of the situations in the book a bit unbelievable, and the dialogue fell short in convincing me. The ending was still pretty twisty which I didn’t expect.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced review copy.

I devoured Traces of Her, desperate to find out the secrets hidden between then pages. Brittany is a superb writer, highly skilled at keeping you gripped, staying up late to uncover the secrets.

It being set in both Hertfordshire and Cornwall, two places I have lived and recognised, made it even better.

Amanda Brittany, author of ‘her last lie’, is back on top form with another great thriller/mystery revolving around a missing sister and the efforts to find her suddenly open up all kinds of scary family secrets. Told in past and present porks it had me guessing right to the end, and it’s generally hard to fool me, but this one did😄

Brilliant thriller. Was on the edge of my seat constantly. Great story well written. Would highly recommend

'I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.'

Overall rating: 5 stars

I'll start by saying that this mystery kept me reading well into the night. I just had to finish it. Fast-paced and interesting read. However, the events in this book warrant a trigger warning, so keep that in mind while reading.

It's told from 3 Points of view, but flows well with minimal confusion. Rose, Ava and YOU. Rose keeps you in the present. Her paranoia and anxiety are palpable. Ava you learn past events and how they line up with future findings. I felt so deeply for her, that I wanted to pull her out of the pages and hug her and kiss the top of her head like she desperately needed. YOU was chaotic, lonely, longing for attention. Reading their portions left my skin crawling.

I thought I had figured it out and I'd be half right, only for a major twist to show up. It kept me second guessing until the very end.

The plot, characters and surroundings are developed and described well. I loathed and loved characters.

I really enjoyed this book, much more than I originally anticipated. Very pleased.

I received a free copy of this book from a Net Gallery in exchange for an honest review.
This is another missing persons story combined with an unsolved murder.
Rose is determined to get to the bottom of this.
Can Rose find Willow before disaster strikes?
Don’t read this book with the lights out
A great read.

The premise grabbed me and it didn’t let me down. This book was so good, intense and addictive. I read it almost in one sitting.

To begin with, there was a lot of jumping around between the characters and at times I found it a bit confusing. However, that disappeared after the first 20% of the book and I got used to the format, who the characters were and the parts they played.

I would have loved to have gotten to know Willow better as an adult. However, I did love getting to know Ava - discovering everything about her life and how she ended up like she did. I couldn’t help but feel so sad at the thought that she was now dead. I love that - when a book gets inside your chest and makes you feel all sorts of emotions, those are the best kinds of books.

The mystery kept me interested. I loved the way everything was fitted together. The author did an excellent job of weaving the various parts together and it just worked. I loved reading about Willow as a child - reading about how everything led up to the murder. It read like we were in it instead of just being told about it.

I also loved the subplot of Becky and her eating issues. It didn’t overwhelm the story but it was weaved through the entire book, and it wasn’t forgotten.

I had no idea who the murderer was so I was constantly guessing and getting answers wrong. By the end I was so shocked. There were so many twists and turns to keep me on my toes including the mega twist at the end. That’s all I’ll say, I don’t want to spoil it.

I wasn’t expecting this book to grab me the way it did but I throughly enjoyed it. I’ll definitely be checking out their previous books and anything they releases next.

This is a very interesting fast paced thriller that I flew through as soon as I received it. I love psychological thrillers. They are one of my favorite kinds of thriller novels but I didn't see the ending coming in this one. It was so well crafted that I literally was shocked by it.

The differing perspectives of the characters made the story more enjoyable for me and it held my interest the whole way through.

I would recommend this book for sure if you enjoy a twisty psychological thriller.

60% through this book I was starting to get worried that this book wasn’t going to be as good as the first to books I’ve read by Amanda. But there was no reason to worry because that last 40% had me shook!

Willow is unreliable, so Rose isn’t all that surprised by her sisters sudden disappearance. But this time is different, Rose receives a call from Willow, she’s figured out who was responsible for her birth mothers death.
When Willow doesn’t respond to any of Rose’s calls, Rose sets off with her daughter Becky in search of her sister before it’s too late.

An enjoyable fast paced thriller with little shocks and turns along the way!

Thank you Natgalley, publishers and the author Amanda Brittany for an Arc in exchange for an honest opinion.

This book was incredible! It had guessing all over the place and the wow moments kept coming! Even the ending was impressive!
The story is told from the points of view of Ava in the past and Rose in the present. Rose is searching for her sister Willow, who often runs off on her own but Rose feels that something is different this time and when her sister sends her a txt and a package with a note and photographs and asks for her help in finding her mother’s killer. Rose and her daughter Becky head down there as soon as Rose, who is headmistress, is done with school for the summer. When they reach the cottage, Willow is still not there and all calls go straight to voicemail. Rose decides to do some investigative work herself in the hopes that she will solve the mystery and find Willow. She locates the men in the photographs that her sister sent and tries to gauge their innocence and how much they know. The characters in the book aren’t always who they appear to be and their roles in what happened over fifteen years ago seem to change and keep you guessing who was really at fault.
This book kept me interested throughout with nary a dull moment.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Traces of Her is a clever psychological thriller that held my attention from start to finish! The characters felt real and there were plenty of twists and turns. Recommended!

This is one of the best books I've read for mystery, drama, intrigue and dysfunctional families. Ava is a very young girl who thinks she is in love. Her mother is far from loving and nurturing to her. The love she does posses is all doted on Ava's older sister Gail. Ava's brother ran away from the mother and the father left soon after Ava was born. When Ava becomes pregnant at 16 the mother is horrified at the shame it will bring to the family. Ava however, a dreamer of happy ever after and white picket fences will not get an abortion. Her daughter Willow is born and she is the sunshine of Ava's life. Her sister Gail is getting married and even though she seems to hate Ava she is allowing her to be in the wedding. Rory, Gail's soon to be husband is a rich and domineering man. Willows dad is a loser who can't help support Ava and Willow and can't even be faithful. When Peter, the brother who ran away years before comes home to give Gail away he takes over the care of Willow while Ava works. As hard as Ava tries to give Willow a good life life isn't good to Ava. Her future is not the happy ever after she dreamed it should be. This book goes back and forth from past to present and from different persons perspective. Keeping track at first is hard but then you get into the characters and it becomes smoothe. So much happens to so many and you never know what will happen next to the very very end. Great read. Thank you NetGalley, Amanda Brittany and publisher HQ Digital for this ARC. This is my honest opinion. You will enjoy this book if you like a good mystery.