Left In The Ashes by Anna Britton

 

Detectives Gabe Martin and Juliet Stern are on the hunt for a serial arsonist whose latest attack took the life of a young woman. At the same time, Gabe's past rears its head as the serial killer who murdered her brother strikes again.

Author Anna Britton is such a tease. At the end of the first book in the Martin & Stern series, Shot In The Dark, there was a cliffhanger that left readers desperate to know more. The second book, Close To The Edge, also finished on a cliffhanger, but this time around it had a very ominous feel. Answers finally arrived in the third book in the series, Left In The Ashes. 

The opening pages fill you with fear and panic as you witness the final moments of a young woman trapped in a burning building. Someone has been targeting empty properties on ancestral estates. This time around, there is a fatality: a female hiker who had camped in the empty building overnight. DI Stern and her partner, DS Gabe Martin, are handling the case, trying to uncover if the death was accidental or targeted.

Just as the pair are beginning the investigation, the body of a young boy is discovered in a barrel, the seventeenth victim of a serial killer known as the Barrel Man. The killer has been terrorising the country for thirty-five years and has a close connection to Gabe. As a child, Gabe and her brother, Barnabas, were abducted by the killer; only Gabe survived.

While the plot centres around tracking down two murderers, the book is really about Gabe and her reaction to having to relive a traumatic event. The author has written with such empathy and understanding that it is impossible not to feel the severe reactions Gabe suffers. Haunted by the past, particularly survivor's guilt, Gabe is filled with shame. Her coping mechanism has been to lock everything away; however, every time the Barrel Man strikes again, she has to face her feelings. This time around, with the case being close to home, she can't avoid scrutiny. Trying to battle through, unwilling to seek help or burden others, has devastating consequences.

With the majority of the storyline focusing on Gabe, Juliet Stern takes a backseat in the narrative. Stern is still as reserved and aloof as ever, something that Gabe is appreciative of. She doesn't want to have to discuss her feelings. We are given a very brief clue regarding Stern's home life, a thread that is slowly developing over the series.

There are some familiar characters, individuals who have featured heavily over the previous two books in the series, people who are always going to raise suspicion. As both storylines reach a conclusion, one in spectacular fashion and the other the result of dogged determination and sheer luck, you're left with a sense that all is almost right with the world - and then the author throws in another teaser!

Left In The Ashes by Anna Britton will be published on 18th September 2025 in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for a review copy.

Author Details

Anna lives on the Isle of Wight with her husband and their chronically clumsy Labrador. An avid reader, she began writing around ten years ago and hasn’t stopped since. Anna works as a freelance editor and loves helping out other authors. When not filling her head with stories, Anna enjoys baking (and eating) cakes and exploring rivers in her kayak.