Already Dead is the fourth novel by Australian journalist and author, Jaye Ford. A year after the murder of her husband, investigative reporter Nick Westing, Miranda Jack is leaving their Sydney home for the last time to join her daughter Zoe at her aunt’s house in Newcastle. A little teary with sentiment, Jax’s reactions are not at their optimum when an armed man gets in the car at the traffic lights and orders her to drive.

As they speed up the motorway, Jax listens to her passenger ranting while fearing for her life. Hours later, her ordeal ends in dramatic fashion. Jax is safe, but her journalist training triggers a head full of questions she can’t ignore. They are questions that her aunt, her friends, her ex-boss and, most of all, the local cop, Detective Senior Sergeant Aiden Hawke would rather she let go.

The more people she talks to, the more of her carjacker’s paranoid ramblings seem based in fact. A pursuit by two men and a burglary later, Aiden Hawke is listening to her, if not answering questions, and Jax begins to wonder just whom she can trust.

Ford jumps straight into the action with this tale and doesn’t let up, building the tension while racing through to a heart-stopping climax. The setting is well-conveyed and will be familiar to locals and those travelling the area. Her characters are realistic and appealing (or suitably nasty), and their dialogue is credible.

This is a tale that touches on subjects both topical and age-old: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and corruption feature, and Ford’s characters are wise and eloquent about grief and loss and starting again. “’I know Nick’s dead. I know he’s not coming back. I’ve accepted that. But he still takes up space inside me. I don’t want to lose that.’ Tilda’s hand closed around Jax’s. ‘You won’t. It’ll never leave you. It won’t always be right in the centre of you, but you’ll always be able to find it.’”

Already Dead is easy to envisage as a movie or mini-series, and there is be plenty of scope for Ford to write a sequel which would be well-received. A gripping page-turner.

Already Dead by Jaye Ford was a riveting read. My familiarity with its Australian setting made it easy to see this story in three dimensions as I read it. Which goes to make a thriller that little bit more thrilling. A good read.