DI Helen Birch – this is the fifth in the series – cannot help but get involved in a case that she’s specifically been told not to investigate. When a colleague needs her help, well, it’s all too much for the DI to resist. And it’s a good one: a vigilante in Edinburgh who has ensured the city no longer feels safe.

This is book 5 in the DI Helen Birch series set in Edinburgh and Birch is recovering from having been shot (an event in book 4 and mentioned in authors notes). She is on leave of absence still learning to walk with crutches. It read well as a stand-alone. Helen is a great character and I loved it when she enlists the help of her Dad and how well this aspect is brilliantly inserted in the story. I did struggle a bit with Dad’s Scottish dialect and had to reread a few times.

Briefly, a series of increasingly violent events take place and as a reader we know it is a vigilante but to the police the events appear to be gang related. Birch is bored and frustrated at home and becomes involved in the case when her colleague asks for help. Needless to say she upsets her bosses and they don’t agree with her intuition that there is a vigilante on the streets so she continues to investigate off her own back.

It started quite slowly but the the pace soon moves up a notch. The descriptions of how the incident in the last book and her subsequent pain, has affected Birch, both physically and mentally is very well managed. Alongside the police procedural element of the book this is really a very character driven story. A clever thriller with a number of surprising twists and turns; an enjoyable read.

My first introduction to DI Birch and what a corker it is.
DI Helen Birch is recovering after being shot but is finding it hard. She wants to be back at work. She starts doing some unofficial research for a friend, a newly promoted sergeant, after a tall, thin man with a black Golf crosses the police radar for solo attacks on small time criminals. The criminal fraternity doesn't seem to know him. Birch is determined to find out who it is, and bring him to justice, but unable to walk well and at constant risk of reprimands from her furious senior officer, she finds herself on her own.
Taut and gripping, with a couple of twists I didn't see coming.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

theres a vigilante in town

DI helen birch is off on sick leave recovering from being shot, but her friend and newly promoted sergeant kato rings her for help at an horrendous crime scene as she cant get hold of anyone else

and its not long before things start to escalate...

an interesting compelling read that i couldnt put down and i didnt see the end coming at all...

looking forward to the next book in this brilliant series

Thank you to the author, publishers Hodder and Stoughton and NetGalley UK for access to this as an advance reader’s ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

DI Birch is desperate to get back to work. Recovering from a gunshot wound in the line of duty, she’s been ordered to rest and enter therapy. But when her protégé tells her about a pattern she’s spotted between recent reports, Birch throws herself into an unofficial investigation.

This is book five in the DI Birch series, but it absolutely passes the great series test by balancing relevant backstory with plot in a way that doesn’t labour the point while welcoming new readers who arrive mid-series.

Birch is a great character. In many ways the archetypal trope detective of the social misfit whose inability to play the organisational politics game is tolerated because she reaches insights into the case all her colleagues miss. But, she manages to feel fresh in a way that isn’t simply ’oh, but this one’s female’.

The supporting cast are also largely strong, apart from Birch’s boss and the rival who has taken over her position while she is on leave. Both fall dangerously close to caricatures in their rope pf provide opposition and challenge to Birch’s insightful, but renegade detective.

Newly-minted Detective Sergeant Amy Kato, Birch’s father Jamieson and her boyfriend Anjan are, however, all well-developed character who both challenge and facilitate Birch in an interesting and largely believable way.

A really good standalone story and a new author added to my TBR list to catch-up with their back catalogue.

DI Birch #5

DI Helen Birch is recovering from major surgery, housebound and exceptionally bored. Her boss, DCI McLeod, has made it crystal clear: she's not to take on any work until her recuperation is over. In her absence, Amy Kato is promoted to Sergeant and is given a maddening case to work on: Edinburgh is being plagued by an anonymous vigilante. He started small, meting out punishment to obnoxious boy racers and other antisocial folk, but his behaviour is escalating. Amy can tell from the anonymous paper trail he leaves. His writings are increasingly confident, and increasingly threatening. And yet he also seems to be invisible: her team can find no clue as to his identity and no trace of his whereabouts.

This book is descriptively written. Helen is on sick leave after being shot in the line of duty. She's not coping very well, she's also suffering from the incident and going stir crazy. Amy Kato has been promoted to Sergeant and Helen wants Amy to let her help with the investigation. This is a gritty, gripping and twisted read. The story is mostly about Helen's resentment and daily struggles whilst recovering from being shot. The characters are well developed. The pace is steady. This book could be read as a standalone.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HodderStoughton and the author #ClaireAskew for mt ARC of #TheDeadDontSpeak in exchange for an honest review.

The Dead Don’t Speak Claire Askew

4 stars

The next DI Birch book
This is the third book in the DI Birch series and I really thing I needed to have read the previous two to understand better what had happened to DI Birch when she got shot. This book is mainly about her resentment and struggling to recover from her injury and, in particular, her frustration at not being able to do the job she loves so much. She is particularly unkind to her long –suffering partner, Anjan, who is only trying to help her.

The story revolves around a set of murders that appear to be that of a vigilante trying to hurt people who most deserve it. Because one of the victims, James Able, was linked to a known gang leader currently in prison, the police seem to think this is the work of a person hoping to take over as the new hard man. However Helen is sure that this is a vigilante and despite being forbidden to get involved she goes her own way and sets up a trap to catch this person.

I found it hard to have a lot of sympathy with DI Birch and she seems determined to do whatever she wants to despite causing problems to her colleagues and being threatened with suspension from her job. Maybe if I had read the earlier books I would be able to understand her stubbornness and her treatment of other people. I also found the solving of the suspect a little too contrived but did enjoy the book.

.
Karen Deborah
Reviewer for Net Galley

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy of The Dead Don’t Speak, the fifth novel to feature DI Helen Birch of Police Scotland, based in Edinburgh.

Helen is off work recovering from a gunshot wound, but she’s struggling with boredom, so when newly promoted DS Amy Kato asks for help on the case of a suspected vigilante she is working Helen is only too pleased to help. Warned off the case by her boss she continues to work it despite the danger it puts her in.

I enjoyed The Dead Don’t Speak, which is a different kind of novel from its predecessors as the crime element is more background than front and centre. The novel is all about Helen and her recovery process and, frankly, it doesn’t make her very likeable. For this reason I think that this novel would be a poor fit for a new reader to the series.

I think that Helen’s situation is very realistic as I can identify with many of her emotions when I first became ill. Her self worth is linked to her job, so not working is a kind of torture, then there is the boredom of being physically unable to do normal things and the unwanted solicitiousness and care of others. She is railing against her fate and feeling guilty that her actions caused the death of a man. It’s a strong brew of emotions and she’s not handling it well. Add to this her belief that she knows best and she manages to upset everyone in her orbit. It’s not a great picture of her, but, on the other hand, she is right.

The plot is about the hunt for a vigilante. The reader knows this before the detectives because his point of view is given several airings in the first person. How can you be an accidental vigilante, because that’s how he sees himself initially? Nevertheless he evolves as the novel progresses, although the novel offers no insight into why he would fall into the most improbable trap ever conceived. The trap makes sense as a plot device, but seems to come from nowhere and would never happen without more safeguards. I can’t say more, but really. Still, it’s exciting and a suitable finale.

The Dead Don’t Speak is a good read that I can recommend.

I’ve always loved Askew’s crime thrillers, and found this newest one to be back to her best even though I didn’t fully understand the plan around luring a vigilante out by taking a convicted criminal to a concert. Despite my misgivings with all of that, the story hung together and I was happy to have not twigged how I was being manipulated as a reader around one of the seeming sub-plots until quite last minute.

This is the 5th outing for DI Helen Birch and, as with all series, I am obviously going to recommend you start at book one and read in order. I know I bang on about this all the time but you really will get the best from the individual books if you do this.
So... Helen in stuck at home recovering after having major surgery after being shot. She is also a bit shot in the head from the outcome of her last case, and seeing a force therapist. Her relationship with Anjan is suffering. She really isn't in a good place.
She is therefore under strict orders from DCI McLeod not to work. Yeah...right... as if!?
Meanwhile her teammate Amy Kato, recently promoted to sergeant is heading up a rather nasty case. There's a spate of crimes plaguing the city. A boy racer is sideswiped leading to hospitalisation, other nefarious antisocial people are also targeted. Initially deemed unrelated, they think it is all just gang related. But with an ever changing MO and a plethora of maybe targets, Amy is struggling. McLeod isn't convinced it's that big a deal but Amy fears things are escalating. So she does what she isn't supposed to do... She asks Helen for help. Helen then ropes her previously estranged father to help her.
After starting to investigate, it soon becomes evident that maybe it could be the work of one person - a sort of batman type vigilante. But will she be able to crack the case... and at what personal cost...?
Ooo this was a juicy read which I thoroughly enjoyed. I do like Helen as a character and very much felt for her with how the previous book's events concluded. I feared for the fallout and that is very much evident herein. She is a mess. And being sidelined is not helping. But she also doesn't help herself, or indeed ask others for help she needs. Vicious circle. I also love the ongoing relationship with father Jamieson.
And the case under investigation is a doozy. Where part of you wants them to get away with things as the targets are nasty people, there's also the case of right and wrong and where do you draw the line with vigilante and retribution.
It also highlights the issues that cops face day in day out. How every case effects them in some way and how it can all compound and come to a head if not dealt with properly.
All in all, a good solid read and a great addition to an already well impressive series. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

The Dead don’t speak by Claire Askew is the fifth book in the D I Helen Birch series.
In this instalment Helen is on sick leave and recovering from a gunshot wound in her hip that she got in her last case of Operation Kendall. Which was a hostage situation that went wrong, and the person died. Not only is she in a lot of pain but she id blaming herself of what happened that day. She is not dealing with it very well even though she is seeing a therapist. She is not a person to seat still for very long. So, when newly promoted Sargent Amy Kato calls her for her to help on a case of a Vigilante. She jumps at the chance to help. Even though the rest of her colleagues and her boyfriend Anjan to leave well alone. But Helen is at home bored and can’t help herself to get involved. So, she goes out on her own to find the vigilante, with the help of her dad who is driving her around.
Thank you, Hodder & Stoughton, for a copy of Claire Askew’s latest offering. This is another fab edition to the series. It has a well written realistic plot; with lots of twists regarding Helen Birch who is determined to find the vigilante and solved the case. But her friends and colleagues think she has gone a step to far and not staying on leave and recovering from her injuries. So much so that she is on the edge of being suspended. They question her mental health. This is a great read. 4 stars from me.

I love this series that features Helen Birch, she is recovering from a major injury which she sustained in her last case. Somehow she manages to insinuate herself into a major case which I found unbelievable. I am afraid I soon lost interest. I did finish the book but for me it was not one of her best.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

I have loved all of Claire Askew's books - in my opinion she is up there with Susie Steiner and Sarah Hilary as literary crime with real heart and soul. Her compulsive plots make the reader want to turn the page but there's a poetry at line level that makes you linger. I'd love to see this made into a TV series!

Another good, realistic thriller from Claire Askew, set in Scotland and featuring DI Birch. Helen Birch is recovering from a gunshot wound and struggling with not being able to do her job. The characterisation is excellent, the plotting was believable and there is plenty tension to keep the reader occupied. A good series for lovers of crime thrillers. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Brilliant! DI Helen Birch is back, I mean she shouldn’t be back, she should be on sick leave recovering from being shot, but we all know that’s not going to happen for long!

A brilliant, fast paced tale of policing. Will Helen be suspended? Will she take things too far and regret her choices?

I love the characters, the relationships, the mystery of who is the the criminal they are after…a perfect mix that will keep you hooked.

The Dead Don’t Speak is the latest book in the DI Helen Birch series by Claire Askew and it is a good police procedural with a number of twists and turns.

This book picks up a few weeks after the conclusion of the previous one and the fallout from that case does impact this one although The Dead Don’t Speak can be read as a stand-alone.

A recommended read.

I never read the books in this series before so I just started with this one and it can be read as a stand-alone but I do wonder if the main character would have been less irritating if I had read them before. That aside this was a good solid book with a twist that I never saw coming that bumped this was a three to a solid four star.

The setting in Edinburgh is just brilliant and the parts that are written in the dialect from here was so great that I can hear it as I read.

Claire Askew takes her Edinburgh based DI Helen Birch series in a different direction here, what we have here is a detailed forensic psychological study of a traumatised Birch as she hits rock bottom, she is on sick leave after being shot in Operation Kendall, and plagued by nightmares replaying all that went wrong and her failures that led to the death of Gerald Hodgson. Her recovery is far too slow a process for her to manage, forced by DCI MacLeod to see a therapist, Dr Jane Ryan. Birch is climbing the walls, living in lawyer Anjan's exclusive, well organised, luxury city apartment, her crippling pain ensuring that she is dependent on him to look after her. She is alone for most of the day, a headstrong personality, she has nothing to fill the mental vacuum she faces, reading is not enough, she has nothing and no-one who can fill the gaping hole that is her role as a police officer, it is fundamental to her sense of identity, nothing else matters.

All the elements are there for Birch to follow the most self destructive and dangerous of paths, as she leaves Anjan's to return to her chaotic disorganised home without telling him, and proceeds to ignore all his efforts to get in touch. She insists on helping newly promoted DS Amy Kato on a strange case of someone targeting and following small time perpetrators, described as tall, thin and driving a black car. She is going against orders, in no state to be involved in an active investigation, she needs help whether she likes it or not, the only person left she can call on is her father, Jamieson, a man in his seventies, who owes her for being absent most of her life. As matters escalate to murder, there is no way Birch will let go, not the threat to her career that suspension will bring, nor the damage to her physical and mental health as self doubts grow.

Birch is convinced that they have a vigilante on their hands, not a gang turf war, but she soon loses anyone who believes in her, the terrific Jamieson stays with her, but only because of his love for his daughter. This is a fascinating addition to the series, Birch is exasperating, she is teetering on the edge of losing it, facing suspension, and still nothing will stop her, not the setbacks to her physical health, she is who she is, and has to do what she has to do, whatever it costs her. This is one for crime and mystery readers who love indepth character studies. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

I have read the others in this series and enjoyed them and this didn't disappoint. Claire Askew has a great cast of characters and knows how to keep you engaged and engrossed with her story. Would recommend.

This book is an excellent read,I enjoyed reading every chapter and could not wait to read the next one..
Very strong characters each with their own backstory. A strong-willed D,I. who seems to go it alone whatever the cost to her health and career alongside a feisty D.S. who is the only one supporting her friend and colleague an,enthusiastic father, a forgiving boyfriend and a commanding officer tired of his D.I. and her crazed ideas.
It all makes for a dramatic and thrilling read.