Tangled Web UK Review February 2008
Out of a Clear Sky by
Sally Hinchcliffe
hbk out May 08
Published by Macmillan
at £12.99
Bird-watchers are an obsessive lot, and obsessives make great characters in a crime novel. In her debut offering, Sally Hinchcliffe has started with this premise and fashioned a neat novel of psychological suspense. The protagonist is Manda, a woman with a troubled past and an equally challenging present. She’s just been dumped by her lover Gareth, a fellow birdwatcher. But there are two other men in her life – Gareth’s amiable chum and the spooky David, who seems to be stalking her. Haunted by the mysterious death of her mother as well as the loss of Gareth, Manda is, despite her strength of character, a born victim. When someone starts to menace her, the question is whether she will survive and, if so, at what cost. This is a well-written book, which the publishers compare to the work of Nicci French and Barbara Vine. But French and Vine are highly accomplished plotters, and this book is rather short of plot. Hinchcliffe compensates with a mass of detail about bird-watching, and although this is very well done, it is not quite enough. The major twist will be foreseen by most seasoned mystery readers, but Hinchcliffe is a writer of real potential and this first outing augurs well for the future.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
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