Leave No Trace

At the start of Callaghan’s riveting sequel to Blink of an Eye, Warwickshire DCI Kat Frank and her partner, AIDE Lock—the world’s first AI detective—have been solving cold cases in the British Midlands for a year. When the gruesomely disfigured body of 29-year-old Gary Jones turns up, his limbs splayed out to mimic crucifixion, it ignites a panic in the typically quiet community and hands Kat and Lock their first live case. Even with Kat’s well-honed instincts and Lock’s unflappable logic, the pair struggle to find worthwhile leads. Then another young man disappears from a pub after a night out, only to be found in a grisly tableau that echoes Jones’s. Relentless local reporter Ellie Baxter and frenzied online speculation about the murders increase pressure on Kat and Lock to stop the killer before a third victim—possibly their colleague Rayan Hassan, as Kat fears—is murdered. Callaghan tweaks the traditional British detective story just enough, freshening up a well-worn formula without attempting to fix what isn’t broken. This series deserves a long life. Agent: Brandi Bowles, UTA. (Jan.)