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An Unfamiliar Murder – Jane Isaac - Review by Teresa Hamilton

When she arrives home from a routine day teaching, Anna Cottrell finds the murdered body of a stranger in her apartment. With this for a beginning it is not surprising that the reader is guaranteed a fast paced, intense plot full of the unexpected.

Is Anna herself is a cold-blooded killer and her seeming innocence just a lie? Detective, DCI Helen Lavery who is assigned to the case, initially places Anna on top of her list of suspects and Anna’s situation worsens when new evidence links her irrevocably with the victim. But Lavery is a detective determined to prove herself whilst leading her first murder investigation, following her gut instinct and using her experience to outwit a murderer and her male superiors.

Jane Isaac’s An Unfamiliar Murder is an excellent debut. A talented writer, she keeps you in suspense, cleverly weaving more and more intrigue into the story's page-turning plot. All the characters are well drawn; the women especially come alive as you empathise with their individual situations, and the ending believable and satisfactory.

As an action packed and thrilling read I found this difficult to put down until I had devoured it completely. Jane Isaac has got it spot on, understanding the need to balance all aspects of a novel to engaging the reader completely. Hopefully this is only the first of many novels to come.