Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz and narrated by Stephanie Cannon was an audiobook I really enjoyed and ended up listening to it all day which was great. it was full of twists and turns that made it an addictive audiobook. I loved it and Looking forward reading or listening to more by this author.

SYNOPSIS:

Ruth-Ann Baker is a college dropout, a bartender—and an amateur detective who just can’t stay away from true crime. Nineteen years ago, her childhood friend was murdered by suspected serial killer Ethan Oswald. Still tormented by the case, Ruth can’t help but think of the long-dead Oswald when another young girl goes missing from the same town. And when she uncovers startling new evidence that suggests Oswald did not act alone, she is determined to find his deadly partner in crime.

Embarking on a global investigation, Ruth becomes close to three very different women—one of whom might just hold the key to what happened to the missing girl. And her childhood friend, all those years ago.

I highly recommend this audiobook/book, The Narrator Stephanie Cannon was excellent.

3/5 Stars: Ambitious and Atmospheric, but Lacking Depth

Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz presents an intriguing concept, intertwining themes of survival, feminism, and trauma. The novel grapples with important and timely questions about the value of women’s lives and the systems that fail to protect them. Bublitz’s prose is often poetic, creating an atmosphere of quiet tension that lingers throughout the story.

The plot follows an unconventional structure, blending mystery and drama with introspective storytelling. While this approach adds a layer of literary flair, it occasionally sacrifices momentum. The protagonist is well-drawn and sympathetic, and Bublitz clearly has a strong grasp on the emotional toll of violence and resilience. However, some of the supporting characters feel one-dimensional, leaving the reader wanting more depth and complexity.

The pacing of the novel is uneven, with the first half drawing readers in with intrigue but the latter half feeling rushed and somewhat unsatisfying. The resolution, while poignant, doesn’t entirely match the buildup, leaving some narrative threads hanging.

While Leave the Girls Behind shines in its atmospheric writing and exploration of feminist themes, its uneven storytelling and lack of character development hold it back from being truly exceptional. It’s a good read for fans of thought-provoking drama, but not a standout in its genre.

Antipodean author Jacqueline Bublitz, who’s split her life between Taranaki and Melbourne, sent tremors through parts of the books world with her trope-busting debut, Before You Knew My Name, a feminist literary thriller that explored an all-too-typical ‘murdered women found in a NYC park’ story from victim and bystander perspectives.

Acclaim, sales, and awards flowed, including General Fiction Book of the Year at the ABIAs, and double-ups at the crime-loving Davitts and Ngaio Marsh Awards. How do you follow that? Well, now Bublitz is back with a fascinating new standalone that rakes over some similar ground – true crime obsession and the wider impact of misogynistic murders – while being its own story. In Leave the Girls Behind, New York bartender Ruth-Ann Baker is on high alert after a young girl goes missing from her hometown in Connecticut. Awful memories stir of Ruth-Ann’s best friend Beth being abducted and murdered by a popular teacher Ethan Oswald almost twenty years before. Ruth-Ann always felt Oswald had more victims, but Oswald died in prison, so he couldn’t have committed this new horror.

But still, it stirs Ruth-Ann’s past trauma. She always felt Oswald had many more victims, and perhaps an accomplice. The local police in Connecticut, along with counsellors and her parents, didn’t believe her. Especially when she told them she was certain because of Beth’s ghost, and the ghosts of other murdered girls who visited Ruth-Ann; looking for help, looking for justice. Could Oswald have had help? Is the current perp somehow linked to what happened many years ago? Or is it just geographic chance, compounded by voices in Ruth-Ann’s head?

Bublitz takes readers on an at-time bewildering ride into Ruth-Ann’s life, obsessions, and trauma, and across the globe as Ruth-Ann decides to take action and follows tenuous leads to New Zealand and Norway, looking for links to Oswald and her ghostly girls. But is our unreliable narrator trying to help a missing girl in the present, ones from the past, or herself?

A tale about the messy ripples cast by violence and fear. Like marmite, it may divide readers, but its taste lingers.

Leave The Girls Behind is the second novel by Australian/New Zealand author, Jacqueline Bublitz. In May 1996, when Ruth-Ann Baker was seven years old, Beth Lovely, also seven and living a few strets over, was taken from a playground in her hometown of Hoben, Connecticut. Her body was found by Hoben PD’s K9 unit, buried in the woods, eleven days later. Thirty-one-year-old Hoben High School’s popular music teacher, Ethan Oswald was charged with her murder and died in prison in 2002.

Ruth-Ann’s parents took her to live in New York City, where she was often visited by Beth; Ruth-Ann stopped telling her therapists about this when they kept trying to cure her of it. The murder set her on a course to become a forensic profiler: could it help explain how to spot such a killer?

In May 2015, Ruth-Ann is working at Sweeney’s Bar when an Amber Alert hits her phone: seven-year-old Coco Wilson has been taken from her front yard in Hoben, Connecticut. It clearly can’t be Ethan, but there are so many similarities to Beth’s abduction, Ruth-Ann is itching to research it. But, after her episode five years earlier, she has promised not to get mixed up in missing girl cases.

Yet that evening, after work, there is Beth again, and soon enough, Rhea, Leila and Lori, the three girls who want Ruth-Ann to prove Ethan killed them, appear. Taking up their case, back in 2010, did not play out well: heresay from ghosts is not evidence. But Ruth-Ann’s eye for detail has them reviewing everything they know, and once again checking the “What Happened To Her” online community forum, where some new information has appeared.

Ruth manages to connect with a woman claiming to be one of Ethan’s victims, and learns things about his history that place him near enough to have murdered the three. When she posts a request for information about young women who knew Ethan Oswald around the time of the murder, discovers a bizarre links to serial killers that gives her the perfect cover for making direct inquiries. These take her to New Zealand and Norway, then back to New York City, and raise a bunch of questions.

Did Ethan have an accomplice? It begins to look like he managed to attract and charm teenaged enablers. Has someone taken over his role? Has she uncovered some sort of murder cult? Does this put her in danger? And will the police take any notice of what she has found?

Bublitz gives the reader a clever, twisty plot that explores, among other things, the hold a charismatic man can have over a needy woman, and the far-reaching effects of a child abduction. Parts of the story are told through the eyes of the seven-year-old girl who was taken and held, shackled in a locked room. There are mentions of the victim from Bublitz’s first novel, but no spoilers. Another enthralling read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK

I finished this book a couple of days ago and I have been sitting with my thoughts before sharing them. I really loved this authors first book , Before You Knew My Name, it was such an original and memorable read. Leave the Girls Behind is Bublitzs' second novel, perhaps my expectations were to high, and while there were elements that were intriguing , overall, this book just didn't work for me. I thought the premise was strong and the ideas were good but it just didn't come together and was a bit of a disjointed read for me. I can suspend reality for good fiction but the reason why the main character sees dead girls only somewhat made sense towards the mid point of the book, that's a long time to suspend reality. I also felt several times when reading/ listening that I had missed a chapter or section and had to go back and check, I hadn't. The cast of secondary characters were a little unbelievable more so than the dead characters and the plot was just a bit too uneven for me. I really wanted to love this book but overall I was disappointed.

The narration was good, no faults there.

2.5 stars

<i>Leave The Girls Behind</i> by Jacqueline Bublitz was a much-awaited read for me as the New Zealand and Aussie-dwelling author's first book, Before You Knew My Name was an absolute favourite of mine when it came out. She gives us another twisty read here, though - for me - the biggest came partway through and was perhaps not leveraged as much as I would have liked cos it was HUGE. Akin to that (midway through the novel) <i>I Let You Go</i> by Clare Mackintosh. The revelations keep coming after that but my expectations were perhaps heightened waiting for something to match or top the earlier twist but instead it felt like I was in a sustained state of distrust, or perhaps (for me) there was also an element of uncertainty or confusion.

I loved the tone with which Bublitz opens this... in Ruth Ann's voice, a kind-of faux overly obvious narration style. A tongue-in-cheek voice-over before we move to her actual narration (in third person). And I was reminded of how much I loved Bublitz's writing in her first novel - effortless and insightful. 

We then get some of Ruth's backstory, with references to an 'episode' five years earlier. In the present Ruth's already-tenuous world is upended when she receives an amber alert for a seven year old girl who's gone missing in Ruth's childhood home town. She tries to resist obsessing or spiralling but soon she's visited by her past... in the form of girls (including Beth Lovely) who were murdered years before. Beth Lovely's killer, Ethan Oswald was captured and died in prison but the other three girls who appear to Ruth with Beth want her to prove that he killed them as well.

We learn her obsession with proving Oswald's guilt led to her 'episode' five years earlier and she's banished the girls since then: Beth and the less dead. The latter being the term coined for those victims assigned less societal value than girls like Beth.

So now, Ruth's back on the case using online communities and following Oswald's life before he came across Beth. And soon she's able to make the linkages, discovering other girls as well... girls who the music teacher seem to favour, and who lived. More interestingly, now women whose lives were later also entwined with murderers and serial killers.

There's a lot to love about this book though I had to go back and re-read bits of it (several times). I couldn't get my head around some of the threads  and reveals. Did Oswald definitely kill the other girls? Did he have help, even inadvertent? And Ruth finds herself confronted by the fact that her determinedness that Oswald had an accessory is perhaps absolving him in some way.

The deeper themes however are definitely worth pondering, including the fact that you don't need to have suffered 'the most' to be a victim. 

"There is responsibility in being the one who didn't die." p 112

There are also lessons in needing to 'move on' from our past and the damage of unresolved trauma. And a reminder of the importance of forgiving oneself for past mistakes, even if logic deems it wasn't your fault.

"To have made the worst mistake of your life at seven years old is a terrible weight to carry through your life." p 250

Though I didn't love this as much as her debut, I can't wait to read whatever Bublitz offers up next.

Leave The Girls Behind is a gnarly and knotty psychological thriller that pulls you into its murky waters.

I really liked the exploration of grief and trauma and how it permeates every aspect of Ruth’s life. She is trapped in this vicious moment, haunted by her past. This has led to an obsessive fascination with true crime, particularly violence against young girls. There is a bit of toying with the central mystery and if there is any truth to Ruth’s theories. She adopts a guise of true crime, being pulled into these communities and finding these connections. Bublitz explores this with nuance, showing both the validating sense of community and the exploitation that can occur. All of this is brought into sharp focus by the latest disappearance. It throws everything into disrepair and intensifies the horror. Without giving anything away, Bublitz also adds another element to Ruth’s character that highlights this pathos and Ruth’s emotional connection to the mystery.

The actual mystery is well-constructed, with lots of great twists and turns. Bublitz adds these haunting excerpts between chapters from a scared little girl trapped somewhere unfamiliar. They just get under your skin and add a real sense of stakes. The danger becomes more palpable, increasing the tension tenfold. It reminds you of the real life cases that are similar to the one fictionalised here. As Ruth teases out these connections and goes to new lengths, it feels like a spiral that is going to be difficult to break. The character development over the course of the book is wonderful and really ties into the mystery too. There is also a nasty little surprise in store at the very end of the book, which gives a new perspective on previous events.

Leave The Girls Behind is a complex and character-focused psychological thriller that may be difficult to get out of your head.

Leave the Girls Behind by Jacqueline Bublitz is a powerful and haunting exploration of trauma, resilience, and the unspoken bonds between women. Bublitz masterfully crafts a suspenseful and emotionally charged narrative, weaving together the lives of characters who confront personal and societal struggles. The novel delves into themes of survival, identity, and the weight of shared female experiences, all while unraveling a mystery that keeps readers on edge. With its poignant writing, rich character development, and thought-provoking exploration of justice and vulnerability, Leave the Girls Behind is a deeply moving and gripping read. It's a book that lingers in the mind, offering both a tense, emotional journey and an important reflection on the strength and solidarity of women.

Jacqueline Bublitz burst onto the crime scene with her multi-award winning debut Before You Knew My Name. That book was set in New York and centred around the murder of a young woman. Her follow up, Leave the Girls Behind, treads similar territory and explores similar themes but from a different angle.
Ruth-Ann Baker was taken to New York from a small Connecticut town when she was seven after the murder of another young girl, Beth Lovely, by a man called Ethan Oswald. Leave The Girls Behind opens nineteen years later, Beth’s killer has died in jail, but Ruth-Ann is still fixated on the event. More than that, Ruth-Ann has also discovered three other earlier, unsolved disappearances of young girls that she thinks may be connected to Oswald. She is spurred on in those investigations by the ghosts of Beth and the other girls (whether those apparitions are real or not is up for debate, they are certainly real to Ruth). When a young girl goes missing in similar circumstances from her old home town, Ruth starts to spiral. She goes back to chasing links to the four disappearances and in doing so locates three very different women who were in some way connected to Oswald. All three, as it turned out, were married to other killers. Under the cover of ‘making a podcast’ about women whose partners are killers, Ruth flies around the world to try and find out what those women know.
Leave the Girls Behind is a strange novel anchored by a very unreliable protagonist. The twists and turns that come through the book are not often about the case of the missing girl or even the historical crimes. They are mainly Ruth-Ann learning more about herself and what drives her. Ruth-Ann is not a great investigator, and while she thinks she is being clever, is often more manipulated than the people she is trying to investigate.
There is plenty of interesting thematic work in Leave the Girls Behind. Bublitz starts with a question about disappearances not investigated because the victim is not middle class or white enough. She also explores the way in which charismatic men manipulate women, particularly younger women and the impact that this can have on them throughout their lives. She wonders about whether killing, particularly serial killing, is a trait that can ben taught or learnt. And through Ruth-Ann particularly she explores the ongoing consequences of trauma.
Leave the Girls Behind is never quite sure what sort of book it wants to be. The main character spends most of the novel making poor choices and the way the narrative plays out sometimes defies logic and credibility. But there are hints of something larger going on that should keep readers hooked. And Bublitz has things plenty of things to say – about the impact of crime and trauma, about coming to terms with your past, and about predators, their enablers and their victims – which adds a little to the narrative confusion but makes Leaves The Girls Behind much more than just a simple crime novel.

Leave The Girls Behind by Jacqurline Bublitz

Frankly I spent the entire time reading this book feeling incredibly confused and lost. The author appears to have attempted to explore Ruth's trauma by showing the way it distorts her reality and leads her to make irrational decisions. However, this just didn't come across as the author seeningly wished. Ruth, throughout the entire story, jumps to conclusions and makes links where there are none, so we as readers are just expected to go along with it and not question her wild, often implausible, theories. I cannot tell you how many times I whispered "what the heck?" whilst reading this book because I myself lost count. Even after reading the ending, where the author seems to have tried to tie up all the loose ends, I am confused. I have no idea what really happened with Ruth, what role the "other women" played in her past or what on earth Juno has to do with any of it (because the girl seems psychotic)!

I felt desperately sorry for Ruth, don't get me wrong, but there's only so many times you can give her the benefit of the doubt before you get frustrated at her own lack of self reflection/awareness. Ruth needed to get serious mental health help, and that was plainly obvious right from the start. I understand the authors motivation to analyse how childhood trauma affects someone's adulthood but I don't think it quite worked and ended up feeling like a lot of different ideas and concepts jumbled together to form an incoherent story.

Overall I rated this book 2 out of 5 stars.

The story started well but after some 30% of the book I felt it went flat. Something was off can't point it out correctly, but it wasn't my cup of tea 😔.

Leave the Girls Behind is a strange read. An intriguing idea, and a fascinating character, but things felt so disjointed that it felt harder work to read than it really should have. Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this before publication.
Our main character Ruth works in a downtown New York bar. She is obsessed with a small Connecticut town that seems to have its share of horror, with a number of young girls from the area having gone missing. Ruth appears to talk with the ghosts of the dead, and she has alerts sent to her phone if a child is missing in the area.
Before we know it, Ruth is fabricating reasons to speak with a trio of women who appear to have links to the man who abducted and killed one of the girls. She won’t reveal what she knows, and can’t help but think they are each hiding something.
There is a reason Ruth is so determined to get answers. We start to realise what it is before Ruth chooses to reveal the truth to us, but it felt like a rather unrealistic situation.

Nineteen years ago, Ruth-Anne Baker's childhood friend was murdered by convicted killer, Ethan Oswald. With Oswald dead and the case closed, everybody tells Ruth it's time to move on - but she believes there is more to the story. When another young girl goes missing from their small town, Ruth becomes convinced that Oswald had an accomplice, someone the police overlooked. So she begins to investigate, taking her on a journey across the world.

While I enjoyed the author's previous novel, I enjoyed this one even more. I was worried that the synopsis may have given too much away but there were still plenty of surprises with the supporting characters and secrets revealed about Ruth's own past. Another intriguing novel by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Co for this gifted review copy.

'Leave the girls behind' seemed like it had a really good premise, I enjoyed the idea of Ruth's ability to see the dead girls and using their help to solve their murders. I felt the exploration of the women in murderous men's lives was an interesting concept too. Sadly though this book just felt a bit scattered. There were alot of characters (many of whom had also changed their names or went by alias') so it felt difficult to keep track of who was who and each person's connection to the story. It sometimes felt like Ruth's train of thought or conclusions she came to were so vague they were almost hinted at, rather than a coherent thought process/explanation which made the story feel a bit muddled. All in all I think it was a good idea for a story but the writing itself just felt a bit all over the place.

I so wanted to really really love this book as much as I loved Before you Knew my Name, but it just didn’t grab my attention. It took me so long to read and at the start I had trouble getting into the story which is probably why I had a hard time keeping the characters straight as some of the girls had changed their name.
It’s clever and well written so I am thinking the problem is with me and I really hope it sells well. I won’t be posting this on any other platforms as I feel I haven’t really done the book justice.

What a fantastic read it had me on the edge of my seat

Thank you for the opportunity to review the book

3* Good but for the unbelievable ending.

This was well written and interesting, though Ruth clearly had unresolved trauma that she needed to deal with.

It started off with her in the company of the ghosts of little girls who'd been killed, and ended up in in a tables-turned meeting of a kind of self-preservation group for people left behind after their partners committed crimes. That's the bit that didn't work. Sorry this is spoilerish.

ARC courtesy of Little, Brown Book Group and NetGalley for my reading pleasure.

Thank you so much for my copy. This book had an interesting premise, I however struggled with this one a little bit. I struggled to connect with the story and writing style. Would recommend if you are a fan of mysteries.

A dark and suspenseful read.
Interesting characters and i was left thinking about the book long after i had finished.
Not sure about the ending though?
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Ruth-Anne Baker is haunted by the death of her childhood friend. She becomes obsessed with serial killers and becomes convinced that the killer had assistance. So she tracks down various people from the small Connecticut town so many years ago.

Ruth is guided by the ghosts of young girls killed by serial killers. If the reader can somehow suspend disbelief of this paranormal element, Leave The Girls Behind is a compelling story. With dark themes, it explores childhood loss and trauma and the manner in which terrible acts can have consequences for others through years and generations.