Leave No Trace by DS Butler is and intriguing thriller narrated by Henrietta Meire who gives a commanding yet emphatic performance

I must admit, I was disappointed that this book was so far along in the series! Why have I not read DS Butler before now?

DS Karen Hart and her team are called out the the disappearance of a young boy from a family outing at Tattershall Castle, but this is no ordinary case and one that brings back memories for one of her team about a criminal behind bars, a Graham Donaldson, jailed for the abduction and murder of young boys and notorious for his calling card, a blue teddy bear...

Chilling and intriguing, a thriller with no easy subjects or easy answers, absolutely brilliant

Thank you to NetGalley, Brilliance Publishing | Brilliance Audio, the Author DS Butler and narrator Henrietta Meire for this ALC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own

I listen to this genre daily on audiobook and am always looking out for new books & series to listen to. This author is new to me so I was pleased to find a new series to listen to, especially one with a strong female lead.
Engaging throughout, the story’s twists and turns had me guessing, double guessing and doubting myself until the end. Narrated well in a way that held my attention and allowed me to follow the storyline unfolding easily. Despite this book being ninth in the series I didn’t feel I was missing any pertinent information that stopped me being able to understand the characters, or follow the plot, as the author has written the book in a way that allows listeners insight into the previous experiences that have influenced and formed the characters and team. I was able to easily follow the storyline and enjoy the audiobook without feeling there were any holes in my understanding.
I will most definitely be looking out for further audiobooks in this series and by this author.

This is part of a series of books but I was new to the series and enjoyed it just fine. I really enjoyed the audio narration, mores than I think I would have just reading it.
This is definitely a 'cozy mystery' as another reviewer put it about the mystery of a young boy. I enjoyed the journey. I would gladly read another in this series. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

I really enjoyed this book. More than I thought I would. I liked the characters! Great writing style and I liked the storyline. This book kept me guessing. I finished it in one sitting.

"Leave No Trace" is part of a series, but even though I jumped in late, I had no trouble following the story. This gripping thriller is packed with secrets and the lengths people will go to protect them. It kept me guessing right until the very end.

In the book Leave No Trace, author D. S. Butler follows the disappearance of eleven-year-old Tommy Burton. And where he was taken, in his place is a small blue teddy bear. And the disappearance is eerily similar to the disappearance of 3 kids 15 years earlier. Do they have the wrong man in jail? Or is this a copycat? This was a great story. I would recommend this book. The audio-book narration was good. I received a copy of this audio-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, narrator, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free e-audio version of this title in exchange for my review.

This is book 8 in a series, which I did not realize when I requested it. But, overall, it was an enjoyable mystery, if a bit overly long. This was my first book by the author, so maybe their writing style is the reason for the overly long feel? I would consider this closer to a cozy mystery rather than a regular thriller.

I will look for the author's previous books and give them a try. The writing style isn't my favorite, but I don't want to judge them all only on this one book.

3 stars for 'liked it'

D.S. Butler’s (author’s name, not police rank. Haha) Leave No Trace was a thrilling mystery that took so many twists and turns that it was not only hard to guess what was coming next, but also who committed which crime and how characters would react to the next event. Unlike so many mystery novels, Butler took care to craft each character with much care and thoughtfulness, that it was more like world-building that one finds in fantasy novels. It was a refreshing change, and made me feel like I spent the book helping friends solve crimes.

DS Karen Hart was assigned a high profile kidnapping case of an 11 year old boy, taken in broad daylight a few feet away from his mother, while they were enjoying a day out. The affected family lived in a middle class neighborhood that didn’t have suspicious suspects hiding in every shadow…or do they?

During DS Hart’s investigation, it turned out that a key piece of held-back evidence was found at this crime scene that mirrored a spree of crime scenes from fifteen years ago. Little did DS Hart know, but that’s would be just the beginning of the challenges that her team would face.

Will they find the abducted child before it’s too late? Will they be able to finally put a decades old mystery to bed? Can they stop the seemingly random crimes from happening on their patch?

Pick this one up! You won’t regret it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing and Brilliance Audio for this brilliant audio ARC!!!

Sorry to say that this one did NOT hit the mark for me. I’m probably in the minority here, but it is what it is…

Although it was a good story, I feel like it D R A G G E D on F O R E V E R…
Like the book could’ve been done in HALF the time it took.

In a nutshell: An 11 year old boy goes missing in broad daylight…in a a very well known area. DS Karen Hart sets out to find the boy and get to the bottom of what happened here.

That’s all well and good, but I feel like we could’ve taken the express lane, instead of dallying in the SLOW lane… for most of the book.

As we meet more and more people, the plot thickens and you get to wondering…but when it all comes down to it…the book was good, just not great.

Another thing is that this is book #9, and the first one I’ve read…so maybe that has something to do with it also? Not sure.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BrilliancePublishing for an ARC of the audiobook which is due to be released on 8/27/24.

Leave No Trace by DS Butler. Narrated by Henrietta Meier.

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me.

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I have never read a book in this series, but I did not find it hard to keep up with the characters. A teddy bear is left behind when a young boy winds up missing, reminiscent of a case that happened years ago. Did the boy go willingly or was he kidnapped? Do the police have the wrong man in jail or is this a copy cat case?

I liked that this could be read as a standalone even though it is part of a series. I will say, I didn’t super care about any of the characters though and that could very well be because I haven’t read the previous books. This was definitely kept you guessing and I liked the solid resolution at the end.

Leave No Trace by D. S. Butler is book 9 of this series but can be read as a stand-alone. I listened to the audio because it was gifted to me by the publisher and it was narrated by Henrietta Meire. She was amazing! She did all the voices and I really enjoyed it. This was fast paced with mystery and was full of tension. Suspenseful twists and turns with a satisfying ending.
I like the way the author writes and she’s an automatic read or listen for me.
Thanks Brilliance Audio via NetGalley.