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Keri Locke #1
A Trace of Death
“A dynamic story line that grips from the first chapter and doesn't let go.”
--Midwest Book Review, Diane Donovan (regarding Once Gone)
From #1 bestselling mystery author Blake Pierce comes a new masterpiece of psychological suspense.
Keri Locke, Missing Persons Detective in the Homicide division of the LAPD, remains haunted by the abduction of her own daughter, years before, never found. Still obsessed with finding her, Keri buries her grief the only way she knows how: by throwing herself into the cases of missing persons in Los Angeles.
A routine phone call from a worried mother of a high-schooler, only two hours missing, should be ignored. Yet something about the mother’s voice strikes a chord, and Keri decides to investigate.
What she finds shocks her. The missing daughter—of a prominent senator—was hiding secrets no one knew. When all evidence points to a runaway, Keri is ordered off the case. And yet, despite pressure from her superiors, from the media, despite all trails going cold, the brilliant and obsessed Keri refuses to let it go. She knows she has but 48 hours if she has any chance of bringing this girl back alive.
A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, A TRACE OF DEATH marks the debut of a riveting new series—and a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.
“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”
--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)
Book #2 in the Keri Locke series will be available soon.
--Midwest Book Review, Diane Donovan (regarding Once Gone)
From #1 bestselling mystery author Blake Pierce comes a new masterpiece of psychological suspense.
Keri Locke, Missing Persons Detective in the Homicide division of the LAPD, remains haunted by the abduction of her own daughter, years before, never found. Still obsessed with finding her, Keri buries her grief the only way she knows how: by throwing herself into the cases of missing persons in Los Angeles.
A routine phone call from a worried mother of a high-schooler, only two hours missing, should be ignored. Yet something about the mother’s voice strikes a chord, and Keri decides to investigate.
What she finds shocks her. The missing daughter—of a prominent senator—was hiding secrets no one knew. When all evidence points to a runaway, Keri is ordered off the case. And yet, despite pressure from her superiors, from the media, despite all trails going cold, the brilliant and obsessed Keri refuses to let it go. She knows she has but 48 hours if she has any chance of bringing this girl back alive.
A dark psychological thriller with heart-pounding suspense, A TRACE OF DEATH marks the debut of a riveting new series—and a beloved new character—that will leave you turning pages late into the night.
“A masterpiece of thriller and mystery! The author did a magnificent job developing characters with a psychological side that is so well described that we feel inside their minds, follow their fears and cheer for their success. The plot is very intelligent and will keep you entertained throughout the book. Full of twists, this book will keep you awake until the turn of the last page.”
--Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (re Once Gone)
Book #2 in the Keri Locke series will be available soon.
Audible Audio
First published December 1, 2016
5206 people are currently reading
5141 people want to read
About the author
Blake Pierce
1,946 books5,759 followersBlake Pierce is author of the bestselling RILEY PAGE mystery series, which includes seven books (and counting). Blake Pierce is also the author of the MACKENZIE WHITE mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); of the AVERY BLACK mystery series, comprising four books (and counting); and of the new KERI LOCKE mystery series.
An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
An avid reader and lifelong fan of the mystery and thriller genres, Blake loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.blakepierceauthor.com to learn more and stay in touch.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 622 reviews
March 10, 2017
Here's the thing - Keri Locke is a bad cop. she should be fired and possibly prosecuted herself for the multiple times she assults "suspects" including a minor. She also goes on duty after she'd been drinking, somehow manages not to be killed by going hand to hand with men who in real life would likely squish her, and generally stumbles around the book until she comes across the bad guys. I was actually hoping she'd be fired in the end.
June 17, 2017
A bit silly. A bit far fetched in places. Author also needs a better proof reader and editor. But, overall, it was entertaining enough for me to probably read the follow up. At some point 😉
June 4, 2019
A tautly written and paced story of a driven officer's hunt to find an abducted 15yo while trying to cope with the grief associated with her own daughter's abduction five years previously.
An absolutely riveting read that kept me up all night and cements Blake Pierce as one of my favourite author's of the serial killer thriller genre.
An absolutely riveting read that kept me up all night and cements Blake Pierce as one of my favourite author's of the serial killer thriller genre.
March 23, 2017
You too can write a book equally as awful as this with the following simple formula. All the conceivable
police detective stereotypes x the most obnoxiously narcissistic main character + a plot line any halfway intelligent person could figure out a mile away= hours of my life I'll never get back. Now to memorize the author of this book so I'll never fall into that trap again.
police detective stereotypes x the most obnoxiously narcissistic main character + a plot line any halfway intelligent person could figure out a mile away= hours of my life I'll never get back. Now to memorize the author of this book so I'll never fall into that trap again.
March 14, 2019
This was my first buddy read of 2019 with my wonderful friend Ali @ The Sunday Feeling! Make sure you visit her blog to show her version of this post some love too!
We decided to pick this one up based on the eerie cover art plus it has a really good average rating on Goodreads. I can see why there are so many fantastic reviews for this one, however, I personally didn’t enjoy this one as much as I had originally hoped.
Most of the way through, the pace of this book was excellent at keeping me entertained and wanting to know more. It moved quickly while not actually spanning a large amount of time. I liked the fact it was based over around 36 hours as the author managed to fit in a lot in that time. I really enjoyed the pacing of this up until the ending. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t by any means a slow book, but it also didn’t rush me anywhere. The ending, on the other hand, felt extremely rushed, and this was something Ali noted too, so it wasn’t me just being fussy! The conclusion rushes past so quickly that the author actually forgets to tell you the motive of the kidnapping and the history of the person who’s responsible. The person we meet seems like they could have been a very intense and interesting character to learn about but we don’t get a chance to know them before the story is wrapped up.
In terms of the story in this one, it’s really nothing special compared to other police procedurals. It’s very generic and cliche – young girl gets kidnapped, the family are prominent in society, turns out the young girl had some secrets she was keeping, rookie female detective pushes hard on the case because she needs to prove herself – you know, the same old story you’ve seen a million times before. I can’t really say that the actual plot thrilled me, but it’s an easy kind of story to digest so I got through it quickly!
The biggest downfall with this book, for me, was the characters, I didn’t like them, especially not our main character Keri, which is never a good sign. She’s one of those cliché detectives with her own traumatising backstory – her one specifically being that her child was abducted – so you can just imagine how seriously she takes this case of a missing child. The problem with Keri, other than being penned the same as pretty much every other female detective, is simply that she’s an awful person. I can empathise with her to an extent, but she’s rude and violent. In fact, she’s a criminal! She breaks into people’s properties without warning or warrants and she physically attacks suspects.
Her partner Ray was equally cliché and turned a blind eye on his partner’s criminal activities. As for “bad cop” Hillman, who is their superior, usually, I hate these characters because all they care about is protecting themselves and they want to ‘one-up’ the rookie cop. However, this time I felt like Hillman actually spoke some sense and Keri simply disobeyed him just because she had a bee in her bonnet. He tries to suspend her because she physically assaults an underage suspect and she makes it out like he’s doing it because she’s a new detective and a woman. Does my head in.
I know this is a self-published novel, but there were several grammatical and sentence errors that were quite striking that should have easily been picked up by a proof-reader. For example, in one section, Pierce is talking about Keri and then in the next sentence calls her Ashley, and then goes back to Keri. Another thing that got on my nerves was the repetition. Every time we met the tech guy Edgerton, which was about 3 or 4 times, we were told “he’s the tech guy”. Yeah, I got it the first time! There was also a few pages where the same sentence was used twice… literally the same sentence. I can’t remember exactly but the first one I noticed was the use of “she huffed out a big breath” (or something similar to that) which was written once, then there was a small conversation, and then it was used again.
Overall, this was enjoyable enough to finish and I got through it thanks to its fast pacing but there were several issues I had with it which means I won’t be continuing the series. I really don’t want to get to know Keri any more than I already have, even the mystery of the kidnapping of her daughter isn’t enough to keep me interested.
We decided to pick this one up based on the eerie cover art plus it has a really good average rating on Goodreads. I can see why there are so many fantastic reviews for this one, however, I personally didn’t enjoy this one as much as I had originally hoped.
Most of the way through, the pace of this book was excellent at keeping me entertained and wanting to know more. It moved quickly while not actually spanning a large amount of time. I liked the fact it was based over around 36 hours as the author managed to fit in a lot in that time. I really enjoyed the pacing of this up until the ending. Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t by any means a slow book, but it also didn’t rush me anywhere. The ending, on the other hand, felt extremely rushed, and this was something Ali noted too, so it wasn’t me just being fussy! The conclusion rushes past so quickly that the author actually forgets to tell you the motive of the kidnapping and the history of the person who’s responsible. The person we meet seems like they could have been a very intense and interesting character to learn about but we don’t get a chance to know them before the story is wrapped up.
In terms of the story in this one, it’s really nothing special compared to other police procedurals. It’s very generic and cliche – young girl gets kidnapped, the family are prominent in society, turns out the young girl had some secrets she was keeping, rookie female detective pushes hard on the case because she needs to prove herself – you know, the same old story you’ve seen a million times before. I can’t really say that the actual plot thrilled me, but it’s an easy kind of story to digest so I got through it quickly!
The biggest downfall with this book, for me, was the characters, I didn’t like them, especially not our main character Keri, which is never a good sign. She’s one of those cliché detectives with her own traumatising backstory – her one specifically being that her child was abducted – so you can just imagine how seriously she takes this case of a missing child. The problem with Keri, other than being penned the same as pretty much every other female detective, is simply that she’s an awful person. I can empathise with her to an extent, but she’s rude and violent. In fact, she’s a criminal! She breaks into people’s properties without warning or warrants and she physically attacks suspects.
Her partner Ray was equally cliché and turned a blind eye on his partner’s criminal activities. As for “bad cop” Hillman, who is their superior, usually, I hate these characters because all they care about is protecting themselves and they want to ‘one-up’ the rookie cop. However, this time I felt like Hillman actually spoke some sense and Keri simply disobeyed him just because she had a bee in her bonnet. He tries to suspend her because she physically assaults an underage suspect and she makes it out like he’s doing it because she’s a new detective and a woman. Does my head in.
I know this is a self-published novel, but there were several grammatical and sentence errors that were quite striking that should have easily been picked up by a proof-reader. For example, in one section, Pierce is talking about Keri and then in the next sentence calls her Ashley, and then goes back to Keri. Another thing that got on my nerves was the repetition. Every time we met the tech guy Edgerton, which was about 3 or 4 times, we were told “he’s the tech guy”. Yeah, I got it the first time! There was also a few pages where the same sentence was used twice… literally the same sentence. I can’t remember exactly but the first one I noticed was the use of “she huffed out a big breath” (or something similar to that) which was written once, then there was a small conversation, and then it was used again.
Overall, this was enjoyable enough to finish and I got through it thanks to its fast pacing but there were several issues I had with it which means I won’t be continuing the series. I really don’t want to get to know Keri any more than I already have, even the mystery of the kidnapping of her daughter isn’t enough to keep me interested.
January 27, 2018
Bad Cop
Don’t believe all 4 or 5 stars. The self-centered, self-righteous, out of control detective, arresting people without warrant, entering and searching without permission, beating people, disobedience. What is the difference between the bad detective and criminal?
Don’t believe all 4 or 5 stars. The self-centered, self-righteous, out of control detective, arresting people without warrant, entering and searching without permission, beating people, disobedience. What is the difference between the bad detective and criminal?
July 5, 2018
it was okay, but ultimately mediocre and typical. it was free though, so that's something.
October 26, 2019
I loved it. Keri’s dedication is admirable! She really stand for what she feel is right and that is absolutely heroic. A thrilling, and engaging book.
The narrator is also great.
The narrator is also great.
November 15, 2021
I can't ignore the fact that it was EXTREMELY dumb and illogical at times and also the story was a bit too slow (except the ending which gave me goosebumps because it was so good! 🤩🤩) but yes, I can't ignore the fact that both the agents are DAMN FINE PEOPLE AND I LOVE THIS!!
Final Rating 3.5/5
Recommended
Final Rating 3.5/5
Recommended
November 19, 2017
I'm listening to this book and it's good, but the British accent is really bothering me. Mostly it's the dialogue. It's set in LA and the detectives are American but it doesn't sound like it. Even British fiction audiobooks will attempt to change the accent when an American is speaking, but not here. Maybe it would be better to just read rather than listen. I hope the whole series isn't like this. The slang too... metro cars, barrister?
Okay, I'm halfway through and I can't go on. It's just not good. Keri is a really bad cop and everything is so one dimensional. The book is following a formula and it's really flat.
Okay, I'm halfway through and I can't go on. It's just not good. Keri is a really bad cop and everything is so one dimensional. The book is following a formula and it's really flat.
September 15, 2020
Really enjoyed this one! Keri was an interesting detective to follow along and I’m curious to see where this story continues. This felt like one of those detective tv shows where the detectives are pretty reckless and are always getting into trouble lol
Overall I enjoyed the story even though at times the writing had some issues. Definitely reading the next book!
Overall I enjoyed the story even though at times the writing had some issues. Definitely reading the next book!
March 10, 2024
2.5 Stars for A Trace of Death: Keri Locke, Book 1 (audiobook) Blake Pierce read by Elaine Wise.
For me, this story would have made a lot more sense if it took place in the UK. This is a police procedural / thriller set in LA. And for some reason the narrator has a British accent and there’s some British word usage too. This kept pulling me out of the story. I kept wondering if I had missed some story line. But there was never any mention of the UK.
For me, this story would have made a lot more sense if it took place in the UK. This is a police procedural / thriller set in LA. And for some reason the narrator has a British accent and there’s some British word usage too. This kept pulling me out of the story. I kept wondering if I had missed some story line. But there was never any mention of the UK.
September 24, 2020
this was like.. really incompetent cop. The plot was okay, but the main character and cliches killed whole vibe
October 30, 2020
Tons of reviews-very good book.
This is the story of a female detective in LA who had her daughter kidnaped 5 years ago, it haunts her. Now she is on the case of a missing girl that everyone else wants to give up on. Great story! Ending a was good.
What I liked:
-Keri is a very strong woman determined to find her daughter, and save every other kid she can in the meantime.
-She is a loose cannon, driven to help the current missing girl.
-She has issues with all her decisions being clouded by her own loss.
-She is a woman of action.
-The story is woven together extremely well.
-It keeps revealing things as it progresses adding an extra depth to the story.
-There was no long drug out fight or chase scenes.
What I didn't like:
-I wish the ending had been a little better. It was very good, but the rest of the book was so off the charts for me, I even remember thinking about 3/4 the way through, "I hope the ending is as good."
Strongly recommend. I will read more.
The author, Blake Pierce, has about 70 books in 5 years...how is that possible? Check her books out.
Review by Mike Slavin author of award-winning Kill Crime (action-packed thriller on Amazon to buy or KU. As of this writing 94% 5 and 4-star reviews on Amazon with 350+ reviews)
This is the story of a female detective in LA who had her daughter kidnaped 5 years ago, it haunts her. Now she is on the case of a missing girl that everyone else wants to give up on. Great story! Ending a was good.
What I liked:
-Keri is a very strong woman determined to find her daughter, and save every other kid she can in the meantime.
-She is a loose cannon, driven to help the current missing girl.
-She has issues with all her decisions being clouded by her own loss.
-She is a woman of action.
-The story is woven together extremely well.
-It keeps revealing things as it progresses adding an extra depth to the story.
-There was no long drug out fight or chase scenes.
What I didn't like:
-I wish the ending had been a little better. It was very good, but the rest of the book was so off the charts for me, I even remember thinking about 3/4 the way through, "I hope the ending is as good."
Strongly recommend. I will read more.
The author, Blake Pierce, has about 70 books in 5 years...how is that possible? Check her books out.
Review by Mike Slavin author of award-winning Kill Crime (action-packed thriller on Amazon to buy or KU. As of this writing 94% 5 and 4-star reviews on Amazon with 350+ reviews)
December 26, 2016
OUTSTANDING.
I gave this book five stars but it deserved ten stars. If you haven't read any books by Blake Pierce then make sure you put him on your must read list. I've read about eight of his books so far and each and every one of them has been fantastic. This is one amazing author who writes unbelievably fantastic books. I highly recommend this book and every book written by this author.
I gave this book five stars but it deserved ten stars. If you haven't read any books by Blake Pierce then make sure you put him on your must read list. I've read about eight of his books so far and each and every one of them has been fantastic. This is one amazing author who writes unbelievably fantastic books. I highly recommend this book and every book written by this author.
June 16, 2020
Me gustado bastante y ha conseguido engancharme... Una buena trama y los personajes están muy bien desarrollados. Lo recomiendo y seguiré leyendo mas libros de este autor.
July 2, 2021
3...A little "Without a Trace" vibe here!! I am riding the fence hard on this one...Keri Locke is a very rogue detective, kicking ass and taking names...considering most of them were criminals, I am okay with it! I am intrigued with her bad story and this case was really good! BUT again with suspensions and off the case crap...it's rather annoying!
April 15, 2018
detective keri locke knows the meaning of loss.her daughter evie was abducted when she was only 8 and the 5 year anniversary of her abduction is coming up.this lead to the end of her marriage and her career as a professor before joining the police force as ray's partner who was at one time a champion boxer.the investigation of the loss of ashley penn only happens because she turns out to be senator penn's daughter and if it was not for kero's perseverance,she would never be found in time. however, parts of the stories are unrealistic.for when do you ever read of cops getting violent no matter what they go through.other than that it made for an entertaining read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 22, 2017
This book is much better than the first book by Pierce that I read. His characters seem to be damaged in some way and I like that they are, it makes them more real. This book is about a serial killer/kidnapper and it started off fast and I liked the play by play. I wish that there had been a little more back story and little clues had been dropped along the way. Overall this is a good book and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.
April 25, 2017
"Fast-paced thriller"
Another first-class thriller from Blake Pierce, with a good balance of tension, excitement, characterisation and humour. I read it through from start to finish; I couldn't see any point postponing the final denouement. Keri Locke is another strong female cop to add to my 'must read' list.
Another first-class thriller from Blake Pierce, with a good balance of tension, excitement, characterisation and humour. I read it through from start to finish; I couldn't see any point postponing the final denouement. Keri Locke is another strong female cop to add to my 'must read' list.
September 12, 2017
I really enjoyed this first episode of the Keri Locke series, which actually quite surprised me. I thought it would be too dark, too depressing but as for all Blake Pierce's books I read, I was hooked from the beginning.
October 31, 2019
I really enjoyed this more than I thought I would. It was suspenseful and even though detective Keri Locke was pretty reckless at times, I was really invested in her story. And I found the ending satisfying. Looking forward to reading the next one.
June 9, 2022
Perfect read for my short lunch breaks, I just have one issue,
In chapter 2 Keri is going threw Ashley’s room she fires up a laptop and moves on when she didn't find anything of use, next she finds a textbook looking threw it she finds two pages taped together, cutting it open she finds a fake ID. after that she finds a shoe with a 9mm casing, she bags the evidence soon after, nowhere is there mention of Keri putting on gloves, her fingerprints are now all over the scene. She's supposed to be a good detective, what detective has evidence bags but no gloves? The only mention of gloves is in chapter 26, we could assume she put them on back in chapter two but not everyone is going to assume that. I know it’s a small nitpicking thing to pull out but it really struck me as odd.
In chapter 2 Keri is going threw Ashley’s room she fires up a laptop and moves on when she didn't find anything of use, next she finds a textbook looking threw it she finds two pages taped together, cutting it open she finds a fake ID. after that she finds a shoe with a 9mm casing, she bags the evidence soon after, nowhere is there mention of Keri putting on gloves, her fingerprints are now all over the scene. She's supposed to be a good detective, what detective has evidence bags but no gloves? The only mention of gloves is in chapter 26, we could assume she put them on back in chapter two but not everyone is going to assume that. I know it’s a small nitpicking thing to pull out but it really struck me as odd.
January 23, 2023
I’m interested in seeing where this series can go. I like a good female cop story. Even if it’s not British lol and I’d like to find out if Keri is delusional or whether her abducted daughter Evie is still alive. I’m assuming in further novels you find out more about The Collector too. And whether Kira and her partner Rat actually become more than work partners. Pin one sentence - this is the tale of a senators daughter who goes missing and most presume has just run away from home and Keri is the only one who can save her.
April 30, 2020
An entertaining read. A little scattered in an effort to keep you guessing.
January 20, 2021
Carino, veloce e senza troppe pretese.
Ho trovato interessante come viene descritta la detective, la sua personalità e la sua capacità di raziocinio, sono sinceramente fuori dagli schemi e ho trovato intrigante che per una volta sia stata rappresentata una donna nei panni della "Bulla".
Voto 3.5
Ho trovato interessante come viene descritta la detective, la sua personalità e la sua capacità di raziocinio, sono sinceramente fuori dagli schemi e ho trovato intrigante che per una volta sia stata rappresentata una donna nei panni della "Bulla".
Voto 3.5
April 20, 2018
This book, I could not figure out who the abductor is, and is it related to the detective's daughter Evie going missing as well????
60% through the book and I STILL don’t know who it is; the ex-boyfriend, the boyfriend, the school security officer, maybe the senator….. Ahhhh driving me nuts trying to figure out who it is. And who is this Collector guy they keep talking about, I’m willing to bet he has SOMETHING to do with Evie going missing, or maybe the little girl outside the station at the beginning is Evie. Gosh I hope this lady finds her daughter!!!!
“Someone was lying to her. The stories of boy toy rocker Walker Lee and security guard Artie North were completely at odds. But without evidence to go on, she had to depend on her instincts.”
83%, … I really have NO IDEA who abducted this girl!!!!!!
I KNOW who it is and the detectives will NEVER find this girl. Highly doubtful!!!!
Guarantee the uncle is a part of this!!!! Willing to bet!
MAN THE ENDING!!! This book was seriously great! Hard for me to read as a mother but it was great!
60% through the book and I STILL don’t know who it is; the ex-boyfriend, the boyfriend, the school security officer, maybe the senator….. Ahhhh driving me nuts trying to figure out who it is. And who is this Collector guy they keep talking about, I’m willing to bet he has SOMETHING to do with Evie going missing, or maybe the little girl outside the station at the beginning is Evie. Gosh I hope this lady finds her daughter!!!!
“Someone was lying to her. The stories of boy toy rocker Walker Lee and security guard Artie North were completely at odds. But without evidence to go on, she had to depend on her instincts.”
83%, … I really have NO IDEA who abducted this girl!!!!!!
I KNOW who it is and the detectives will NEVER find this girl. Highly doubtful!!!!
Guarantee the uncle is a part of this!!!! Willing to bet!
MAN THE ENDING!!! This book was seriously great! Hard for me to read as a mother but it was great!
April 20, 2022
I listened to the audio version. The only reasons I finished the book were that I was listening while doing chores and was too busy to search for another book, plus
I had received it for free. Firstly, I despise books set in the US with US characters performed by British narrators with British pronunciation and idioms. Secondly, I prefer my stories to have some degree of plausibility. There is NO way Keri Locke could have risen to and been maintained as a police officer risen to detective. She was clearly rogue material with her own agenda and NO common sense. I can't believe I was suckered into getting several Blake Pierce books for free. They are not even worth "free"!
I had received it for free. Firstly, I despise books set in the US with US characters performed by British narrators with British pronunciation and idioms. Secondly, I prefer my stories to have some degree of plausibility. There is NO way Keri Locke could have risen to and been maintained as a police officer risen to detective. She was clearly rogue material with her own agenda and NO common sense. I can't believe I was suckered into getting several Blake Pierce books for free. They are not even worth "free"!
Want to read
August 13, 2017AMAZON KINDLE FREEBIE 6/27/17
Displaying 1 - 29 of 622 reviews