Without a Trace by Colleen Coble
Author: Colleen Coble
Published: 2003-2017
Genre: Christian Fiction, Mystery, Romance
Book One of Seven: Rock Harbor Mystery Series
Synopsis From Goodreads:
When a plane carrying Bree Nicholls’ husband and son disappears, her life changes forever. Her relentless determination to find them starts an investigation that links their disappearance to a violent crime threatening to tear the peaceful town of Rock Harbor apart.
Mystery fans will love this exciting new series from best-selling author Colleen Coble. Set in the untamed beauty of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the Rock Harbor Series is full of suspense and romance, drawing you into the life and operation of a canine search-and-rescue team as it unravels the secrets of an enchanting wilderness.
The Rock Harbor Series:
- Without a Trace, 2003
- Beyond a Doubt, 2004
- Into the Deep, 2004
- Abomination, 2007
- Cry in the Night, 2009
- Silent Night, 2012
- Beneath Copper Falls, 2017
My Take:
Without a Trace is the first book in Colleen Coble’s Rock Harbor Series. Having grown up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I was thrilled to discover this novel was set in my backyard. It truly is my favorite place.
The book is billed as a mystery, Christian Fiction, Mystery Thriller, and even a romance, but it gave off vibes of a cozy mystery, and I would classify it as that. There is too much small-town quaintness and focus on relationships to be considered a thriller or straight-up mystery. It also contains a lot of elements you just have to accept, like a cozy, and doesn’t seem to showcase the crime as the center of the story. Once the story took hold of me, I loved it and was glad there were many more books in the series.
I will say that the beginning almost made me want to put the book down in disappointment. I had read so many reviews that said, “Hooked me from the beginning” and “Couldn’t put it down.” The only thing that kept me from throwing the book was my love for the UP and the book’s rave reviews. And the fact that I was reading it on my Kindle. The first 25% of the book was sluggish and filled with one info dump after another, disguised as conversation. Being from the UP, her “Yooper-isms” made me cringe. The dialect was atrocious and made the entire story unbelievable. In fairness, though, if you didn’t grow up speaking “Yooper,” it probably wouldn’t bother you.
Many situations and conversations left me shaking my head. Bree, the main character who runs a search and rescue, is at a scene involving missing children, and the mayor, her sister-in-law, wants an update on a cold case rather than letting Bree find the missing children. The scene devolves into a poorly written info dump about the cold case. Other characters act just as outrageously…the man in charge doesn’t want to involve the dogs to find the kids, the sheriff’s 16-year-old sister arrives at the crime scene to complain that they were supposed to go to a movie, and on and on. I’m telling you, I had about had it with the whole book!
At around the 25% mark, the book grabbed me, and I had a hard time putting it down. The characters still did things that weren’t reasonable (even for a cozy) and drew unreasonable conclusions based on the facts. But this book is worth a read if you can make it through the beginning and ignore some of the head-scratching scenes.
The author did a fabulous job giving everyone a motive for the crime. A third of the way in, I thought I knew “whodunit,” and I was way off. Twists and turns abound as the story progresses.
I particularly loved the Christian themes that were front and center in this book, although verses taken out of context and not corrected were troublesome, especially in book two. There was no doubt where certain characters got their strength from! The need for Christ was a dominant theme and greatly affected the story’s outcome. It wasn’t just added to make it a “Christian” book.
The Rock Harbor Series is a set of six novels. The first definitely had a cozy flavor. As the series progresses, the books get darker, moving from cozy to mystery/thriller. The later books have less of a Christian theme and are more violent and disturbing. All are fairly clean and wonderful reads. I was very sad to reach the end of the series!
Language:
The language gets worse as the series progresses but still very mild. References to someone cursing or “swearing viciously”.
Sexual Content:
References to affairs, unmarried couples living together. Nothing graphic.
Drug/Alcohol Use:
References to alcohol use, including teens. Organized crime related to alcohol/cigarettes.
Violence:
This is a mystery series so there are dead bodies and violence. The books become progressively more graphic and disturbing as you dive deeper into the series but nothing more than you would expect from this genre.
Plot/Storytelling:
The first book in the series starts slow and has numerous character and plot issues, but after you get into the story, it will sweep you along for the ride. You will go from one book to the next wondering what new problems the characters will have to solve. You will anticipate learning about how the relationships between the characters will develop. While poorly written in some ways, the books get better with each release. Worth the time investment!