A Matter of Time

At 8am the first shots are fired.

“A breathless , real-time, 24 -style thriller that combines nail-biting tension with boundless compassion”

A breathless, real-time, 24-style thriller that combines nail-biting tension with boundless compassion Erin Kelly
Tell Jack Bauer he's been supplanted . . . taut The i newspaper
Claire Askew is proving to be a master of the suspenseful police procedural Sunday Times Crime Club
This 24-style thriller is filled with nail-biting tension The Scots Magazine
This nail-biter keeps up a rollicking pace - this is one you're likely to devour in one sitting My Weekly
Tension-packed Carlisle Living
Breathtaking On Magazine
Nail-biting Crime Monthly
An engrossing and thought provoking read Belfast Telegraph
Very tense, sad and tragic, a thought provoking read NB Books
Phew, the electric tension in this nail-biting, clock-ticking, thriller almost blew my fuses! Tension reaches screaming point . . . unmissable! Peterborough Telegraph
The tension builds to genuinely frightening peaks . . . Enjoy the breathtaking thrill of the ride The Scotsman
A tense psychological thriller Choice Magazine
Askew has delivered a peak-page turner and fans of crime-fiction will be left with a cliffhanger ending and a pronounced desire to learn where DI Birch turns up next Irish Examiner
Askew displays pitch-perfect understanding of tone and cadence . . . breathtaking thrill Yorkshire Post

Claire Askew's debut novel All The Hidden Truths won the 2016 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize as a work in progress, and the 2019 McIlvanney Debut Crime Fiction Award. Two of her novels have been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. Her fourth novel, A Matter of Time, was longlisted for the McIlvanney Crime Novel of the Year 2022. Claire is also a poet and non-fiction writer and she lives in Carlisle.

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. The outstanding new novel from the highly acclaimed author of All the Hidden Truths and What You Pay For - both shortlisted for the CWA Golden Dagger.

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