All the Hidden Truths tells a fictional story of a university shooting in Edinburgh. It is told from three perspectives: the mother of the first victim, the gunman's mother and the detective inspector leading the investigation. 13 young women were murdered on the day of the shooting, The shooter has killed himself with his last bullet. Therefore, how can justice be served if the perpetrator is dead? Who can be blamed in his stead? Someone MUST have known something...

In a topic very relevant in today's society, this book explores the ripples created by a school shooting. People are grief stricken, angry and confused that such a deplorable act could happen in their society. Claire Askew has written a book that is tender, empathetic, heartrending and thought-provoking while at the same time, maintaining tension and suspense throughout. Your heart breaks for Ishbell, the mother of the first victim, but equally sympathetically written is the character of Moira, the gunman's mother, who is also identifiable as a victim, who, not only having lost her only child also, but who is having death threats made against her since the shooting. Throw in a very nasty journalist who will stop at nothing to get to the "truth", despite destroying lives in the process and you have a really beautifully written, and compelling story. I loved it.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Ms Askew for an advance copy of All the Hidden Truths in exchange for an honest review.

A harrowing and insightful study of the aftermath of a dreadful school shooting. Focusing on the people left behind and told from three points of view, two mothers and the investigating officer. We live with them through the terrible consequences of these few minutes of madness and try to find the answer to WHY? Why should an apparently ordinary young man perpetrate such a hideous crime? How can the families survive or even begin to come to terms with the horror? Not an easy read but mighty thought-provoking.

#AllTheHiddenTruths #NetGalley A brilliant crime thriller with sadly an all too realistic storyline. I loved the fact that the story was told from the perspectives of the police, one of the victims mothers and the killers mother and I loved how all three stories came together. An edge of the seat, fast paced, gripping tale that had me hooked from the first chapter and kept me turning the pages late into the night! Would love to see more books featuring this DI. An excellent read.

This was quite a different type of crime novel, in that it was a mass shooting and the killer was dead, so no one was accountable as such.

I did think it dragged a bit and could have been condensed somewhat. It was really a feminine type of book with all the main characters being women.

I thought the press were their usual abhorrent selves and Lockley was just despicable the way he hounded everyone. I just wish they could be reined in.

Having said that it was a good read but it didn’t hold me.

My thanks to Netgalley and the author for the ARC.

I really enjoyed Claire Askew's first crime novel. It's set in Edinburgh, a city I know fairly well, (I know Glasgow better though!) and I like it when I can picture familiar locations.

The story deals with the aftermath of a college shooting where fourteen people die – the shooter, Ryan Summers and his thirteen female victims. No one seems to know why he did it.

The story is told from the point of view of the three strong female characters: newly promoted DI Helen Birch, who is put in charge of the investigation on her first day in her new job; Moira Summers, a widow and the mother of the shooter Ryan Summers, her only son; and Ishbel Hodgekiss the mother of the first victim, Abigail Hodgekiss, also an only child. I thought the main characters had just enough depth and you learned a little more about each of them as the story progressed.

It's heartbreaking. I felt frustration for all three women. The mothers have to face their loss, the public are angry, the press are hounding the families., and the Police get their share of criticism. There is a particularly odious character, an extremely, intrusive and tenacious journalist, who it seems will stoop to any low to get his scoop and who twists words to manipulate public opinion. He seems to relish stirring the pot and he seems to have no qualms about invading privacy, and telling tales no matter how hurtful. For all his hatefulness I quite liked it when Grant Lockley was included in a chapter!

I liked the writing style. Mostly there is a nice rhythm to the prose but there were a few bits where I felt there was a bit too much detail, for example, lists of online postings/conversations, expert notes and press reports. I can understand why these were included but on occasions I found the detail just slightly tedious. There were a few bits in the story where I wondered if a particular action would really happen as it seemed unlikely to me but I'm no expert on police or medical procedure and anyway, I read for entertainment. As I got nearer the end I couldn't put it down and read long past bedtime.

Overall however I liked the book and would love to read more by Claire Askew.

Great novel that treats a very difficult subject of mass murder. Moves along quickly but gets a bit bogged down and confusing with tweets etc along the way. Having said that its a very readable novel with no twists and real surprises.
The characters are believable and carries you along with their haunted searches as to why.
Looking forward to her next book .

A really thought provoking tale and a riveting book.
Ryan Summers walks into college and kills 13 women, then turns the gun on himself. The shocked community are then left wondering 'why?'. The story includes 3 female narratives: a mother of a victim, the mother of the shooter, and a policewoman. They all have very different perspectives of what has happened.
I really liked the way alternative sources are used to move the story along - for example, newspaper articles, tweets and emails. I haven't seen this done as effectively in other books.
It's (obviously) a fairly miserable read, but I finished it quickly and it held me to the end. Very gripping and fast paced.

I struggled to the end of this book. I found the writing of the dialogue for the journalist character, in particular, very immature, The ending was far fetched and the book filled up with unnecessary 'words' where a small sentence could have sufficed, if needed at all. For example, a long description of a street, or anything the characters eyes glanced upon, totally unrelated to the story line, could have been served with far less words, I really didn't need to know when a totally insignificant tree was first planted! I find myself feeling I have wasted a few days of my life reading this book, I really should give up when I find a book going no where.

Excellent story line which was gripping from start to finish. Great characters. I would highly recommend this book.

On a sunny day in Edinburgh Moira summers son Ryan walks into his college cafeteria and begins shooting. By the end of the spree thirteen young ladies and Ryan are dead. What follows is an agonising investigation into what would cause a seemingly ordinary quiet young man to become executioner. The three main women in the story are Moira , then there is ishbel hodgkiss mother of the first victim and di Helen birch the police officer tasked with investigating the why's and wherefores of an unspeakable horror. I felt like an observer within the story and became engrossed with the unfolding drama. At times I was frustrated by the men in the story especially Isabel's Louse of a husband. It begs the question how well do we really know those closest to us. The only bug bear I would have is that occasionally it felt a bit like the story had stalled but then it would begin to race along again.

A thought-provoking and tragic tale following the events of an all too familiar scenario of a school shooting. Told from the viewpoints of the investigator and the mothers of first victim and perpetrator, the ripples go far and wide. Slightly annoying format reflecting the social media norm of these days, but worth reading.

A heartbreaking and thought provoking read. I usually find it quite hard to read books about shootings (although I have read 11 minutes by Jodi Picoult and I loved it), particularly school shootings because I'm a teacher and I know that in America school shootings are a lot more common than they really should be. It has become one of my darkest fears. But I know deep down it is fairly unlikely to happen in the UK again. In this book it does and with devastating consequences.
This story follows the life (and death) of the shooter Ryan Summers, his first victim, Abigail, and their families. I suspected from the beginning of the story the motive of the shooter but this was still an enjoyable read. What really spoke to me was the part of the book where the detective says people want to know details about the shooter, want to know they had a troubled past or mental health issues to distance themselves from it and to know they could never be like the killer. There is so much truth in that, despite in this case the shooter being a normal teenager and not the psychopath stereotype.
Thanks to Netgalley for gifting me an ecopy in return for an honest review.

This was a fantastic book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Whilst the subject matter is a difficult one, in view of the frequent school shootings particularly in the USA, it was interesting to read a book set in this country based on such an event. The book was brilliantly written and whilst you knew the outcome from the start, the different viewpoints were interesting and the conclusion very satisfying. Highly recommended.

I thought that this was a good example of the genre - it was a bit slow to start but suddenly kicked off and became more interesting towards the end. There were some twists and surprises which I liked. There are faults in this which other reviewers have pointed out, but I forgave them and cheered the three women on in the satisfying ending!

“All the Hidden Truths” may be a work of fiction. Yet with its realistic ‘live’ commentary, unnervingly it could be breaking news on our very own media feeds.

The magnitude of a tragic event is delivered with confidence, authenticity, and from the heart. In just a few pages I was transformed from reader to helpless bystander, powerless to affect the outcome. But while I remained safely cocooned the characters were exposed to all manner of trials, as the press and social scrutiny steals precious time from the bereaved and the investigation alike.

When a mass shooting has claimed a loved one it’s traumatic for the families concerned without the burden of these unnecessary and cruel distractions. But how could someone ever come to terms with the fact that their child was the one holding the gun? The story highlights difficult perspectives, reflecting on accountability and how easy it is to judge when we can’t comprehend.

The narration extracts an undiluted rawness from almost every scene and expresses distinctive viewpoints without sensationalism, or prejudice toward any party. Its date and time stamps not only break the story into digestible chunks, each interval reinforces the progress of the gruelling investigation and the characters’ wavering resolve.

It feels exceptionally human, focussing on the aftershocks that are felt by everyone.

There's always going to be the question of why? Why did Ryan Summers go into Three Rivers College and kill all those women before killing himself. What tipped him over the edge?
DI Birch and the team of officers certainly have their work cut out trying to get answers. There's not just shock of what Ryan did, but anger too. As the police investigate, the press are hot on their tails digging for answers.
As the story unfolds you begin to feel some of the frustrations and heartbreak the parents are going through. Not just those who lost their loved ones but Ryan's mother too. How can you live with yourself knowing what your son did? I won't say who, but one of the people in the book really got under my skin. I wanted to get between the pages and knocks their lights out. Yes this thriller really is that good. Not only would I recommend it but it gets five stars from me. This is my honest and unbiased review

I found this book to be a captivating read.

I found that the teenager was out of control and what he did in the end was to end what he did.

The emotions are run high Edinburgh in the book.

By reading from three points of views, it shows every detail from every chapter from each point of views.

This book was a very absorbing read and I would like to read this book again someday.

A moving novel that tackles a difficult subject, well explored from different angles and worth the read.
It’s DI Birch’s first day in a new role since her recent promotion and she is one of the first to arrive on campus at Three Rivers following reports of a shooting.
It’s worse than was feared - thirteen students are dead, all female and shot by a fellow student.
Why? That is the question everyone is asking. We hear different sides of the story, in particular from, from the shooters mother and from the mother of the first in victim. A particularly unpleasant journalist tries to present events from his angle and some unlikely alliances are made.
I found the book credible and easy to read. Kept me engaged to 5he end.

Oh dear. This is, I think the second time that I’ve poorly rated a book that I’ve read because of Netgalley. I did read the book to the end, and I did want to find out the ending but there were so many continuity errors that I just couldn’t quite suspend disbelief. I am sure that many readers less pendantic than I will enjoy this book and I did enjoy parts of it.
The book opens with Moira and there follows a miserable chapter about a miserable woman failing to enjoy a nice sunny day.
Chapter two, ah a new character! But, oh dear... it is DI Birch. Recently promoted and having recently bought her dream home Helen Birch is also a miserable woman.
Chapter 3, another new character, this time Ishbel who is waiting to collect her daughter from football practice. Ishbel does “not entirely approve of her daughters continuing interest in football” You’d be forgiven for thinking that her daughter Abigail was 16 and taking her GCSEs; Mum collecting her from school after an activity, that activity interfering with school work but no, it turns out that Abigail is a grown woman of 19! Ishbel enjoys passive aggressive sniping with both Abigail and her husband Aidan who is a similarly passive aggressive oaf.
The novel centres around the actions of Ryan Summers, Moira’s son as he commits the hideous crime of shooting multiple fellow students at the college he attended. I am hoping that the Scottish education system is different to the English one, because here the bulk of students at FE colleges are 16-18 rather than the 19-27 spread that the author focuses on. These are adults and yet their behaviour is infantilised by their parents, the police and the author. Having adult children of a similar age spread myself it just didn’t feel realistic at all. I think it lost some of the emotional impact because of this.
Turning to ‘the day’ itself, things start to get really silly. Ishbel is at work, for some reason the author is very evasive about what Ishbel does and when it is revealed it bears no relevance to the plot at all) and a colleague mentions that on Twitter there are reports of a shooting at the college and Ishbel panics, that is understandable but what happens next isn’t. She receives a phone call from a Dr friend at the A&E dept telling her that no victims have been brought in yet but that she should go there as it would be the best place to find out about Abigail. Even IF you can ignore the fact that no Dr would ever make such a call, especially when a major incident has been declared but the author tells us that there are 7000 students at the campus. So there is a 1 in 7000 chance that Abigail is involved yet a perfectly rational Dr suggests that a mother of a pupil drives straight to A&E. Okaaay then.
This could so easily have been made more likely if the Dr had phoned her after seeing Abigail or her name, indicating that she was involved.
The book is then largely devoted to the aftermath. This is interesting and emotional at times but ruined by the journalist covering the story. Sometimes he is referred to as a columnist but the pages that are written from his POV are displayed exactly how articles in local newspapers are displayed with hyperlinks to other relevant articles etc which is not at all like a column. As they are displayed as articles they grate as there is no way on earth that a journalist would be allowed to put such blatant opinion into the piece, accusing people of doing things etc. The tabloid press are terrible, but they are also clever enough to operate within the law and most of what he says is libellous.
On a positive note I did really enjoy how the author used Wikipedia pages, news articles, forum posts etc to break up the narrative. The comments on the news articles are brilliant and totally realistic.
The author introduces conspiracy theorists and the suggestion that Ryan was an ‘incel’ a mysoginistic group who refer to themselves as involuntarily celibate and blame women for this fact. While this has been recently found to be the reason behind a spree killing, the author doesn’t elaborate on this which is a shame.
The aftermath period of the novel is more enjoyable than the pre killing and it kept me reading to the end. While DI Birch becomes someone you a cheering on, both Moira and Ishbel remain mostly unlikeable until the final denouement. If only the author had shown the women as they were then for the entire novel.

The book opens with the reader being introduced to three women via their own voices. As one may guess, these women become entwined in the coming chapters. There has been a shooting at a local college and some students maybe hurt...... Enough said of the story as no review should give away the plot. The real interesting script of this novel is the way it covers the use of modern day media and how this dramatically effects not only the lives of those impacted by the tragic event, but also the police investigation of the case. For me the way a book concludes is always important to it's success. This novel deals with the issues well with a satisfactory conclusion drawn, even if it is not realistic or believable in the real world.