Lissette E. Manning

Some people were budding authors since they learnt to write. I wasn’t. I ambled through life, fell upon a career in the civil service, made great friends, met my husband, and holidayed frequently – all endless fun. But there was something missing. To fill the void, I took up numerous courses including French, art, law, pottery, personnel management, even sign language.

In April 1999, my husband and I made a decision that was to change my life irrevocably. We decided to take a year out and travel the world. We spent months organising, pouring over travel books to arrange a route, organising flights, selling our house, settling finances, arranging career breaks.

Finally, on 26^th October that year, two days before we were due to embark, we held a leaving party. Friends and family gathered to celebrate, offering generous gifts of toiletries, mosquito nets, books (most of which would never fit into our already overloaded backpacks). It was on this night that a work colleague and fellow travel enthusiast handed me a leather bound journal to record our daily events. Little did I know, this journal was to become our most treasured travel companion.

As the weeks and months passed, the beautiful black journal filled and we moved on to plain exercise books, reminiscent of old school days, each covered with pictures cut out from leaflets, brochures, tickets, magazines we had picked up along the way that depicted our journey; all of which became bruised and battered in our rucksacks.

Almost a year later, we returned home (much to the surprise of our parents who thought we had gone forever). Whilst our copious travel photos and memorabilia covered the walls of our new home, providing a living reminder to our trip, it was the diaries that actually recalled the memories. Reading back, I could smell spices in Kuala Lumpur, hear the street music of Bangkok, feel the thick heat that pervades the wonderfully clean Singapore, see the red earth of Australia.

Realising the power of words, my love affair with writing began. I enrolled in yet another course, this time creative writing, and started writing articles for newspapers and magazines. Then, an avid reader for most of my life, I discovered writing fiction. In 2009, an ardent reader of crime fiction for many years, I set out to write a psychological thriller with an original twist. And eighteen months later, An Unfamiliar Murder arrived . . .

Synopsis:

Arriving home from a routine day at work, Anna Cottrell has no idea that her life is about to change forever. But discovering the stabbed body of a stranger in her flat, then becoming prime suspect in a murder enquiry is only the beginning. Her persistent claims of innocence start to crumble when new evidence links her irrevocably with the victim. . .

Leading her first murder enquiry, DCI Helen Lavery unravels a trail of deception, family secrets and betrayal. When people close to the Cottrell family start to disappear, Lavery is forced into a race against time. Can she catch the killer before he executes his ultimate victim?

Buy An Unfamiliar Murder here:

Paperback US:
http://www.amazon.com/Unfamiliar-Murder-Jane-Isaac/dp/1937758060
Paperback UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unfamiliar-Murder-Jane-Isaac/dp/1937758060
Kindle US:
http://www.amazon.com/An-Unfamiliar-Murder-ebook/dp/B006YK6U18
Kindle UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/An-Unfamiliar-Murder-ebook/dp/B006YK6U18

About The Author:

Jane Isaac is author of An Unfamiliar Murder – out now.

You can contact Jane and read an excerpt of the book on her website at www.janeisaac.co.uk.

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