In The Blink of An Eye: A BBC Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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Now I don't normally listen to the hype but the premise of the book sounded very intriguing; an Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity teaming up with a seasoned DCS to review cold cases sounds like science fiction but I've been to see ABBA Voyage 3 times in the past few months and seen how technology is evolving so in my mind "anything is possible". I met Jo at Capital Crime in London in September 2022 and was lucky enough to get a proof of her new book In The Blink of An Eye which has had some absolutely RAVE reviews and the word on the street is that this book is going to be HUGE. The whole process of choosing which missing persons to concentrate on is complex in itself, and as time moves on, it becomes clear that there's far more to these cases than originally thought.

Essentially In the Blink of an Eye is a police procedural, Kat and her squad conduct interviews, investigate clues and gather evidence to explain the fate of the missing men. The pacing was spot on and the development of the story was so well written I was completely invested in the outcome (which I didn’t guess correctly). Lock’s features resemble those of Chad Botwick, I thought that was a cute tribute to the late actor. Her boss, Chief Constable McLeish has her head up a pilot project working alongside an Artificial Intelligence Detecting Entity (AIDE) named Lock, who appears as a hologram, very much a character and personality in his own right, the brainchild of Warwick University's Professor Okonedo, a woman with her own agenda. It is also a study in love and grief as the reader sees Kat come to terms with the death of her husband, navigating life and issues without her best friend with her.This has to be a strong contender for crime debut of the year - sharp, perceptive writing and a brilliant new take on the detective duo' T. How to be empathetic when necessary – there are emotions and reactions that Lock needs to learn to be a complete success. Kat puts together a small team and with the assistance of Locke (who has no filters on his thoughts - LOL) they start to look into cold cases. It follows the usual crime procedural in that you have a team of detectives but which includes AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock.

Each are distinct, from the taciturn boss to the AI creator with a chip on her shoulder, from the police officer wanting to make a name for himself to the one who is trying to please. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE Lock, Kat's instincts come up against Lock's logic. A detective mystery with an AI element added to it, I wasn't sure how I felt about LOCK at the beginning, but I really loved the human vs AI interaction in the cases. I understand I can change my preference through my account settings or unsubscribe directly from any marketing communications at any time. I am not certain there will be a sequel, but I really hope there will be, I really loved the relationship dynamics between Lock and Kat.She believes in gut instinct, experience and being able to read people's emotions which is everything the AI Lock can't do and is only programmed to work on logic and facts. The plot cracks along and there are several interesting twists and turns before an unexpected and dramatic ending.