Can you believe that it’s been a whole year since our Covid way of life started??? It seems insane to me, how time has just flown. Anyways, also going back with this post, I had such an amazing reading month for January (16 books I think), but I ended up reading and reading….forgetting to draft reviews. So here I am, playing catch up!! Today’s book is from January’s binge and is titled, Cover Your Tracks.

What is Cover Your Tracks about?

What if I told you,’ he said, ‘that I believe my mother’s life to be in danger?’

Robertson Bennet returns to Edinburgh after a 25-year absence in search of his parents and his inheritance. But both have disappeared. A quick, routine police check should be enough – and Detective Inspector Helen Birch has enough on her plate trying to help her brother, Charlie, after an assault in prison. But all her instincts tell her not to let this case go. And so she digs.

George and Phamie Bennet were together for a long time. No one can ever really know the secrets kept between husband and wife. But as Birch slowly begins to unravel the truth, terrible crimes start to rise to the surface.

My Review

This is the first book I’ve read by Claire Askew, and I’m always keen to discover new authors. As it the norm these days, I seem to have jumped into another series! Cover Your Tracks is the 3rd book in the DI Helen Birch series. DI Birch is a compelling character, and we see her battling with trying to find a balance between her private life and her work life. Her brother is in prison, there’s an absent father….a lot that I think Claire will unpack in future books in this series.

From the beginning, when Robertson comes to report that his parents are missing, DI Birch has a feeling something is not right. She goes with her gut and this turns into a full blown investigation. The book has your conventional chapters, and then also these newspaper article extracts, which I found to be an interesting addition to the storyline.  I loved the short chapters, it made it easier to just read one more chapter every time. However, I did feel like this book could have been 50 pages shorter.

The storyline is an interesting one and I do think if you’re a fan of less intense thrillers, this would be right up your alley. It’s not gruesome or really dark in my opinion. Due to reading so many books in January…. I’m not sure if that affected my experience, but I did find that I guessed every plot twist in the book. Perhaps I’m just becoming a super intuitive reader 🙂

My Rating

Cover Your Tracks has a Goodreads rating of 4.21 and the reviews are all glowing for this book. Personally, while I find no fault with the storyline and writing, this was just a bit light for me. By now you know that I have a penchant for dark, twisted thrillers. This one did have a delicious conclusion though, that I absolutely loved!

Cover Your Tracks is available at all leading book retailers!

Disclaimer: Cover Your Tracks was sent to me by Jonathan Ball Publishers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.