Second Strand is an excellently written, well-plotted murder mystery and is the 7th novel from award-winning author Carolyn McCrae. Alex and Teri are on the verge of breaking up after 12 years together when their elderly neighbour is found dying and their plans are put on hold. Two days later Alex, the police's only suspect in what is now a murder investigation, disappears without trace. Private investigators, hired by Teri, learn that Alex is the lost son of the victim but tracing the family's history proves to be more difficult than it should have been. If they are to find Alex, and establish his innocence, they must identify the connections between this killing and one, still unsolved, which took place in the same town two years earlier. Carolyn McCrae, whose first novel The Last Dance won the prestigious David St John Thomas Prize for Self-Published Fiction, has cleverly created a tale of mystery that unravels the complexities of relationships forged and betrayals perpetrated through the Cold War. Second Strand shows how a man's bitterness has ruined lives through more than half a century and will appeal to fans of fast-paced and intelligent mysteries.