“You can’t hide from the past…

Fifteen years ago, five vulnerable teenagers took part in a life-changing study of OCD. Now, their psychologist has been brutally stabbed and left for dead.

DCI Liz Field and her team have barely started their investigation when there is another frenzied attack. This time, the victim is one of the former patients. Are the others now in grave danger – or dangerous?

But as the DCI is pulled deeper into the disturbing case, it starts to hits too close to home. To outwit the murderer, Field must venture into the last place she wants to – her own buried past…”

Hello and welcome to damppebbles. Today I am delighted to share my review of No Safe Place by Hannah Brennan. No Safe Place was published by Avon Books on 31st July 2025 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats. I chose to read a free ARC of No Safe Place but that has in no way influenced my review. My grateful thanks to the team at Avon Books for sending me a proof copy.

When a pioneering doctor, responsible for a change in the way patients with OCD are treated, is brutally attacked and left for dead in the street, DCI Liz Field is the first to respond. Fifteen years earlier, Dr David Moore took five misdiagnosed teenage patients and worked with them to learn techniques and strategies to help ease the burden of OCD. Now, David is hanging on to life by a thread. When DCI Field finds a page from David’s study near his body, she knows this isn’t a random attack. A second frenzied and bloody assault confirms Field’s suspicions. The victim, one of the five participants, dies at the scene. Can Field and her team find the killer before a third brutal crime is committed. Are the remaining members of David’s group safe, or is there a killer lurking amongst them…?

No Safe Place is an edgy, gripping, fast-paced debut that fans of the genre will gobble up! DCI Field is a driven and determined detective. She goes above and beyond for the victims of the crimes she investigates. Her home life, however, isn’t so polished, and the two different sides of the character made for an interesting read. Field and her team are often given the less demanding cases. She doesn’t get to show her mettle all that often. So when she and her DS are the first to arrive at the first assault, Field knows she has to see the case through to its conclusion. This time, she won’t be pushed aside and replaced by one of her male counterparts. As a detective, I liked Field. But of course, she has her flaws (don’t we all?!).

One of the things that makes this book stand out from other detective novels is how pivotal OCD is to the plot. As someone with little knowledge of the condition, No Safe Place was a real eye-opener. The different ways OCD can manifest, the limitations it can put on the people who have it, and how those with it can be consumed by their thoughts, was really quite shocking. It seems to be a condition that is greatly misunderstood and misrepresented. I believe the author wanted to raise awareness of what OCD actually means for people, and I can’t help but feel she has done a sterling job of that. The characters with the condition seem to have it to varying degrees but Brennan does not let it define them.

Would I recommend this book? I would, yes. No Safe Place is a tense, compulsive and intriguing novel. The characters are well-drawn and interesting. The plot pulls the reader into the story and doesn’t let go until you’ve turned the last page. I loved the final denouement. When the killer is revealed and their reason for carrying out such a violent reign of terror is divulged… it was a dark and beautiful thing, done incredibly well by the author. An engaging crime thriller with a different edge, which was very much appreciated. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed No Safe Place. A well-written debut with a thought-provoking edge. Something a bit different, which is never a bad thing. Gripping, highly intriguing and impossible to put down for any length of time. I’ve already written the date of the second Detective Liz Field novel in the diary! Looking forward to more DCI Field in 2026. Recommended.

I chose to read and review a free ARC of No Safe Place. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.

No Safe Place by Hannah Brennan was published in the UK by Avon Books on 31st July 2025 and is available in paperback, audio and digital formats (please note, the following links are affiliate links which means I receive a small percentage of the purchase price at no extra cost to you): | amazon.co.uk | Waterstones | bookshop.org | Goodreads | damppebbles bookshop.org shop | damppebbles amazon.co.uk shop | damppebbles amazon.com shop |

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.