Another excellent read by Rachel Abbott. I would love to spend a day in her head, where she gets her ideas from I’ll never know. All I do know is she is a literary genius!
You’ll be on your toes right up until the final chapter!

Thanks to Headline for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story is about Evie, she is in a relationship with Mark and they have a baby together. Mark is a photographer and works away on private commissions. Every time he goes away Evie always seemed to have accidents on the day he leaves. One day the police are called to their home where they find Mark dead and Evie injured. Was it self defence or murder?

I am a big fan of Rachel Abbott books for a long time but I have to say that this one was just okay in my opinion. I found the story quite slow and I could see exactly where it was going and I just wanted to get there.

I loved all Rachel Abbott’s Tom Douglas books, so was intrigued by this new book, with a new location (Cornwall), and a new detective (Stephanie King)

Evie has had a whirlwind romance with Mark, and they have a daughter.
Marks’s sister Cleo is very wary of Evie.
One night, the police are called to their house, where a body is found. Mark’s first wife also died in the house.

That’s the bare bones of the story, but as the tale unfolds, things are not so clear – everyone is hiding secrets.

Some of the book is narrated by Evie, and it soon becomes clear that she has her own agenda.
My feelings for the main characters kept changing, who was lying, who was manipulating whom, nobody was squeaky-clean, and the story built to a climax, where the truth is finally uncovered.

But even then, there are more twists, with a delicious ending.

I look forward to the next book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline for the opportunity to read this book.

What a fantastic book , loved the twists and turns and the relationships between the characters . This is the first Ive read by this author but judging by the writing skills it won’t be the last . Would highly recommend

This is not a “who done it”, the police know from the beginning that Evie killed her husband Mark. She phoned them and admitted to killing him but she said she had no choice. Evie said she had loved her husband but that she had suffered his abuse and she was in fear for her life. The story that follows the murder is such a tangle of lies and deceit that it is impossible to decide who is telling the truth that is until the mind blowing finale. Another brilliant book from Rachel Abbott, I absolutely loved it.

I adore Rachel Abbott. And I loved her new novel "And So It Begins" It has almost everything that I like in a book: believable characters, a good mystery and most of all... a huge dose of suspense! The only thing I missed in this story were the characters, Tom & Becky. Perhaps that's why I feel as if there was something tiny missing from it. But that's just me being obsessed with Rachel's amazing Tom Douglas series. All in all, great read :) Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for ARC of this book.

Another great book from Rachel Abbott. Lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing.
This book introduces a new detective called Stephanie King. Read this book in 2 days. Couldn’t put
it down.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 stars.

This was an enjoyable book overall but for me was a bit disjointed.

It started slow then really picked up, but the middle courtroom section was too long and a bit repetitive I think. Once we had the outcome it started coming together again.

I can’t point my finger on why but I couldn’t gel with any of the characters.

Clearly I’m in the minority as this book has loads of 4 and 5 stars!

A refreshing and descriptive writing style makes this book a change from the usual thriller. A brilliant, twisted storyline that keeps you guessing until the very end. Wonderfully believable characters which draw you in. A book well worth reading

Oh my goodness what an awesome read. Mind blowingly amazing! I could not put it down, it’s a compulsive page turner. If you love the psychological thriller genres it’s a must read.

The plot and twist is exceptional, fast paced and very easy to read.

Thank you for our arc. 5 stars without a doubt.

I have read the previous seven Rachel Abbott novels and found them all compelling reading and thoroughly enjoyable. ‘And So It Begins’ is as good, if not better than the others.

Mark is a photographer and Evie commissions him to take pictures of her. They become close, fall in love and when Evie becomes pregnant she finally moves in with him. His stunning house was from his previous marriage and his former wife was found tragically dead at the bottom of the stairs leading down to the gym area. Cleo, Mark’s sister, disapproves of the relationship from the beginning.

There is an undercurrent of lies and deception throughout the book and it is not clear until the very end where all the deceit lies.

The characters are cleverly developed and my opinion of who I liked and disliked changed as the story progressed apart from Stephanie. She is the police sergeant who attended the death of Mark’s first wife and attends the same house when the police receive the call with a woman screaming that she is being hurt. When Stephanie arrives she finds Mark is dead and a room full of blood, some of it Evie’s.

There are numerous twists and turns with an excellent ending.

Thanks to NetGalley, Headline Wildfire and Rachel Abbot for my ARC in return from my honest review.

Excellent novel. Highly recommended.

And so it begins by Rachel Abbott was an excellent psychological thriller, full of lies, deception, murder and revenge.
Evie is in a relationship with Mark and they have a baby girl. Mark's sister Cleo is jealous and wants Evie out of the picture.
One evening the police are called to the family home and find Mark dead and Evie injured, did she murder him or was it self defence?
Quite a few twists and turns in the story and an underlying feeling that everything was not quite as it seemed. I didn't predict the ending.
I enjoyed this book it was wickedly good.
I would like to thank NetGalley and Headline for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a rather different Rachel Abbott book in that the second half is effectively a courtroom drama. All the major characters in this book made me uneasy for various reasons. Nobody was being honest. Everyone was, in some way, damaged. The thing about damaged people is that they are all damaged in a different way. This has given an excellent author a great deal of material to work with. Guilty or not guilty? Murder or manslaughter? I had my mind changed for me so many times during this book. It’s a tour de force from the author and a totally entrancing read.

This book kept me guessing all the way through. I kept going back and forth into believing and not believing the story Evie had given. It sounded very plausible, but something was awry - no it had to be true.

It kept me page turning all the way through. I both wanted to know the end and didn't want to finish it.

Rachel Abbott always writes winning books and this was no exception, but it wasn't one of my favourites. Our heroine is obviously hiding something and it takes a long time before we find out what that is. In fact you have to read all the way through to the very end to discover this and then suddenly a seemingly unrelated incident with a new character appears to bring it all together, which I felt was a bit of a let down. I felt sorry for Cleo later in the book and had hoped for a different ending. Evie was not at all a likable character and this feeling increased as the story unfolded. The opening murder scene with Stephanie and then the introduction of Evie and Mark and Cleo was very original but somehow by the end I was left with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. However I am still a huge fan of Rachel's books.

And so it begins by Rachel Abbott:

Rachel Abbot is one of my favourite authors and this latest book doesn't disappoint!

We meet a new detective in this book Stephanie King, who is a likeable character. The story starts with Stephanie attending a murder scene and then the book really starts from a few months previous leading up to that night and the consequences. I don't want to give anything away but this is full of intrigue with a fair few twists and turns along the way. Its a 5* read in my opinion!

Wow! What a page turner!! I really didn’t know what to believe. Beautifully told and plotted. Love the police characters and would like to see them in future books. Cleverly narrated by the female characters. A good read.

And so it begins by Rachel Abbott.
Evie met Markand they started seeing each other. Now they have a little girl and are living together.  But one night sergeant Stephanie King and detective Jason are called to the home. A woman has phoned the police scared that someone will hurt her. But when they get there they find a room. A bed full of blood with 2 bodies on it. Are they both dead? What happened? Stephanie will find outwhat happened? Won't She?
An absolutely fantastic read. I loved the story and the characters.  Especially Evie. I had my theory about who did it.  I didn't like Cleo at all.  Not how she treated Evie.  Omg. Didn't see that coming.  What a twist.  5*.

I must admit I've read all Rachel's books and was looking forward to this book with trepidation as I've loved all the others and this was different but omg it was so good I read it in a day!! I couldn't put it down I needed to know what was going on and couldn't predict where it was going!!
The characters were believable I'm hopeful that we will hear more from some of them!! Warning though don't read when you need to get up for work!!! x

Complex plot which twists and turns and makes you want to keep reading to find out what really happened. Kept me guessing right to the end. Will definitely check out other books by Rachel Abbott.