Published by Headline
Publication Date: 15th November 2018
My thanks to the publishers for a review copy of this book, provided via NetGalley
Book Description:
WHO WILL BELIEVE YOUR STORY IF THE ONLY WITNESS IS DEAD?
Cleo knows she should be happy for her brother Mark. He's managed to find someone new after the sudden death of his first wife - but something about Evie just doesn't feel right...
When Evie starts having accidents at home, her friends grow concerned. Could Mark be causing her injuries? Called out to their cliff-top house one night, Sergeant Stephanie King finds two bodies entangled on blood-drenched sheets.
Where does murder begin? When the knife is raised to strike, or before, at the first thought of violence? As the accused stands trial, the jury is forced to consider - is there ever a proper defence for murder?
My Thoughts:
This book has a stunning setting in a beautiful home cut into a cliff face in Cornwall, a huge plate-glass window overlooking the sea. It's the home of local photographer Marcus North, his wife Evie and their daughter. The house comes with a tragic history, with Marcus' wife having been found dead at the bottom of the stairs while he was away on a commissioned photography trip. It took a few years before Marcus (real name Mark) could consider moving on with his life, his rather overbearing sister Cleo helping to support and steer him back on course, pushing him to focus on his photography studio.
History then appears to repeat itself, the book itself opening with detectives arriving at the property to find Mark dead in bed with his partner Evie covered in blood next to him, confessing to killing him. Detective Stephanie King was one of the first on scene both times tragic events have happened, and she can't help but think there's more to this family home than meets the eye. There's also an interesting backstory between the detectives which I think we will hear more about in future books.
The story follows the trial of Evie, with input from Mark's sister (who appears to be jealous of all the women in his life) and their mutual friend who has her own questions about the whole situation too. The legal representatives on both sides are both excellently drawn and the twists and turns which appear throughout the book create more questions than answers right up until the end.
As regular readers of my blog will know, I love a courtroom drama so this one was an ideal read for me which had me guessing from the first page to the last. I'll definitely be reading further instalments of this series.
About the Author:
Rachel Abbott's debut thriller, Only the Innocent, was an international bestseller, reaching the number one position in the Amazon charts both in the UK and US. This was followed by the number one bestselling novels The Back Road, Sleep Tight, Stranger Child, Nowhere Child (a short novel based on the characters from Stranger Child), Kill Me Again, The Sixth Window, Come a Little Closer, The Shape of Lies, Right Behind You and Close Your Eyes. The new thriller in the Tom Douglas series - No More Lies - was released in February 2023.
In 2018 Rachel released the first book in a new series - And So It Begins. This was followed by The Murder Game in 2020 (The Invitation in the US).
Rachel's novels have now been translated into over 20 languages and have sold over 5 million copies.
In 2015 Amazon celebrated the first five years of the Kindle in the UK, and announced that Rachel was the number one bestselling independent author over the five-year period. She was also placed fourteenth in the chart of all authors. Stranger Child was the most borrowed novel for the Kindle in the first half of 2015.
Rachel now lives in Alderney - a beautiful island off the coast of France - where she devotes her time to her love of writing fiction.
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