A brutal murder shatters a small Australian town, leaving a sister to grapple with grief and a community to confront its darkest secrets.When 25-year-old Bella Michaels is brutally murdered in the small town of Strathdee, the community is stunned and a media storm descends. Unwillingly thrust into the eye of that storm is Bellas beloved older sister, Chris, a barmaid at the local pub, whose apparently easygoing nature conceals hard-won wisdom and the kind of street-smarts that only experience can bring.
As Chris navigates the investigation, she uncovers long-held secrets and confronts the complex dynamics of her family and the tight-knit town.An Isolated Incidentexplores the far-reaching impact of violence, the complexities of grief, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable loss. For readers who enjoy character-driven crime fiction and stories that delve into the heart of rural communities.
"Utterly engrossing . . . skilfully constructed narrative. . . . Rather than creating a simple case of goodies and baddies, Maguire subtly examines the complexity of the human personality and what leads somebody to feel destructive. This hugely chilling and evocative story, mixing lyrical language and brutal events, is told with great psychological acuity." —Sydney Morning Herald
"A harrowing, fascinating, compelling work from an accomplished and thoughtful Australian writer who uses the vehicle of a young woman’s death to question and explore society’s treatment of women, the everyday violence it condones and its intrusive fascination with the murder of pretty young women." —Australian
"This is far more than a page-turning crime drama, though it is also that. Maguire’s focus is on those left behind, the often unacknowledged victims of violent crimes. . . . It is a nuanced portrait of a group of flawed characters, male and female, resplC0
![An Isolated Incident [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/8/9/6/2_2449500.jpg "An Isolated Incident [Paperback]")