This is a well-paced, well-constructed installment in the DI Helen Birch series. It’s set over the course of a single day. For realism, you could try reading the chapters at the exact hours mentioned in each title. I liked this book more than the second in the series, but not quite as much as the first and third books; it’s probably more of a 3.75, but I can’t rate that finely so I’ll round it up. It would probably help to have read at least the previous book in the series, so that you know who the main characters in Helen’s life are, but I myself often start series partway through so I’m not going to tell you what to do in that regard! I do like this series a lot, though, because of the setting and the main character, and because of how Askew uses newspaper articles, Wikipedia articles, and emails to help move the story forward in interesting ways.… (más)

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rabbitprincess | Sep 11, 2022 |

Cover your tracks por Claire Askew

In this book, DI Helen Birch’s team receives what seems to be a straightforward case: a man who has come home to Edinburgh to claim his parents’ inheritance, only they’ve gone missing—and he’s been out of contact with them for about 25 years. So are they even dead? Or are they just missing? Obviously, for the sake of the book existing, this seemingly simple case opens a giant can of worms.

I liked this a bit more than the second book in the series. It was a fast read and I was highly invested, making my best guesses as to how it would play out. I actually ended up predicting the ending, but I wasn’t annoyed about being able to do this. (I don’t usually try to solve mystery novels, so sometimes I find it irritating to be able to predict the outcome.) I also liked how some of the story was summarized using online newspaper articles, including really old ones from the archives.… (más)

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rabbitprincess | otra reseña | Jul 23, 2022 |

All the Hidden Truths por Claire Askew

A tragic and disturbing topic is a tall order for a debut novel, but Askew handles it with astonishing skill. School shootings, sadly, have happened more than once in the US, and Askew has taken the event and planted it into a UK (Scottish) college. Ryan walks into his college and kills thirteen female students. Then, himself.

The ensuing aftermath is shared by three POVs: Ryan's mother, Moira; Ishbel, the mother of the first victim, Abigail, and lastly, DI Helen Birch, the detective in charge of the case.

So, there is no 'whodunnit'. We know that from the get-go. It's the 'why did he do it?' and the effect on those most closely connected.

Desperation, emotion and heartbreak oozes from every pore from the start. It's a tragedy, of course, but I was starting to wonder if I could take page after page of it and, guiltily, I was rather irritated by Ishbel and her husband, Aiden, neither of whom managed to endear themselves to me. But Ishbel turns out to be a clever woman indeed.

An absolutely stunning debut by this author. Her characters are well observed and well portrayed, from the shocked and confused mother to the slimy, devious, unscrupulous and just plain odious journalist stomping into his reporting of the story with a sledgehammer. She certainly knows how to wring the pathos out of her words.

Askew has marched into the authorial arena with flying colours, and I know I shall be reading her subsequent work.… (más)

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Librogirl | 2 reseñas más. | Mar 13, 2022 |

Cover Your Tracks por Claire Askew

The third in the Edinburgh-set police series featuring DI Helen Birch (although somehow I missed out on the second one!). Every family has secrets, and as Birch and her colleagues delve into the case of the missing parents of the rather unsavoury Robertson Bennet, it takes on ever-more darker aspects.

Solid, with an enjoyable cast of characters, but still after reading 2 of these I can't quite warm to our central character. Nonetheless, a good addition for fans of this developing series.

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Alan.M | otra reseña | Aug 24, 2020 |

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