Superintendent Jo Hamilton is days away from retirement, but one case has stayed with her since she joined the police force in the 1970’s. When a body is found and identified as a girl who went missing from a local children’s home, she is determined to find the murderer but time is not on her side.
This is a twisty thriller with several plot lines that are all linked. Set in three different times, it keeps the reader guessing and is fast paced. A great read.

Great book. Very gripping, good twist. I genuinely didn't see that ending coming. I liked the narrator, she had a decent range and gave a good performance. First time but I would read more of this author's books.

Really enjoyable audiobook! Clare Corbett is a fabulous and engaging narrator and this book suited her perfectly.
The multiple timelines keep the plot flowing at a fast pace and cleverly brings the story together.

I really enjoyed this listen. It was a fast, easy listen with an interesting storyline. I also love Claire Corbett as a narrator. It’s told from past and present timelines and switches between them easily without confusion. The characters are both likeable and unlikeable but I really loved Olive, Jo and Daisy and was so invested in them. The storyline flows well and at an adequate pace to build the suspense and keep you engaged. There were times I applauded myself as I thought I had it all worked out but the ending was great surprise and I loved how it all came together.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for the opportunity to listen to and review #TheGirlsLeftBehind

Told over 4 time spans this mystery could be confusing at times. I worked out fairly early on who the murderer was - so no big reveal. I particularly enjoyed the parts of the story set in Bletchley Park.
An interesting listen but not all the ends were tied up at the finish.

This was a gripping mystery that hopped backwards and forwards over three timelines, which kept the pace up and meant there was always something happening. From a romance at Bletchley Park, to sisters in a 70s children’s home, all the way to the present day (well, 2015) and a police superintendent only a week from retirement. Two mysterious deaths and more than one family secret make for a great storyline.
I guessed ‘whodunnit’ a little way before the big reveal but that didn’t spoil the story for me.
The Girls Left Behind is out now.
I listened to the audio, and would like to thank NetGalley for the chance to listen to an ARC.

I really enjoyed this book. It was gritty right from the start. I worked out who the culprit was early on but I’m not sure if that was deliberate by the author or not. Going back and forth from the early days to present day was a good way of getting the back story of some of the characters.
I will definitely read more by this author.

A well told story split between WW2, the mid 1970s and 2015. It is a kind of murder mystery set over 40 years with links back to WW2 through the eyes of a motorcycle dispatch rider at Bletchley Park. All brought together by a retiring Police Detective. Believe me all is connected, and the ending is not what you would expect. It is an enjoyable story as you begin to piece together the evidence. It is well put together. Thank you Emily for bring these characters to light.
Thank you too to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me listen to this book. I loved it.

I recently delved into Emily Gunnis's "The Girls Left Behind" through the immersive experience of its audiobook, and it's a narrative that weaves a tapestry of perspectives and timelines. 🎧 The unfolding story is a dark and graphic exploration, combining elements of crime, thriller, and mystery to create a compelling literary landscape. 🔍

Regrettably, my progress through the audiobook was slower than anticipated, a consequence of my nighttime listening habit. Lately, I've found myself succumbing to sleep before the completion of a chapter, embracing what I fondly term my "sleepy girl era." 😴 In this context, I am she, and she is me, struggling to keep my eyes open amidst the gripping tale.

One commendable aspect of the narrative is the twist I didn't see coming – a testament to the author's skill in maintaining suspense. The element of surprise injected a fresh energy into the story, a quality I always appreciate in a good thriller. 🔄

However, while the unexpected twists held my attention, I must confess that the overall storyline didn't captivate me as intensely as I had hoped for in a thriller. There was a certain expectation for a tighter grip on the reader's emotions and curiosity, which, unfortunately, seemed to be missing.

Nonetheless, "The Girls Left Behind" remains a commendable addition to the thriller genre, offering a mix of intrigue and unexpected turns that will undoubtedly appeal to fans of crime mysteries. 📚✨ #AudiobookJourney #ThrillerReview

In a Nutshell: A historical mystery developing over multiple timelines and culminating in the present. Has its merits but also has loopholes. A fairly entertaining read, though not a mind-blowing one.

Story Synopsis:
In 1975, while summoned to a domestic dispute, constable Jo Hamilton mistakenly started a fire at the location. The two little girls at the house, Holly and Daisy, are saved, but their parents are killed. The girls are sent to the local children’s home named Morgate House, an old Victorian residence at the edge of a cliff. Jo tries to keep tabs over the girls, but Daisy is soon adopted. In a few years more, Holly goes missing, the mystery of which has stayed unsolved all this while.
Now, forty years later, some bones have been discovered at a digging site, and Jo, now a superintendent just a few days away from retirement, knows in her guts that they belong to Holly. Can the investigation finally come to a close with this new information?
The story comes to us from multiple timelines (1945, 1975, 1985, 2015) and the third person perspective of multiple female characters.

Bookish Yays:
😍 Most of the main characters aren’t classifiable as typical good or bad persons. They are flawed. Even Jo, who is a capable police officer, is very judgemental in her thinking. Regardless, these flaws make the characters more nuanced.
😍 Jo’s role as a women police officer offers plenty of insights about the inherent misogyny and patronising in a male-dominated profession. Through another character named Olive, we get to see how women dispatch riders functioned for Bletchley Park in the WWII era. Reading these unusual career perspectives in a fictional work was very interesting.
😍 There are many mother-daughter relationships in the book.; But unlike most historical fiction works, not a single one of them is a positive relationship. I liked this complicated portrayal of family dynamics.
😍 The book also highlights the apathetic attitude of the governing agencies towards orphans and abandoned kids in children’s homes and foster care. It’s sad that decisions about children were taken keeping adult conveniences in mind.
😍 There are a couple of death scenes in the story, and these are written brilliantly. The unnatural deaths gave me the creeps.


Bookish Mixed Bags:
😔 I enjoy historical books with multiple timelines. So seeing this book span four timelines was a surprise, especially as the blurb offered no hint of its being a saga. Keeping track of the timelines isn’t too difficult as the character voices are in third person. However, I feel that the 1945 timeline set in Bletchley Park wasn’t necessary at all. It had nothing concrete to offer to the core plot and felt like a way of padding the back story of one of the characters.
😔 Remembering the characters in each timeline is also not tricky as the characters recur in other timelines as well. They are also written distinctly enough as to not create confusion. However, some of the links between the characters across timelines are farfetched and coincidental. Even some secrets become obvious because of the extensive overlap. For two major characters, their personality undergoes a 180-degree shift in the final chapters.

Bookish Nays:
😒 The main mystery regarding the identity of the killer is fairly easy to solve. If you have read even a few mystery novels, you’ll figure it out very early in the proceedings. This is a major disappointment as the mystery is supposed to be the main focus of the book.
😒 The ending is too rushed and yet incomplete. It patches up things too neatly and abruptly, without bothering about filling in some missing gaps. Moreover, the mystery reveals the person but not the agenda or the modus operandi. These plot gaps reduce the impact of the ending.
😒 There are some prejudicial comments about topics such as stay-at-home mums and people with lazy eyes. These might be said/thought by the characters, but they sounded hypercritical and biased.


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 10 hrs 23 min, is narrated by Clare Corbett. Overall, her performance is pretty good. She has a great voice, and she enhances it further with varied accents and pitches for the characters. The only thing I didn’t like about her performance was when she was reading the more emotional scenes – her reading tone didn’t reflect the emotion, which made the emotion fall flat.
There are plenty of phone and despatch radio conversations in the book, and these are presented with a special effect that made them sound genuine. While this was fun at first, it became annoying as it went ahead .
I can still recommend the audio version, but only to experienced audiobook listeners. Newbies will get all muddled by the plethora of timelines.

All in all, this is a good historical mystery, which will work well as long as you don’t overanalyse it. The characters and their backgrounds are more compelling than the mystery itself, so better read as a historical drama than as a mystery-thriller.

3.5 stars, rounding up for the audio version. (It would easily have been a 4+ star read had the mystery been a bit more complicated and the timelines a bit more simplified and the ending a bit more detailed.)

My thanks to Headline and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Girls Left Behind”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

The Girls Left Behind by Emily Gunnis and Narrated by Clare Corbett was a beautiful audiobook about a home for troubled children; a lifetime of hidden secrets and secrets always have a way of coming out, it doesn't matter how hard you try to hide them they pop up when you at least expect them.

This audiobook was hard to turn off once I started to listen to it. Set in 1985 when Holly Moore was separated from her little sister at the children's home called Morgate House, where they are taken as orphans. Holly Moore was a troubled teenager in need of love. She meets a man who promises to take care of her, she hopes her luck has finally changed.

But does it?

Now in 2015. The clock is ticking for Superintendent Jo Hamilton when she makes a discovery of a young woman's remains which takes her back to an unsolved case from the past. As a constable, Jo was often called out to deal with runaways from Morgate House, but when Holly Moore disappeared after another female resident fell from the cliffs.

Jo was convinced the home was hiding something. But what?

And what happened to Holly all those years ago?

Now, with only days before her forced retirement, Jo decides to track down Holly's sister and re-open the case. But will the trail will only lead her disturbingly close to home?

I loved this book and the narrator Clare Corbett was excellent.

I highly recommend this audiobook.

Big Thank you to Netgalley and Headline, for my ARC.

I listened to this book in just a few sittings, full of twists and turns will likeable characters I was rooting for. It all comes together in the end and even though I guessed the twists I liked the style of writing and the narrator. Was an enjoyable listen

Forty years ago, Jo Hamilton, a young PC at the time is called to a domestic disturbance which turns into a house fire and death of the parents of Holly and Daisy. The two girls are put into a Childrens Home, with Daisy being adopted and Holly left in the system. The girls are denied any contact. Holly disappears from the Childrens Home and Daisy has been wondering all these years about what happened to her. Forty years on, just before she retires, Jo Hamilton is called to a site where bones are found, and is determined to find a resolution for her sake, as well as to Daisy about what really happened to Holly.
A cleverly written piece, Emily Gunnis, structures the story over several timelines and from different character points of view. The plot tackles sisterly bonds, deceit, friendship, guilt, abuse and secrets and builds up to a dramatic conclusion. With several guesses over who the guilty party was, I really enjoyed the suspense and the clues finally falling into place.

The Girls Left Behind by Emily Gunnis was a gripping mystery thriller. I was initially drawn to the eye catching cover but as soon as I began listening to the audiobook I was hooked. The audiobook was well narrated by Clare Corbett. The Girls Left Behind was well plotted, fast paced and had several twists. I particularly enjoyed that The Girls Left Behind centered around the lives of three strong female characters. The time line alternated between the 1940’s when Olive, Jo’s mother was working at Bletchley Park during World War II, the 1970’s-1980’s when Jo Hamilton was a young rookie constable and present day. All three time lines wove together flawlessly by the end of the book.

Jo Hamilton was days away from retirement. She was the Superintendent of the Sussex Police department and had earned the right to retire. There was one case, though, that had haunted Jo Hamilton throughout her career. More than forty years ago, Jo Hamilton was a young constable. She responded to a case of suspected domestic violence. As she entered the identified house, Jo witnessed an irate husband, a cowering wife and two scared and frightened daughters. As Jo tried to get the two daughters out of the house and away from their out of control father, a terrible accident occurred. Jo accidentally knocked over an ashtray and before she realized what she had done the room was engulfed in flames. Jo was able to get the girls out of the house safely but their mother was not as lucky. Even though the fire was an accident, Jo blamed herself. She took full responsibility for the two young sisters. Jo Hamilton realized she had no choice but to take the sisters to a children’s home. Not long after the girls were placed in the children’s home, the older sister disappeared, never to be seen again. Jo never got over the guilt she felt about the fate of the two sisters. Now just days away from her long awaited retirement, Jo Hamilton learned that bones belonging to female victim had been discovered near Saltdean. Could the bones belong to Holly, the older sister, who disappeared all those year ago? Jo became determined to finally bring closure to this case. Could she finally solve this case that had haunted her her entire career? Jo knew that she had to locate Daisy, Holly’s younger sister, to get the answers she desperately needed to finally solve this case. While Jo immersed herself in trying to determine whether the bones that had been uncovered belonged to Holly she also had to come to terms with the fact that her mother was dying. Olive, Jo’s mother had harbored secrets her entire life. Was she ready to divulge them now that she was dying?

Emily Gunnis masterfully wove together the stories of these three strong female characters. The ending was brilliant! I never would have guessed it. I was greatly bothered by the conditions and treatment of the young children at Morgate House, the children’s home where Holly and Daisy ended up. The Girls Left Behind touched on the themes of sisterly love, friendship, deceit, lies, secrets, friendship, guilt, child abuse and determination. I really enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Girls Left Behind by Emily Gunnis through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A story spanning many years and the lives of women who are all entwined. I don't usually like detective novels but this has a great balance - a main character is a detective but it is not by any means a crime novel in a police setting. The other characters provide a balance that makes it very accessible and it tells stories of the past that all progress toward the conclusion together.

Gemma, Daisy, Holly and Jo all have histories and their stories need to be told. Olive's past is explored also and for a good while  she felt like a sub plot but I kept wondering how she was connected to them all. I didn't figure it out by myself!

It's hard to hear how Holly and Daisy were separated and yearning for each other for so much of their lives. Cruelty in itself, was the act of keeping them apart. That yearning and Jo's drive to reach closure in the limited time span she has before retirement kept me engaged and longing for answers.

The ending was bittersweet, some tough truths but a gentle closure.

A great story, throughly enjoyed.

Thankyou to NetGalley for a copy of the audio book.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Girls Left Behind' by Emily Gunnis.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Emily Gunnis, Clare Corbett and Headline publishers.

Publication date 9th November 2023.


This is the first book I have read by this author but it most definitely won't be my last!!!


This novel consists of a prologue, 31 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!


An absolutely epic read from the very talented Emily Gunnis!!! Absolutely rammed full of twists, tension and turns!! Congratulations Emily on a fantastic page turner!!


This is an extremely well written book with vivid descriptions that will suck you straight into the storyline and captivated from beginning to end. The synopsis and cover worked perfectly with the storyline.

I had never read a book by Emily before this one but I am definitely hooked after and have already added all her books to my wish list. I was absolutely hooked throughout, a true page turner from beginning to end. Emily is one of those amazing authors who writes these epic books that when you are reading them you promise yourself one more chapter and then you'll go to sleep but each time she ends her chapters in a way that has you hooked so you have to read just one more, but then another and before you know it you have walked around all day with the book glued to your hands or your earbuds stuck in your ears in my case and have devoured it in one sitting!!! The fantastic Clare who narrates this book also brings the book to life with her dramatic voice that really brings the suspense to life perfectly with Emily's descriptiosn.The storyline was in depth and packed with suspense, history, murder, twists, family, tension, hate, grief, intensity, heartache, shocks and everything you could ask for in a page turner!!! It is an edge of your seat, nail biting and heart racing psychological thriller. Emily does a fantastic job of weaving the chapters written from different protagonists points of views and the ones from different timelines together perfectly to slowly drip feed the reader just the right amount of information they need to understand what is going on without giving too much away to allow the reader to work it out too quickly!!! There are also not one but several very clever and very unique storylines that are all weaved together perfectly so there is something constantly happening but not too much as to confuse the reader. I was absolutely hooked from start to finish. I read this book in less than 24 hours and I'm looking forward to reading more books by this fantastic author as well as listening to more books by the brilliant narrator. This book is an absolute rollercoaster ride filled with twists, action, murder, heartbreak, suffering, suspense and everything you could ask for in an absolutely thrilling page turner. I was mind blown when the killer was revealed so a huge congratulations Emily!! After reading hundreds of crimes and thrillers it's getting harder and harder to shock me but at no point did I even consider them!!! If you want to know more about this absolutely epic page turner which you will have to grab your copy today to get them!!! It is one of the best books I have read this year and I really enjoyed and loved the ending!!! Emily ensures there were no loose ends at the book and that everything was explained and tied up. It is one of my pet hates having loose ends at the end of a book so well done Emily!! I won't say more as not to spoil it for future readers. It is a true page turner that will leave you biting your nails on the edge of your seat with your heart racing. Hope your busy typing your next book up Emily as I cannot wait!!! Thankfully I can get stuck into your previous books while I'm waiting!! This book would make an absolutely amazing and box selling movie that I would be first in line to see!!!

It is set over multiple time lines. When books show what has happened in the past and what is happening in the present I find it really helps the reader (if it is well done) understand why things are happening and what has lead to the present activities and decisions. It also shows the bigger picture

This is one of the few books that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Clare Corbett who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Clare did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Emily but also to listening to more books narrated by Clare!

Clear your schedules as you will not be able to put down this heart racing thriller!!!

I loved meeting all the characters who were all strong, well defined and unique. I become completely invested in Detective Jo Hamilton and her mother Olive along with Holly and Daisy Moore Amanda plus all of the other amazing characters. I would absolutely love to see Detective Jo Hamilton to have her own series from when she was younger as I would love to meet her and her mum Olive again and get to know them more!! Hint, hint Emily 😉!!! In this book Jo is due to retire but is determined to solve the last case before being taken over by the males above her. That is one thing I loved about her is her fierce determination and the fact she refuses to back down when she knows the truth is waiting to be revealed!! She is one kick butt lady but also a compassionate one and a woman who is being pulled from all sides from the work she is being pushed out of to her family who want her home to babysit their children to her own mother who is being cared for in a home by Daisy Moore. My heart broke for both Daisy and Holly Moore who suffered greatly as children but I won't go into any further details s I don't want to spoil it for future readers. Emily's fantastic writing skills and Clare's brilliant narrative really do bring each of the characters to life and I won't be forgetting them anytime soon!! A fantastic group of intriguing, realistic and solid characters all brought to life by Emily's fantastic evocative writing skills along with Clare's narrative!

This is exactly why I would like to welcome you to my favourite authors Emily!! Here is to your next guaranteed success 🥂!!

I could not praise this book enough and highly recommend it to anyone and everyone. Emily I cannot wait to read more of your very successful work!!! I would also love to see this book turned into a movie. Another absolutely addictive, compelling and gripping true page turner!!!

Overall another absolutely captivating, engrossing page turner that is compelling and addictive by an extremely talented author!!!


366 pages/10 hours 23 minutes


This book is just £4.99 to purchase on kindle, £8.27 in paperback, £11.37 in Audible and £2.99 in Audible with membership via Amazon at time of review, which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!


Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.


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Really enjoyed this Audio book and the way the story entwinned through history and how the links were made and survived and Superintendent Jo Hamilton's link with it all.

If you are looking for a suspenseful novel The Girls Left Behind, is it! This is a story told across multiple decades of love, loss and finding the truth.

It was a riveting read from start to finish. My only criticism was that Emily Gunnis often repeated how the characters felt.

The narration by Clare Corbett is excellent, she truly brought the characters to life and made this a book that I didn't want to stop listening to.

Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great narration of this crime novel by Emily Gunnis. I will be looking out for more of her works. I really warmed to Jo as a character both as a younger copper and in her later role. This is a sad tale of child abuse and neglect in particular from more than one angle so if this is a trigger point for you, then do avoid. I raced through listening to this version and found it easy to follow the different time frames. Thank you for the opportunity to try a new author.

My thanks to Headline Review Audio for a review copy via NetGalley of the unabridged audiobook edition of ‘The Girls Left Behind’ by Emily Gunnis. The audiobook was narrated by Clare Corbett. I was also invited to take part in their publication week blog tour.

This work of crime fiction has quite a complex plot that enfolds between four timelines! In 2015, the novel’s present, Superintendent Jo Hamilton is due to retire from the Sussex Police. When the remains of a young woman are discovered in the woods close to Saltdean, she reflects on her early career as a constable when she had often been called out to deal with runaways from Morgate House, a local children’s home located on the Saltdean cliffs.

In 1975, Jo had attended a domestic incident that ended in tragedy. Sisters Holly and Daisy Moore were orphaned and housed at Morgate House. In 1985, Holly has become a troubled teenager desperate for love. When she meets a man who promises to take care of her, Holly hopes her luck has finally changed. Then she is reported missing and was never found.

In 2015 as the clock ticks down Jo recalls an incident when another female resident of Morgate had fallen from the cliffs. Jo has long been convinced the couple who had run the home before its closure were hiding something. She decides to track down Daisy and seek to re-open the case. The fourth timeline is set in 1944 as Jo’s mother, Olive, becomes part of the dispatch team at Bletchley Park.

While the chapters are clearly marked with the date and viewpoint character, this constant hopping about in time meant that close attention is needed to avoid confusion. There were also a few minor anachronisms with respect to period details, that proved slightly distracting.

In her Author’s Note Emily Gunnis shares that she drew on her mother-in-law’s experiences as a Sussex Police constable during the 1970-80s to highlight difficulties faced by women serving in the police as well as the inadequacies of social services, especially when dealing with vulnerable teenagers, who often fell between the cracks.

She also sought to highlight the roles of women who served as motorcycle dispatch riders at Bletchley Park. There are also explorations of the often fraught relations between mothers and daughters.

With respect to the audiobook, Clare Corbett is a highly experienced narrator with an impressive 350 titles to her CV. She is a very versatile reader and was able to confidently voice the novel’s many characters whose ages ranged from children to the elderly.

Overall, I found ‘The Girls Left Behind’ an engaging police procedural. However, while I appreciated that the author had wanted to focus on various historical social issues, I felt that it resulted in so much going on in its pages.

Having said that, I expect that it would prove a suitable choice for reading groups that are seeking a work of crime fiction that goes further than the search for whodunnit.