At 8am the first shots are fired.
At 1pm, the police establish the gunman has a hostage.
By 5pm, a siege is underway.
At 9pm, DI Helen Birch walks, alone and unarmed, into an abandoned Borders farmhouse to negotiate with the killer.
One day. One woman. One chance to get everyone out alive.
I'd like to thank Jenny at Hodder Books for my copy of A Matter of Time to review.
A Matter of Time is the latest book in Claire Askew's DI Helen Birch series but don't worry if you've not read the others as it can be read as a standalone as there's snippets of information drip fed throughout that will give readers a true snapshot of who she is and everything that she has been through so far in the series.
The story is told over the period of a day from the moment that DI Helen Birch hears on the radio that there has been a mass shooting at a local showground hosting the annual Border Union show to the eventful surrender by the gunman and release of the hostages that she finds herself being the lead negotiator for.
From the offset I was intrigued as to what triggered the initial shooting and then the subsequent siege situation in an abandoned hut in the remote countryside of the Scottish Borders. Why did Gerald Hodgson ask for Helen specifically and is not willing to deal with anyone else? And why was Helen willing to put herself in harms way when she has no previous hostage negotiation experience? It's only over time as Helen talks to Gerald that we get a clearer picture that it's events from the past that brought him to his breaking point today.
The remote setting for this storyline makes for atmospheric reading especially when day turns to night and there's no sign that the siege is coming to an end. The desolate countryside means that it's not possible to try and breach without being seen and putting the hostages at risk so it's down to Helen's negotiations to bring things to a satisfactory resolution.
It's clear that Gerald Hodgson despite his actions today was just as much a victim due to his history and it just goes to show that anyone's lives can be turned upside down by a twist of fate. By his making a split-second decision whilst undertaking his job, during a crisis that devastated the farming community, that will have a lasting impact on the rest of his life.
Personally for me A Matter of Time is probably my least favourite of the series but that's not to say it's a bad read, it's not, it just didn't grip me as much as the previous books. That being said I'm definitely looking forward to the next book to see what's in store next for DI Helen Birch especially after that ending.
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