Which is great for us, as Pinborough uses the Tasha’s character resplendently.

With this almost sterile upbringing it is no wonder Tasha turned out the way she did. Tasha’s mother sees her more as an accessory and has as much emotional attachment to her daughter as she does to her unused laptops and ipads. At least he makes an attempt to understand his daughter. And yet, when compared to his wife he is almost father of the year material. He exists in his study like some sort of human cuckoo clock periodically popping out to announce the time. This is most evident with Tasha’s parents, her father is almost like a clockwork automaton, going through the endless cycle of work, work, work interspersed with flashes of concern for his daughter. Even the parents of the kids, who exist in this novel in an almost wraith like limbo, with the barest of grasps on what is going on about them. There are no real characters here, in the sense that everyone is either living a lie, or a barely existing. However this is more than a murder mystery, albeit an excellent one, it is also a fabulous look the pressures of teenage life and sterility of our modern set of values. For that is what all of the characters are, mask wearing actors desperate for the attention of the adoration of the audience, every watchful of their friends who are the custodians of their private fears, these girls will do anything to be adored by the spotlight. Hell it even has a death scene at near the end of the book where one of the girl’s soliloquys in a spotlight’s glare, sees her wiped from the face of the earth like a greasepaint mask. Tasha has no idea who put her in the river, or even why, there was sign of any sexual assault, and no sign of any motive, so when she sets out to discover why she ended up in the cold river no one is safe from the secrets and lies that she discovers.Īt its heart 13 Minutes is a glorious modern take on the Gothic murder mystery, with dusty libraries, scatty debutants and isolated country mansions, replaced with teenage bedrooms, world wise teenage girls, wise beyond their age, and social media.

Cold and close to death this chance meeting will set on course a series of events that will see the ripples on the surface turn into huge waves that threaten to destroy everything in their wake. The novel starts off with the chance discovery of Tasha’s almost dead body in the local river by a local musician.

13 minutes by sarah pinborough