Like a young colt dancing on eggshells, DC Kathleen Doyle keeps apologizing over and over again. She could not believe the incredible opportunity she had recently been given to work with the famous Chief Inspector Michael Sinclair, Lord Acton. She loves working on homicides and was thrilled when Acton had arranged a few months to pull her out from the First Year Detective Constable ranks to work on his team. Why had she made such a newbie mistake? Will he send her back to the basement at Scotland Yard just to review boring surveillance tapes again?

Noticing every small detail about her, Acton had his own reasons, both personal and professional, for keeping the lovely and lively red-haired detective on his team. While she still had skills that needed developing, Kathleen had a special skill in Interrogations. Whether from deep intuition or an innate talent, Kathleen usually could tell if someone is telling the truth or not and Acton wants her along when they interview witnesses and suspects.

As they investigate the murder of a horse trainer, more murders happen as well as a series of strange events that seem to have no discernible pattern. This not only makes the homicides difficult to resolve, but there seems an underlying connection and they just can't fit the puzzling pieces together. What are they missing? Acton soon perceives danger and worries about Kathleen's safety and so with an interest that goes far deeper than that of a supervisor, he makes an unromantic approach to romance to stave off a killer. Will it work and for how long?

Well-regarded for her historical and mystery novels, Anne Cleeland launches MURDER IN THRALL as the first book in her new A New Scotland Yard Mystery series and it is sure to be a winner! Right from the get go, Kathleen is such an open, likeable and entertaining character that you can just feel her every emotion as she deals with her own professional and personal feelings for Acton, her love of her job and efforts to improve and do as well as can while also dealing with her small personal foibles and workplace rivalries and friendships.

In an interesting and different manner, Cleeland starts each new chapter with a short insight into Acton's personal thoughts. He is a very complex character and yet, I quickly warmed to him and really enjoy him as a protagonist, despite some initial strangeness (It would be a spoiler to explain, so you need to read the book). Acton and the young Kathleen make a very unlikely and intriguing pair, coming from quite different worlds. As a British Lord, he has been entrenched with the elite from birth and has developed an illustrious and still evolving career at Scotland Yard while Kathleen, despite all her good efforts at improving her vocabulary and education, stems from far poorer working class and freedom fighting Irish roots.

MURDER IN THRALL is a very well-written mystery with a unique storyline and a great "Who-done-it" with many possibilities and a dramatic and unexpected conclusion. It definitely will keep you turning pages as fast as you can to find out what happens (I definitely was quite surprised!). In addition to that, what I found to be absolutely superb about the book is the wonderful and often very humourous dialogues between Kathleen and her mates and especially with Acton. Sometimes, you just can't help but smile or laugh out loud as Kathleen banters with the more serious Acton in her own unique personal and Irish style.

MURDER IN THRALL reads exceptionally well both as an individual novel with a definitely different and unusual romance happening and it augurs very well to be the start of a great series that any mystery reader would not want to miss! So, get on the case and enjoy! You will be glad you did!