would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

what started off as a mediocre book actually turned after the courtcase into a page turner...i felt the story before it dragged quite a bit...i also didnt feel any empathy for any of the characters, not one likeable character until after the courtcase

then and only then did the pace pick up and an unbelievable story emerged that gripped its reader so much so that you wanted to find out what was really going on..and what a tale unfolded...

My first book by Rachel Abbott - definitely not my last! Difficult to review this book without spoilers but suffice to say it was very cleverly crafted and full of twists and turns. Just when you think you have worked out who did what you learn something new. Just when you think you have it all worked out it veers off in a different direction.
The characters are well drawn all with their own agendas. We are given different opinions of them by other characters but left to decide for ourselves who sees the real character of each.
I see this is a stand-alone but wonder if it could be the first in a new series? I hope so.
I definitely recommend this book to lovers of psychological thrillers.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Rachel Abbott/Headline for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Brilliant read. Such a good story, had me guessing until the very end. Great characters none of which you’ll really like but they are complex and enthralling. You really won’t know who or what to believe

Brilliant domestic thriller by Rachel Abbott featuring the twisted relationship of Mark, his sister Cleo and Mark’s new partner, Evie.
Evie entered Mark’s life a couple of years after the tragic death of his wife, Mia. Cleo is perturbed by the relationship but feels she cannot express this to Mark for feel of isolating herself from the his life and that of her niece, Lulu.
A death occurs and it is for PS Stephanie King and her ex, DI Gus Brodie, to try to piece together a case for the prosecution.
A murder trial takes place, but what will be the outcome?
The book had an excellent pace and went seemlessly back and forth in time to cover the various events. It was so readable, and had me completely hooked. I was undecided as to guilt or innocence and to motive until the very end.
Thanks to NetGalley for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I always feel in good hands with a Rachel Abbott book and this one didn't disappoint. The wonderfully twisted narrative kept me guessing to the very end. More please!

I am a big fan of Rachel Abbott. Her books always keep you on your toes wondering what is going to happen next. Her characters are also interesting and I soon become intrigued to know what happens to them next- 'And So It Begins'lived up to expectations.

Evie Clarke manages to persuade Mark North, a hugely talented but reclusive photographer to take some photos of her. He is still mourning his first wife but Evie seems to bring him beck to life a bit. His sister Clio is not happy to see this relationship blossom.

The prologue to the story is the discovery of a gruesome stabbing by PS Stephanie King. It is a while before we return to that scene as the first part of the book centre's around Mark & Evie's marriage. The second part deals with the murder & the trial.

Although Evie wasn't the most blameless of people I found her more likeable than Clio! Her obsession with her brother I found distinctly creepy! Stephanie King is a character I'd like to meet again & I hope this might be the start of a new series featuring her. Full of twists, turns & surprises this is a great read. I loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review it..

Thanks to Net Galley and Headline for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.
Another fast paced psychological thriller from Rachel Abbot. The pages turn themselves. A web of lies and deceit, who is telling the truth.
Evie convinces Mark North a local photographer to take some pictures of her,, they develop a relationship and have a baby daughter.
Cleo, Mark’s sister, is not happy that Mark has a new girlfriend, she clearly does not like Evie, she is very protective of Mark, following the death of his wife Mia, who had a tragic accident in their home by the sea.
The police are called to the house, responding to a phone call from a distressed woman, they discover two bodies in the bedroom, wrapped around one another and covered in blood. Mark North is dead. Evie immediately confesses to killing him.
A courtroom drama plays out, Murder or man slaughter. Who will the jury believe. Lots of twists and turns right to the end of this book well deserving 4.5 stars

Mark and Evie have a whirlwind romance. Marks sister Cleo, knows she should be happy for him, but she doesn't trust Evie. Evie starts having accidents at home. Her friends are concerned for her. When Mark ends up,in a puddle of his own blood, Sargent Stephanie King is sent to investigate. Was it murder or a case of self defence?

The story is divided into two parts. The first part is mostly about Mark and Evie's domestic life and the second part is the courtroom drama. This book has a multilayered storylines. An intense story that deals with revenge, lies and cover-ups. There are so many curve balls thrown at you in this storyline that they will keep you guessing. The characters are well described with a few having complex personalities. Cleo is not a likeable character but I did really like Stephanie King, a character I'd like to see grow in future books. The book has a satisfying ending but it did shock me as I did not quite see that coming. A real good psychological suspense thriller.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Headline and the author Rachel Abbott for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There are so many twists and turns in this book it wasn't until the final pages that I figured it all out. Rachel Abbott is a superb storyteller and she has you so gripped that everything around you ceases to exist as you are drawn into the story of a woman abused by her partner, his sister Cleo hates her so she is no help. Poor Evie is alone in the house on top of the cliffs where there has already been a death, Marks first wife MIa surely there can't be more death at this stunning house or can there?
Is everybody who they seem to be or is everyone lying?

This was such a gripping and twisty novel. I read it in two days and I stayed up late at night to finish it. The story is completely unpredictable, you never know what is going to happen, and the characters are so well-crafted that I couldn’t help but been drawn to them.

Four protagonists, four women, four different points of views. The story starts with Stephanie. She is a police officer and she is called in the middle of the night to investigate a call from a woman who asked for help. She arrives on the scene and it is a scene she is familiar with because it was the scene of another death a few years back. I liked the character of Stephanie. She is ambitious and meticulous. She knows that there is something missing from her investigation and she doesn’t stop until she finds out what it is. I also enjoyed the few glimpse we get of her personal life and her relationship with her boss.

The second woman is Evie. I couldn’t really figure her out. I knew she was planning for something bad to happen, but I didn’t know what to expect from this character, I didn’t know whether she was telling the truth or not. She remains a complete mystery until the very end, until the final shocking revelation.

Then there is Cleo. Like Evie, Cleo is hiding something, but she is a character that’s much easier to understand. Her mother died when she was young and since then she’s been taking care of her younger brother Mark, protecting him from everything and everyone, included the women in his life. Cleo is the character that it’s better developed in the novel. Her love for Mark borders to obsession and she’s given up her all life to be at his side, ready to do absolutely everything to protect him.

Lastly, there is Harriet. She is a high-profiling lawyer and she volunteers for a women’s shelter where she protects women who are abused by their husbands, boyfriends, fathers. Strong-willed and determined, she is married to her job and she believes in her clients and fights for them.

The novel is captivating, compelling, and very well-written, the setting is very atmospheric, and the author created multi-layered characters that kept me guessing until the end. This is my first novel by Rachel Abbott but I am definitely going to read more because she knows how to keep me glued to the page and I’d like to thank Wildfire Books for accepting my NetGalley request and giving me the chance to read this brilliant and thrilling novel.

Is she accident prone, abused or a liar?

Mark and Evie had a whirlwind romance, much to his controlling sister Cloe’s disgust. Evie has made Mark live again after the death of his wife from a tragic accident.

But when Evie starts to have ‘accidents’ and eventually is involved in Mark’s death, questions begin to be asked. Was Mark abusing her? Is she accident prone or is she just lying to absolve herself of his death?

Can Cleo convince the authorities that Evie is not all that she seems?

Miss Abbott is becoming one of my new favourite authors. This is the second book I have been asked to review and they have both been exceptional. Her stories are original which, when you read as much as I do, is always a good thing. Her writing is professional and well researched, the books are easy to read and fast paced.

This book had me hooked and I could not decide if Evie was good or bad right until the end. I was swinging one way then the other. Fantastic!

Keep it up Rachel, I am looking forward to the next book and hope I get asked to review it.

Ellezig.

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of this book to review.

I make no secret of the fact that I am a bit of a fan of this author, especially her Tom Douglas series, so I was very happy to get my mitts on this, her latest stand alone book.
Mark is a photographer and a widow and he first meets Evie when she approaches his sister Cleo, explaining that she wants Mark to take some pictures of her for her father. Mark is still getting over the death of his first wife who recently dies in a tragic accident at their picturesque, coastal-viewed home. Mark and Evie become close and start a whirlwind romance albeit remaining unmarried. But then Evie starts to suffer little accidents herself, mostly times when Mark is out or away through work. Her friends start to worry but is she just a bit clumsy, maybe a bit baby-brainy since the birth of their child. Then, one day, police Sergeant Stephanie King is called to the house and what she witnesses there is rather shocking. Mark is dead, Evie is injured and there is a lot of blood. As Evie stands trial for the death of her partner, protesting her innocence through accounts of their shared past, can Stephanie cut through the noise and find out what happened once and for all? Did Evie act in self-defence or is there much more to the tale than initially appears on face value?
Oh my goodness! What a book. What a story, what characters. This book led me round the houses and back again, several times as I, along with Stephanie, tried to work out exactly what was going on. Talk about secrets and lies and more than a fair share of duplicitous behaviour. With some very strong characters in the form of Mark, Evie and Cleo, all playing their parts perfectly, how could I possibly work it all out myself? Well, basically I didn't. I couldn't. Goodness knows I tried. I formed and dismissed several theories along the way and although I got some bits and pieces in place, the whole truth really did elude me right up until the end when I actually had to wait and get the full gory details from the characters themselves (ok so that bit was a little long, ott, and drawn out). Considering the sheer number of this genre book I read, it's quite a refreshing feeling to be proper duped by an author without feeling in the slightest bit cheated at the end. Kudos to Ms Abbott indeed for that! If this book doesn't end up in my top five reads of the year, well...
All in all, an extremely clever and very well plotted part psychological part courtroom drama that gripped me from the off, confused me and made me question everything along the way, and shocked me at the end. Job so well done by the author. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Oooohhhh. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. There is so much I want to say about this book but it is so difficult to do so as there are many elements which could easily slip into spoiler territory. This is the story of Evie, a young woman who meets photographer, Mark, and his sister, Cleo, when she commissions him to take some pictures of her for her father. Work turns to love and soon Evie and Mark are a happy family unit, complete with a beautiful young daughter. But not everything is as it seems and even a beautiful cliff top home, even one which to those outside looking in appears much like a fortress, cannot keep the secrets locked up for long.

The opening of this book is brilliant. Two police officers called to Mark and Evie's home after a distress call from the address. What they find is horrific turning the stomach of even the most experienced of investigators, but this will not be a simple case to solve even if they appear to have a confession. From here on in the first half of the book primarily focuses upon events which led to that fatal night, to how Evie met Mark and how the police came to be drawn into such a twisted story. This is a deliberately slow burning read, and you can feel the tension and the intrigue build with each page turn, drawing you in and making you question what is visible on the surface and what lies beneath, unseen and unspoken. It left me with many ideas as to what may be happening but also as many questions left to answer.

A good proportion of the second half of the book deals with the court case in which many of those outstanding questions are answered. Again, this is not a fast read, but Rachel Abbott still keeps you on the hook as a reader as more and more secrets are revealed and you are forced to question even the most simple elements of the crime that you thought you knew. There appear to be no easy answers to the questions posed by both the Prosecution and Defence. And one thing which is abundantly clear throughout the whole story, is that you cannot rely on any of the protagonists to give you a clear picture. This is a book full of unreliable narrators, with scenarios which will make you doubt their integrity nearly every step of the way.

I can't say that I particularly liked any of the characters in the story and yet I was still compelled to read onward. There are really only two who, by the end of the story, I felt any kind of sympathy for, both of them ultimately victims in a dangerous and deadly game. This is such a twisted and thought provoking read, and the author managed to manipulate my emotions so brilliantly that I went from sympathy to anger in no time flat. She definitely threw in a good few red herrings, although along the way and whilst the ending was not particularly a surprise over all, she still managed to catch me unawares with an unexpected revelation.

Overall this was a truly engrossing read that I finished in a day. It has a strong theme of family, forcing the reader to think about just how far they would go for their loved ones, and if the ends, in this case in particular, can ever justify the means. I loved the way in which the tension and uncertainty was created very early on and how the story drew me in, leaving me with the need to know the absolute truth. Definitely recommended.

I was really looking forward to reading Rachel Abbots new book and I was slightly disappointed .I am not keen on courtroom dramas and a lot of the book is devoted to Evie's trial .None of the main characters are very likeable so it was hard to sympathise with them but the book is very well written and the last few chapters were very exciting and gripping .Many thanks to the Publisher ,the Author and Netgalley for my review copy in return for an honest review

Another great read by Rachel Abbott.
A real page turner that I just couldn’t put down.
Did not know what was going to happen next.
Highly recommend

And So It Begins is a brilliant psychological thriller. If you are looking for lies, secrets, revenge and more twists than you can keep up with, then you are in for a treat.

The story starts with the police receiving a 999 call from a distraught woman screaming for help then the line going dead. With the call traced to photographer Marcus North’s impressive cliff-top house, Sergeant Stephanie King can’t help but think about the last time she was there. This time though, it is a very different scene that meets her. Two bodies in bed, covered in blood with no signs of forced entry means this is going to be a very interesting case.

I really don’t want to say much more for fear of spoiling anything, but what follows is a story that starts as a domestic thriller, turns into a courtroom drama, then back to thriller again! It was a nice change to read a book that doesn’t pretty much finish as soon as the verdict is reached. I love Rachel’s writing style and I was gripped from the start and throughout. I literally had no clue what had happened until it was revealed. With some very well written characters, believable but not necessarily likeable, it was difficult to put down.

This was such a rollercoaster of a read! Real twists and turns, right up until the last page.
Mark North’s sister Cleo has looked after him since they were young, now he has a partner and baby. Tragedy atrikea fairly early on and Mark is killed, his partner Evie says it was her, but he’d been abusing her.
What is the truth? Did Evie kill Mark? What other secrets will be uncovered along the way?
I really enjoyed reading this, and wasn’t 100% sure what the ending was going to be until I got there.

This latest book by Rachel Abbott begins with the police attending a clifftop house after a 999 call from a woman screaming for help, when they arrive they find two bodies entwined on the bed covered in blood.  Sergeant Stephanie King is one of the attending officers and this house is not unfamiliar to her as she was brought here two years earlier to another reported death, Mark North's wife, it's now her job to find out if they are linked.

The story is told in three parts and revolves around the lives and relationships of Mark North, his girlfriend Evie Clarke and his sister Cleo North. The first part of the book tells how Mark and Evie first met when she came to his gallery to ask him to do a commission for her father, Mark has been very withdrawn since his wife's death and Cleo thinks it will do him good to take on this job and he finally accepts, what she didn't expect to happen was for the two to become emotionally involved and she doesn't like it, but nobody will be good enough for Mark in Cleo's eyes. Part two concentrates on the trial of the suspected killer and part three tells us about what happens when the trial is over. 

This is a seriously eerie story and had me changing my mind frequently from one chapter to the next as to what was truth and what was lies, the characters were THAT convincing.  It's an edgy psychological thriller full of mystery and intrigue that grips you by the seat of your pants and doesn't let go till the very end, each twist bringing with it a new possible outcome, I've read other books by this author which i loved but this has to be her best yet by a mile. 

I would like to thank Netgalley and Headline for the approval and will post my review on Amazon and Goodreads.

Plenty of twists & turns in this to keep you intrigued. Bodies too!

I’ve loved Rachel Abbott’s previous books & was delighted to be able to review this one.

Just a little slow paced for me but a great storyline.

After an explosive prologue that draws you in, And So It Begins is a tense thriller split into three parts. There’s bodies, blood and some deep, dark secrets. It’s well written with some great characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Headline and the author for the chance to review.