What I Left Behind

DS Jan Pearce Crime Fiction Series, Book 1

By: Jacqueline Ward

Narrated by: Laura Brydon

Length: 9 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

How far would you go to hide from the past?

One-year old Maisie Lewis is missing. DC Jan Pearce is in hiding from her past but is drafted onto the case when things escalate. What forced Jan to come back to Manchester to start a new life? Who is she hiding from? What is making this kickass woman hide away and work on cold cases rather than step up to the action? Is it business - or is it personal? A chain of paper dolls and a series of sinister messages leads Jan to the truth and into the dangerous territory of hidden secrets - but is it too late for little Maisie?

What I Left Behind is the prequel to the DS Jan Pearce Crime Fiction Series. If you love crime fiction with strong female characters who get the job done you will enjoy this fast-paced novel. Get What I Left Behind to find out DS Jan Pearce’s USP when it comes to solving crimes - and the big secret that kicks off the next part of her career in Random Acts of Unkindness and Playlist for a Paper Angel.

Fans of Angela Marsons and Lucy Clarke will enjoy What I Left Behind.

©2017 Jacqueline Ward (P)2020 Jacqueline Ward

Couldn't get past the narrator

The story seems to have promise but man the narrator are horrible. Especially the male

Incredible

This story tore at my heart. Mystery, Kidnapping, Bombs,!!!! Read this, what a story, then an explosion ending.

Solid Story

After a threat to her life in London, Jan Pearce had no choice but to relocate to a safe place in the Manchester countryside. After a little one year old girl goes missing though, she decides to risk herself and go public in the hopes of bringing the girl home.

Jan is an interesting character. As a profiler, she was an interesting way of looking at the world. She does a lot of internal musings on the things around her and her past. Although it made the story a little slow, I liked the author’s approach for characterization. Jan’s careful nature is carefully laid out this way which made it easier to really understand what kind of person she was.

The ending was very pleasing and wrapped the story up quite well. It more than made up for a few slow parts so stick with the story. You’ll be glad you did.

Narration was okay. The accent took a little bit of getting used to.

This book was given to me for free at my request, and I provided this voluntary review.

Solid Mystery

What I Left Behind is a solid mystery crime novel. It did take me a bit to get used to the narrators' accent, but I soon found myself drawn into the story of Masie and the detective work of Jan Pearce. I love mysteries inside of crime novels and uncovering Jan's past made for a very interesting read. I can't wait to continue the series.

I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my unbiased review.

A Great Listen

A great first book of a series. Jan is a Profiler and she has to figure out who kidnapped a one year girl. Only problem is that she'll need to come out of hiding to do it. Interesting characters, suspense and action will keep you listen until the very end. The perfect listen for a road trip. I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request, and have voluntarily left this review.

Excellent storyline

Really enjoyable. Police procedures were interesting and emotional. The story was well written and very easy to listen to and follow.

Left me with goosebumps

Gripping and full of suspense! Turn after turn unwinding the mystery. It took some fine listening to get used to the accent but it fit so well and it was very enjoyable.

Great storyline

I Enjoyed this audio book very much
Hopefully they will be more audio books
Must read on your list

Not the most enthralling listen

This one is very possibly like marmite, love or loathe, I listened all the way through and was pleased with the ending but I cannot say that I enjoyed it very much, I was bored much of the time as Jan dwelt on her past life, her old flat, her old car, things BEFORE .... it was interesting at first but grew immensely tiresome after the fourth hour or so. Nothing is ever straight forward in this story, there is always half an hour of mulling, musing and self doubt before anything is achieved which is not what people expect from a police procedural, which is exactly what this is at the end of the day. It does improve towards the end of the book though so I recommend following through with it all.

Upshot is that Jan spends too much time dwelling on things, yes, she has great insights, becuse she is a 'trained profiler' but the reader, or, in this case, the listener, does not need to be privy to her every tiny thought. The story was ok though which is shame, it could have been brilliant without all the waffle.

Laura Brydon does a great job with the narration.

I recieved a free review copy in exchange for my honest review, which is what I have given above.

Bare with it - I’m reading the next one already

At first the narrator’s accents seemed too harsh and it almost put me off. I lived in Manchester for 5 years and I didn’t find them totally convincing, too exaggerated. But I think she must settle into the reading, or I just got involved in the story and they stopped bothering me.
I often read crime fiction and though this wasn’t outstanding it was a good story which I enjoyed listening to. And I will be listening to the other two books in the series.

It's always personal

Jan Pearce transferred to Manchester police force after her life came under threat working in London. She had remade her life there, in the countryside outside of the city, a fairly remote cottage with friendly neighbours, a dog and the space to indulge her passion for loud music and cooking. But her carefully rebuilt tranquility disappears when a little one year old girl is kidnapped and she goes public in her attempts to bring her home.

Written in the first person, the reader is able to follow all of Jan's reasoning about the case as well as her fears both for herself and the tiny child, as well as the past which is now rapidly catching up with her. Laura Brydon, the narrator, takes on the personality of Jan, synching her reading with the character's emotions, which adds to the picture constantly building of the solitary police woman. It is a good performance with other protagonists also given clearly defined voices as the story proceedes. This is a tale to engage the reader's empathy and does have a real life situational feel as more is discovered about the taking of the toddler.

My thanks to the rights holder of What I Left Behind, who, at my request freely gifted me with a complimentary copy via Audiobook Boom. This book is the introduction to a short DI Jan Pearce crime series and i have already added the second story, Random Acts of Unkindness to my to be read pile. Recommended to all enjoying British police procedurals, with humanity, twists and passion.

Really,?

The reader did her best with a really unlikeable and unlikely hero. Having worked in fields that cross over in areas of the world being portrayed I felt there was a lack credible research ... this is the first negative review I have given - writing a book is a lot of work but this needed whole lot more.... sorry Ms Ward !

A must listen for this Genre

Love this authors books. The story is great and such a great narrator too. Now can't wait listen to the next one.

A very good listen

Once I got used to the accents, I couldn’t stop listening. A crime book with many twists and turns.