Leave No Trace

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Pub Date 6 Apr 2023 | Archive Date 17 Mar 2023

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Description

A revenge fifteen years in the making...

Ewan Stokes disappeared after a football match in Ipswich 15 years ago. No one knows where he went – or why – but every year on the anniversary of his disappearance, random mysterious sightings are reported across Europe. Since Ewan vanished, a fanatical online following has grown up around the mystery. The cult believes Stokesy is coming back. And he wants payback.

When police are alerted to CCTV images of a man holding a sign that reads ‘Help Me’, followed by acts of violence that seem to be linked to the mystery surrounding Ewan Stokes, they fear that the online hysteria has ramped up at the prospect of Stokesy’s return – a pressure that mounts when Maisie, Ewan’s ex-girlfriend at the time of his disappearance, finds herself targeted by a series of sinister attacks.

As tension grows, psychologist Dr Cora Lael, working with DS Rob Minshull and the South Suffolk CID, is called upon to use her special intuition to help the police protect Maisie. But as the anniversary grows nearer and the attacks widen out to target more people in Ewan’s life, can they stop Stokesy in his tracks… before he wreaks his revenge?

A twisty, addictive crime thriller with an extraordinary lead character. Fans of Mari Hannah and LJ Ross won’t be able to put this down.

A revenge fifteen years in the making...

Ewan Stokes disappeared after a football match in Ipswich 15 years ago. No one knows where he went – or why – but every year on the anniversary of his...


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ISBN 9781804360828
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Average rating from 29 members


Featured Reviews

Once I found out about this author I couldn't put the books down.
This series is great and this is another fantastic edition it

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Good book! This book had light suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, a kind of a who done it, great police work and plenty of twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and had me glued to my Kindle! I will definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

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Oh wow! I loved this first two books in this series and forgot not to start reading just as you go to bed or have a busy day, it was impossible to put down. With a missing case going viral with armchair detectives on the case, the team are back and are thrown into the case literally in the first chapter.
While this could be read as a standalone, as a reader I think you gain much more if you already know the main characters and their back ground to see their evolution and the team dynamics. While Cora Lael and Minshull are still the main players, it was nice to see the other team members step up more in their roles.
Perfect for fans of Vera

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A man goes missing after a local football match. Over time, true crime fans concoct a deep web of conspiracy theories about where he went, why he left and most chilling of all: who is to blame. As the fifteen year anniversary of his disappearance - and date of his prophecised return - draws nearer, sinister things start happening.

This was such a good case. If this was an episode of Law & Order or Criminal Minds, it would totally be the two-parter with an anxiety inducing cliffhanger over the mid-season break. As someone who has dipped their toes in online true crime forums and rapidly backtracked, the manic echo chamber of the Stokesy "fans" was horrifyingly real.

The only thing keeping this from being a 5-star read was the use of a psychic character to move the case along. It's my bad for jumping into a series at the third book where this is already accepted canon. But at the same time, if I'd realised from the outset, I wouldn't have read this at all. Psychics aren't my thing - especially in an otherwise mundane, non-fantastical world. Why does this rando get the only special powers going other than to be a Mary Sue? Personal taste aside, Cora never makes leaps beyond what more time, more forensics and closer questioning could have achieved. I enjoyed this immensely regardless.

I received this arc for free on netgalley in exchange for a review.

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This is book #3 in the Cora Lael series. Whilst it is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone book, although I would recommend reading the books in series order. The Cora Lael books are crime books with an added twist thanks to Cora and her unique ability of sensing emotions which are attached to objects. This book focusses on the disappearance 15 years ago of Ewan Stokes. When someone resembling Ewan begins appearing in front of webcams in the area he went missing, a large fan following which has developed over the years believes he is returning for revenge!

I’ve read all the books in this series and have loved them all! Cora Lael is such a likeable character, and her unique ability makes her even more intriguing. I love her relationship with DS Rob Minshull, and to be honest I couldn’t want for a better pairing, but things do get a little tricky between them in this instalment. I really like Rob’s character, he’s always believed in Cora and never doubted what she can do, but I have to admit he did disappoint me (for reasons I won’t say!) in this book. I really hope they sort it out though as not only do they work well together, but I really want to see some romance between them!!

Cora and Minshull aside, the storyline was gripping with the return of the local legend Ewan Stokes. The reason why he disappeared all those years before has remained a mystery, and we are held in suspense with that mystery throughout the book! I was caught into the storyline very early on and loved following the investigation along with Minshull and his team. There are also a couple of other separate storylines running alongside the Stokes mystery, focussing on the investigation into a possible hit and run and visiting Cora’s new client, a young boy who doesn’t want to attend school. All these storylines slotted in and out of each other uncomplicatedly and, told from several characters perspectives, I was kept captivated by them all!

The author has done a fantastic job with this latest book. The storylines are captivating and keep you on your toes throughout the whole book! Cora’s unique ability does give great weight to the investigation, and I loved it when she was brought in to ‘do her thing’! Fast paced, cleverly thought out and gripping to the very end, if you want a police procedural crime read with that added something extra, then I would definitely recommend this!

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In their third case together Dr Cora Lael and DC Rob Minshull have a very strange case to solve. Ewan Stokes disappeared almost 15 years ago there was a documentary made about his case and there are forums about him so when a mysterious figure appears with a sign saying ‘Help Me’ on Felixstowe pier webcam it stirs up the fanatics and makes the police take another look at the case. Can Minshull do what his father couldn’t and find Ewan Stokes? With some very odd things happening are they all linked

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I received this eARC from Netgalley.com in exchange for an unbiased review.

This is the third book in the series of Dr. Cora Lael, and is able to read well as a stand-alone novel. It is set in the United Kingdom and Europe, so the world building was not familiar to me, yet the author was able to describe enough detail I could picture the events taking place. The plot of this thriller was a bit twisted, which helped keep my interest in the story. There is some relationship building/development going on as well that added some emotional issues to the story line. Overall I enjoyed the story, and will be looking up the two prior novels from this author.

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I love the premise behind this series, Cora can hear the voices of people who have touched inanimate objects. The relationships between the police characters is very realistic, the supportive banter has a real truth to it. Great plot and not anything I’ve come across before, very clever, I am a big fan of this series and can’t wait until the next one.

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Finished took me a while , took quite a while to pick up pace to make me want to finish the book. Struggle with the amount of characters that are involved with the story. Once I was invested in finding out what had happened to Ewan stokes I finished it quickly. Felt that I wanted to know a bit more about what happened to a few of the characters after the story had finished x

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Thank you to#Netgalley for the copy of #LeaveNoTrace by MJWhite
This is the third book in the Cora Lael series but the first one I have read.
Cora has a unique psychic gift that enables her to help the police with their investigations and if you can accept that these things can exist it is a good read. A police procedural with a touch of the unknown.

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🏟⚽A group desperately in search of an avenging hero😟

A good, solid British-set police procedural with a ticking clock to an anniversary lending urgency and a few twists that intrigued me.

First, psychologist Cora's unusual ability to read a people's thoughts and feelings through the objects they've touched.
It seems like she would be inundated constantly. But the author gave her the skill to access this talent when needed and it proves key in advancing the police investigation and in her work with troubled six year old Reed.

For me, the issue that really dominates the story is the way an online community forum is promoted around the disappearance of a minor league footballer and its users totally mold the missing man, his motives and thoughts, to their own fears and prejudices. It almost did not matter whether the missing man was really there! All too realistic in this day and age, especially post-pandemic. Threatening people they have never met and do not know on behalf of the mythical man they so want to believe in. And making it difficult for the police to protect the objects of their threats.

The writing, pace and plot kept me fully involved. I had just one niggle about the way the author inserted brief mentions of events that went before in previous stories in the series. I would prefer a complete explanation or no mention rather than a half-veiled hint.

Thanks to Hera Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

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Book three in the series and they just keep getting better.
Reeled in in the first couple of chapters and my interest and curiousity was kept all the way through.
Hoping that there will be many more to come from MJ White.
No hesitation in recommending, although I do feel it would be better read if you read the previous couple of installments first.

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This is my first read of a MJ White book and won’t be the last!! I really enjoyed reading this mystery thriller, with the perfect mix of suspense, mystery and interesting plot keeping me constantly guessing and on the edge on my seat!!
I love the characters created and could totally visualise them clearly.
Ewan Stokes or Stokesy has become a legend on the internet and in Suffolk after disappearing 15 years ago after a football match. The rumours are rife about a return and potential revenge to the people who caused his vanishing. The followers are frightening, and the threats are real but who is behind it all?! There are a lot of questions but where do the police find the answers. Psychologist Cora is working with police with her specialist skills to try to solve this mystery.
Gripping from the first page to the last.
Fascinating, interesting, and highly recommended this is a brilliant book!!
Thank you NetGalley for the early opportunity to read, I loved it!

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Fifteen years ago footballer Ewan Stokes disappeared. An internet cult-like following has arisen following his disappearance, with lots of theories and vitriol directed at his ex girlfriend Maisie. A whole mythology has sprung up around him, including a prophecy that he will return on the 15th anniversary of his disappearance to get revenge. The theories are given traction when webcams pick up supposed sightings of Stokesy. Dr. Cora Lael with her special abilities is brought in to assist the policy in figuring out what is going on and help protect Maisie. This was an interesting read and there was real sense of menace.

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Deftly Done..
The third in the Cora Lael series of mysteries finds the psychologist being called in to assist with a most peculiar case. The special expertise that Cora possesses once again makes her a perfect choice. The case, however, is soon to become more terrifying than anyone could have imagined. With a deftly crafted cast of characters, a tension mounting twisty narrative and a unique protagonist in Cora this is another worthy addition to this cleverly written series.

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LEAVE NO TRACE, the third in M.J. White’s Cora Lael series, is a page-turning, twisty crime thriller. Fifteen years ago, Ewan Stokes mysteriously disappeared. A violent online cult following has grown up around the mystery, as members track sightings of “Stokesy” across Europe. Rumour has it, he is returning to take vengeance on those who wronged him. The appearances escalate into random acts of violence and Dr. Cora Lael is brought in to help the South Suffolk CID stop Stokesy from wreaking his revenge.

I love mysteries that delve into the emotions motivating the crime and White has an intriguing way of making this a focus of her plot. Cora is a psychologist who can sense the emotional fingerprints attached to objects and hears them as actual voices. It is this extraordinary ability that allows her to consult with the police department and solve dead end cases.

Leave No Trace is one of those weekend binge reads, you won’t be able to put down!

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Miranda Dickinson is writing as M J White with her crime thriller series which debuted with book one, The Secret Voices, in 2022. Then we had dark and twisted, ‘The Silent Child’. Leave No Trace is book three and more titles in this series cannot come soon enough.

It’s no secret that I’ve absolutely adored every book of the Cora Lael series so far, and all for different reasons. M J White exploded onto the crime thriller scene in her debut, stunned us with book two, and very firmly brought in the full range of her writing in book three.

In Leave No Trace, M J White meets Miranda Dickinson and it makes for a brilliant book. You have the dark tones of crime, and the very accurate, carefully researched aspects of an epic police procedural. Then you have the back story, the hint of relationships, the domestic elements that bring this story to life. Miranda Dickinson has always had the perfect ingredients for writing a book, and she follows her own unique recipe to bring her talents together, to create something truly brilliant.

This is a series I am firmly invested in and will not stop reading just as long as there are books being written!

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