‘Presumed Guilty’ by Jane Isaac

Published by Nielsen UK,
5 December 2018.
ISBN: 978-1-91-6406-21-6 (PB)

This is the author’s seventh thriller and the second in the series featuring DC Beth Chamberlain (the female protagonist who is a Family Liaison Officer), although it can easily be enjoyed as a stand-alone.

Set within landlocked Northamptonshire, “The Rose of the Shires” in the east Midlands, the novel starts with a bang when the first victim, Stuart Ingram, a leading councillor, is fatally injured in a hit and run. Suspicion falls on the next of kin but that’s not all. Over the course of the book the body count climbs as more victims are found dead in mysterious circumstances. What does the killer want? 

 DC Chamberlain   is assigned to support the victims’ families. But she is more than just a shoulder to cry on or the brewer of endless cups of tea. Insightful, ambitious, hardworking, gutsy and with a keen eye for investigative detail, she’s every bit as savvy as male detective colleagues, and has an uneasy, tense relationship with a woman boss.   Then there are the numerous strands of inquiry that Chamberlain   suspects are all connected and she must tie them all together, but the killer’s mission is unclear and she knows he must be hunted down and stopped.

The author is a quality thriller writer, meticulous on police procedural and places her victims right at the heart of things so that the story races along in a gripping cat and mouse game   from   the start to a finish that is tantalizing.  Intricate plotting coupled   with believable characters and pacy dialogue results in a whodunit that twists and turns and keeps the reader on edge to the very last page.  Highly recommended.  

------

Reviewer: Serena Fairfax

Jane Isaac lives with her husband, daughter and dog, Bollo, in rural Northamptonshire, UK. Her debut novel, An Unfamiliar Murder, was nominated as best mystery in the 'eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook awards 2013.' The Truth Will Out was nominated as 'Thriller of the Month - April 2014' by E-thriller.com and winner of 'Noveltunity book club selection - May 2014'. Jane's latest title, Before It's Too Late, will be published by Legend Press on the 1st of June 2015. Jane loves to hear from readers and writers. Visit her website at www.janeisaac.co.uk where you can email her through the contacts page or peruse her blog, 'Caffeine's Not a Crime'.

 Serena Fairfax spent her childhood in India, qualified as a lawyer in England and practised in London for many years. She began writing by contributing feature articles to legal periodicals   then turned her hand to fiction. Having published nine novels all, bar one, hardwired with a romantic theme, she has also written short stories and accounts of her explorations off the beaten track that feature on her blog. A tenth, distinctly unromantic, novel is a work in progress. Thrillers, crime and mystery narratives, collecting old masks and singing are a few of her favourite things.

www.serenafairfax.com