Yes this is a bit gritty and dark but it’s well written and although not my usual genre it was worthy the read and I did finish it. I may even look at the other books the author has written.

Carla, a facial reconstruction expert, and her partner Grace, a criminal psychologist, get involved in Detective Sergeant Jack Maguire's cold case when a skull is found in a lake, and Jack asks Carla for help.
Carla and Grace visit the crime scene at the lake near a luxury resort, and a murder happens while they are there. They get involved in this case too. The murder mystery part is exciting with a complicated plot and a few good twists. Carla and Grace are great characters, so you want them to succeed. Grace is so seductive and flamboyant, she's a real pleasure. Recommended.

The discovery of a skull in an Irish lough begins a new case for forensic expert Dr Carla Steele. Her facial reconstruction skills will be crucial in this cold case. Working with local garda Detective Sergeant Jack Maguire and her partner, criminal psychologist Dr Grace Franicosi, Carla finds a number of possibly linked missing girls. And then new bodies are discovered ...

Carla Steele is an interesting lead character, passionate and intelligent. She is haunted by the disappearance a few years back of her best friend, and now spends her time seeking answers for other families. The case becomes complex and it needs the combination of forensic and policing skills to find the answer.

Three Little Bords is a good read, if a little overlong at 480 pages. The pace drops noticeably in the middle section, as the investigation stalls, and there are several sub plots that add little. But it does pick up again as the conclusion approaches.

Rounding up to 3 stars


The three main characters were interesting enough, and each of them brought their own thing to the investigation.
It was just never a book I rushed back to, and fairly early on I'd guessed where a few plot lines were going.
For me this was an OK read, but I'm not sure I'll pick up the next in series.

Yessss, I loved this book! I requested the arc when I was drawn in by the cover and then I read the blurb, it sounded great and it was!

Three Little Birds is definitely a pretty gritty crime thriller, set in beautiful Ireland. It doesn't spare any details and it's a story that really takes you along for the ride. There's quite a few characters to follow initially, but they're all well fleshed out and you do quickly become to know them all and all are important to the unfolding story. I managed to get through this book and it's 467 pages in pretty much two sittings!

My theories really did bounce around throughout the first half of the book, however I did manage to guess the culprit even though the ending ultimately was not how I imagine it was going to end! That's the only reason I knocked a star off, but it may be down to the fact I'm so deep in crime thrillers it's just one of those things.

A massive thank you to @corvusbooks, @netgalley and Sam Blake for the opportunity to read this great book.

Dr Carla Steele works for Gardai forensics. It’s her job, using skeletal remains, to reconstruct faces of the dead to aid the identification of unidentified victims. Driving her is the unsolved case of her missing best friend, Lizzie.
Her current case – brought to her by DS Jack Maguire – is the skull of a young male found by divers at a known suicide spot. But when Carla begins her pre-reconstruction analysis, nothing is as it seems and a horrific chain of events is set in motion.
The tone is brisk, and having a facial recognition expert as the lead is an interesting take on the police procedural.
With Carla, Jack and Carla’s partner, Grace, well defined in this first book, the markers are down for a successful series.
With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an independent review.

Three Little Birds is another surefire bestseller from the pen of the fab Sam Blake.
Our protoganist is Dr. Carla Steele, a facial reconstruction expert with the Garda (Irish police force) Forensic department. Carla is an acknowledged expert in her field and devoted to finding the name and background story of the remains that cross her desk. Carla is driven in part by the disappearance of her good friend, Lizzie, many years earlier.
When a skull is discovered
in Lough Coyne, Co. Mayo Carla and her partner Grace, travel to the town to learn more about the scene. They soon realise that there is far more to the discovery than originally expected and the body counts starts to rise.
This is a fast-moving storyline and I particularly enjoyed the 'science bits' where Carla explains about her work and the process of facial reconstruction. Such sequences are short, so there is no danger of the reader becoming bored but instead enhance the excitement of the story. And makes it more interesting to understand the process.
I can easily see a future for Carla, Grace and Jack and hope that Three Little Birds is only the start of a long running series.