Nothing Left Behind by Hannah Brennan (Audiobook)

 

Anne Evans has a long history of nuisance calls to the emergency services, so her most recent one isn't given the priority it should have. When it is realised that her call is genuine, it is too late to save Anne from the fire engulfing her home. In the aftermath, it doesn't take the fire service long to determine an accelerant was used.

Knowing I had  Nothing Left Behind by Hannah Brennan to listen to, and that it was a sequel, I recently read No Safe Place, the first book in the Detective Liz Field series (you can read my review here). I was moved by how sympathetically and informatively the author dealt with mental health issues, so I was really looking forward to the sequel.

The story opens with the police receiving one of their regular nuisance calls from "frequent flyer" Anne Evans. Anne exhibits classic signs of paranoia, convinced someone is trying to burn her house down. Unfortunately, this time around, her call is genuine, and Anne dies in the fire that engulfs her property. DCI Liz Field is called to the scene and suspects that this wasn't an accident.

Using traditional storytelling, alongside transcripts of interviews and 999 calls, you are immediately gripped by the story and the pace never relents. This is exactly what an audiobook should be like. You immediately sympathise with the neighbours who've spent years living near Anne and have now lost their home and all their possessions. As the transcripts continue, you are gradually drawn into Anne's life and realise how shocking her background is. I felt myself gasp when I discovered that Anne wasn't paranoid; there was some truth to her claims. This changed my whole perspective of her. She went from being a nuisance to becoming a terrified victim.

Alongside the arson and murder investigation, another police team are dealing with a murder case in which a local charity worker was shot dead. The contrast between the police and public opinions of the two victims is startling, showing how easily we judge people and jump to conclusions based on the scant information we have. Field begins to wonder if the two murders are connected.

I quickly found myself listening to "just one more chapter", desperate to know more and shocked with each revelation. There were some extremely tense moments, as Field narrowed in on the suspect, and I found myself grimacing over one particular scene. Hannah Brennan doesn't present a sanitised story; this comes across as realistic, showing the day-to-day danger faced by the emergency services. While the conclusion is satisfying, I found it tinged with sadness because of the lives that were impacted. I can't wait to see what the forthcoming third book in the series is like.

Nothing Left Behind by Hannah Brennan will be published on 23rd April 2026 in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and Avon for a review copy.

Author Details

Hannah Brennan lives in South East London, where she was born and raised.

She studied English Literature at Durham University – alongside British Sign Language, which she uses in her role as a trustee for the Royal Association for Deaf People. After returning from the North East, Hannah has turned her love of pubs into a career, working in marketing and technology for many fantastic British hospitality brands.

Hannah is a fanatic book-collector, with a passion for crime fiction and television. She is also one of the organisers of Greenwich Writers, a South-East London writing group.

Hannah developed OCD as a teenager, and hopes that her debut novel, No Safe Place, may give readers a fresh insight into a frequently misunderstood and misrepresented condition.