Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Full review to be found on Goodreads and on my website.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more from this author! I highly recommend this book and author to all!

Such a great book. Makes for a wonderful read. I can not wait to read more from this author. I love books like this.

This book shouldn't be classified as a thriller. I would have liked it better and known what to expect if it was classified as women's fiction. It is more about the effect of loss and grief, and I did like the writing. It just wasn't what I was expecting.

I read this book in 2 days! As it started out with a murder, I had to keep reading to find out who did it! But as I kept reading I realized that the story was more about how a person deals with the grief and loss of a loved one to a horrific murder.

I expected to get specific details of the murder and to find out who did it and I thought those were the anchors of the story. By the end, when it is finally told who did it, I didn't really even care. I was more focused on the way Chris and May figured out how to move forward.

This is not the standard murder mystery so if that is what you are looking for, adjust your expectations. But there are moments in the book that talk about the experiences of women, the perception of women and who the actual monsters are that simply seeped in to my bones and have become a part of me. I was close to tears in those moments. That's real talk.. I applaud this author for her approach to this story!

New author for me but pleasantly surprised. Thank you for the approval and look forward to a book relationship with other reads in the future,

When 25 year old Bella Michaels is brutally murdered in the small town of Strathdee, the community is stunned and a media storm descends.
I heard that this book was psychological thriller about violence against woman. I fell it is more about loss and being lonely. Every one said that Bella was a pretty, loved, and adored person. This book felt to the fact of how the woman used their bodies to attract guys attention. It wasn't really about the men taking advantage of the woman, but vise versa.
This wasn't the book that I was looking forward to reading, It was very hard for me to read..

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book...

An Isolated Incident
by Emily Maguire
Trafalgar Square Publishing
Eye Books
General Fiction (Adult) , Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 01 Nov 2018


I am reviewing a copy of An Isolated Incident through Trafalgar Square Publishing and Netgalley:


Bella Micheals is a twenty five year old who was brutally murdered in the town of Strathdee, the community is stunned by her murder and it isn’t long before there is a media storm.


Bella’s beloved older sister, Chris a Barmaid at the local pub is thrown into the eye of the storm. Her outward easygoing nature conceals a hard won wisdom and street smarts only experience can bring.


I give An Isolated Incident four out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

Overall good book about the complexities of loss and grief . The characters were believable as they walk this path .
It was a beautifully written and a good book overall

I was really into this book until about the last 20%. Bella’s murder was intriguing, and I loved both Chris and May as characters. As they both work toward a solution and try to solve what happened to Bella, I grew to care about the characters. The part I didn’t enjoy is when the novel took a supernatural turn toward the end. I liked this book, but I didn’t love it.

Lots and lots and lots of words in this book but no substance for the story line. I didn’t get into it much.

Such an interesting angle of grief and how it can overcome a person when they lose someone.

Chris & May were incredible fabulous characters, that I felt the ending was a little sudden and without the detail it built up to. Overall great read, thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read it in exchange for a review!

The characters of this book were beautifully developed and complex, and I enjoyed getting to know them. The plot itself was heart wrenching and showed the aftermath of tragedy in a very realistic way. I found the storyline to be a bit dark for my personal tastes, and felt a certain negative opinion from the author towards men as monstrous sexual predators. A good read, but perhaps not my personal cup of tea.

So here's the thing: when I started the book, the narrative when Chris is speaking/thinking isn't one that I felt super into. I generally don't love authors that include a lot of the local slang, either, since sometimes I feel that takes me out of the story, so the combination of Chris' stilted way of speaking/thinking and then the slang, it just felt like it was going to be a tough one for me to really get into.

I usually would've DNFed a book like this pretty much immediately, but continued on since it was an ARC and I wanted to be able to give a solid review. In this case, I ended up more or less DNFing anyway, as it quickly becomes apparent that all of the women in this story are involved with married men. Don't get me wrong - I won't put down every book that has a plot with an affair in it, but in this case, it felt super unnecessary and like instead of making it be sex positive for these women, almost felt the opposite. Again, I was skimming, so maybe I just missed it, but that's what I saw.

I didn't love the ending, either.

Have you ever read a book where you so wanted to finish to see what happens, but know in your heart you wont recommend this book to others as a must read? Well, this is how An Isolated Incident was for me.
What I enjoyed about the book was the raw, agonizing, feel the book gave me. The realness that the author was trying to portray hit me right in the gut. Its a topic about violence against women that could very well (if it hasn't already) happen today. Thats what I really enjoyed. I found myself wondering what the heck I would do in this situation. I thought back to real life events that this book made me remember and the hurt I felt during those times.
The realness was also a flaw I had towards the book. I almost felt that Maguire was trying to pack way to much in one book. There was just so much going on that it took away from the characters. I feel I couldn't connect with anyone on a deep level because of all the topics she was trying to pack inside the book. Because of this I lost my dedication to the book and just wanted to get to the end to see how it ends.
Like I said I would have a hard time recommending this book to my book friends, but I will say if you looking for a hard, raw, violent read than this one might be for you.

Thank you to NetGalley & Trafalgar Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole time! It was definitely a book that kept you thinking! I would definitely recommend this book to fellow readers. Thank you!

This is not just another thriller or crime novel. The writing is so strong that you really become engrossed in the story and the characters. It’s difficult to describe a book of a young girl’s murder as beautiful, yet somehow this story is just that. Poignant, strong, beautiful and one that will stay with readers long after they’ve read it.

DNF - 20%

I really try to give books my best effort but lately it seems as if my patience has run out. If I am not getting any satisfaction from reading a book then what's the point of reading it? I have loads of ARC's to read and only so much time to do it.

I should also mention I am a mood reader and I was in no mood for this book.

This book was so misogynistic that I wanted throw my kindle at the wall. I know that was what the author was going for but it became infuriating. Not to mention my issues with the two lead women both of whom can't live without a man. Say what? I was hoping to read about strong, independent, take no shit kind of ladies which were not how Chris and May were portrayed at all. In fairness, I did quit early so maybe they grew, evolved, and found some inner strength before the novel ends but I seriously doubt it.

I went into this expecting a murder mystery set in Australia but that is not at all what this book really is.

Thank you to NetGalley & Trafalgar Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review

I really enjoyed this murder mystery, even though some of the characters were not like able, but I think that is to be expected with a murder.

I really enjoyed the way the author wrote this novel, a different style than with most mysteries. The book focused more on the murder and how it effected everyone more than actually investigating the crime. I really enjoyed this book very much!

The author did a great job with this crime novel, as it took a different approach than others. The author decided to focus on the impact that a murder had than on the investigation of the crime. I found this to be an interesting approach and it made me love this book even more!