Murder mystery that shifted theme and tone towards the end. ( )

An Isolated Incident by Emily Maguire is a highly recommended novel which focuses on an act of violence against a woman, the grief of losing a loved one, and media scrutiny of crimes against women.

Chris is a barmaid at a local pub in the small town of Strathdee, Australia. When her younger sister Bella is found brutally murdered, not only must Chris deal with her unimaginable grief and persistent questions of why Bella and who would do this, she also has to deal with the media storm that descends on the city. Her ex, Nate, comes to stand by her side as he also mourns Bella. Chris is a tough character who is used to using her assets, so to speak, to get better tips as well as other compensation. The community is silently judging her while upholding the proper, loveliness that was Bella. The whole town is mourning.

Reporters are ascending upon the town and are ruthless. May Norman is a reporter who has just broken up with her married lover and has been sent to Strathdee to cover the murder. She is writing about the crime while missing her lover and thinking about him a lot. Her goal is to get a one-on-one interview with Chris for more inside information to sell a bigger story.

This is more an examination of the trauma that survivors experience when a loved one is murdered and there are no suspects. While the police investigation is certainly part of the story, the novel is not a murder mystery and does not carefully follow the investigation. Instead, chapters alternate between the points-of-view of Chris and May. The two women reflect upon their lives and what they are going through. Setting the murder aside, it is in many ways a novel of gender inequality and explores what many women encounter at the hands of men. There are also supernatural elements as Chris experiences what she feels is Bella's presence.

The writing is compelling and I wanted to find out what happened to Bella and who the perpetrator was, but the ending was actually a huge let down. The novel does conclude, but it's all rushed, matter-of-fact information. This is an uneven novel that will hold your attention throughout, but you may feel as I did, dissatisfaction with the ending.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Eye Books.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2018/11/an-isolated-incident.html ( )

Bella Michaels was last seen leaving from her job on a Friday evening. Her friends and family are concerned when they can't get in touch with her over the weekend. They contact the police, but since she is twenty-five years old, they assume she's taken off for the weekend with friends. Her family and close friends think; differently, her sister Chris refers to her as the "the world's youngest grandma" she's very responsible and would never do anything to worry her family.
Her brutalized body is discovered the following Monday on the side of the road leading out of town. Strathdee is a small town in Australia, that's pretty safe, so this murder rocks the community. Everyone seems to know everyone, and they all loved Bella, she was a special young lady that was beautiful, yet extremely kind.
Her older sister, Chris is utterly unhinged after she has to make the identification of the body and speak with police. Chris is several years older than Bella and works in a local pub, and after her divorce, it's common knowledge that she's taken up with several truckers who have stopped off at the pub while driving through town for a night of fun after work.
Chris is an attractive woman for her age, but she's all heart. Her ex-husband Mack comes down to help her deal with the death of her sister, Bella. The last thing Chris wants is to deal with all the media; not to mention some of the detectives' innuendo of her free spirit lifestyle compared to Bella's they are as different as night and day.
This case is going nowhere; the media has lost interest and left, Chris is trying to deal with this as best she can. At first, she goes back to work until she starts suspecting everyone around her as the monster who killed her sister. Chris finds herself immobilized by this fear that eventually takes over her life.
This is an excellent psychological thriller, Ms. Maguire pulls you in from the beginning and holds your attention to the very end. At times it's like the protagonist, Chris is speaking to you the reader directly which made it even more interesting. The way she weaves Chris's grief and torment it keeps the reader wondering what is fact and fiction. It really does begin to play on your mind.
Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this e-galley in exchange for my honest opinion, the opinions I expressed above are my own. ( )

An Isolated Incident
By Emily Maguire
2016 Pan MacMillan, AU
Expected pub. date 11-1-2018

Bella Michaels, a 25 year old, good natured girl who works at a home for the aged, is well liked in the community of Strathdee, South New Wales. Everyone is stunned when her brutally beaten and murdered body is found. The media goes crazy with the need to find the truth. Sensationalize the story, its what sells papers.
Bella's older sister, Chris, is a popular and friendly bar maid at a local pub, whose life is put in a state of turmoil and paranoia as she searches for clues, answers, anything that could lead her to the cause her sisters death, but the more she uncovers the less she begins to trust those around her....her friends, ex-husband, bar acquaintances...someone somewhere knows what happened. Someone somewhere has the answers. Chris knows it. But how do you tell the good guys from the bad guys?
Issues of domestic violence, and male entitlement and sexualzation are still prevalent in our declining state of a trustful, responsible society. Was Bella a victim? Someone is responsible but Chris is only feeling more paranoid as she learns the facts.
This whole book was really timely and wonderfully done. The last few chapters blew me away. They were mind blowing and unforgettable.
Thanks you to Lightning Books and NetGalley for this ARC.
#AnIsolatedIncident #NetGalley ( )

A small town situated off the highway halfway between Melbourne and Sydney. A young women is brutally raped and murdered. This act will disrupt the town and its inhabitants in ways they will not see coming.

The victim’s older sister Chris, will have to cope with her grief while becoming the focal point of the media’s obsession with her as the surviving sister.

The story is told through the eyes of two women. Chris and May. Chris the friendly accommodating barmaid and May, a journalist for an on-line newspaper. Both women have complicated love lives, their interactions with men are exposed by the media and the small town’s prurient interest into who among them could have committed this horrific crime.

There are some parallels with the murder of Jill Meagher; (http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/bayley-adrian.htm) how somehow a crime becomes a flash point for the community to embed all their issues on violence towards women.

This is not a happy book, there is not much to lighten the mood, to provide a counterpoint to the polemic that all man are bastards. ( )