Only the Innocent

Rachel Abbott's Only the Innocent is not your average "who dunnit" murder mystery. The question that drives this thriller is not "who" did it, but "why". Abbott carefully constructed a world of mystery, depravity, sex, violence, manipulation and intrigue on so many different levels that I can honestly say you truly have to read until the last page to understand and appreciate the complexity of the story.

Philanthropist Hugo Fletcher is known world wide for his charitable works rescuing Eastern-European prostitutes from their dark world and giving them a second chance with a new job and foster family. However, there is a darkness to him that the flashing bulbs of the cameras hide. When he is found dead in the middle of sexual act, it is show more up to Detective Chief Inspector Tom Douglas to uncover the truth behind Hugo's all too perfect public persona and unmask the vileness that was known to only those closest to him. It seems everyone who comes in contact with Hugo has a secret and it's Douglas' job to weave through the tangled web of deception and perversion to find the killer.

I was most impressed with how Abbott carefully fed each morsel of evidence to her readers. We learn just enough as the story moves along but never enough to put all the pieces together. And without giving away any spoilers, I will say that even when Abbott made me believe I had all the information, she packed in one last punch at the end. She tied up loose ends that I wasn't even aware were there.

As with all murder mysteries, the story before the death is always important and many authors struggle with what we call an "info dump". No one wants to read, "Well Johnny, it went like this..." then read an entire chapter recounting every single step that led to the incident. Abbott gets around this by having Imogen, friend and sister-in-law of Laura Fletcher, read old letters that Laura wrote to Imogen about her life with Hugo, but never sent. (A sort of therapeutic practice for Laura.) At first I had to question how Laura could realistically recount precisely every word in a conversation she had with Hugo and I feared that it would indeed just be chapters of the dreaded "info dump". However, as the story progressed and Abbott started to rip away the story's complex layers, the letters became more realistic and heartbreaking in their content.

The complexity of the characters and the inner-workings of their relationships were entertaining. Almost every character had a motive for murder but it was through Laura that we learn what a real monster he was. I didn't always like Laura's character, but her weakness and drive to make her marriage to Hugo work made her story that more believable and interesting. The more I read about her life with him and what sort of man he was the more I understood why someone would kill him but even then the end-all reason knocked me back a few pegs. When everything was said and done I was left with the question that Abbott poses in her blurb, do you punish the guilty, or protect the innocent? show less

Rachel abbott is a talented writer who brings a lot of great tools to the table. She does a magnificent job of setting the scene, and providing beautiful prose for descriptions. Her attention to detail is to be admired. This isn't my normal type of read, but my wife read this and loved it, so I thought I'd give it a try. Rachel's characters are well painted with a good amount of depth. A few times I questioned whether one or the other would really act that way, but that is a subjective opinion, and, in a discussion afterwards, my wife indicated she had no problem with it.I had a little bigger issue with plot, and the way the story was told. A couple of times I thought the author revealed a tad too much, almost as if she didn't trust the show more reader to pick up on something. It is a shame, because if left alone the well-placed clues would have worked wonderfully, but I personally felt the author drew just a tad too much attention to them. With that said, it was definitely not enough to spoil the book or the plot for me. The characters were well done. Some likable and some not, as it should be. I found that I loathed the antag, yet Rachel did a great job of giving him traits that made you say...okay, this woman could have fallen for him, a crucial element to the story. Overall it was a good read that moved along at a nice pace, and with no major flaws. She wrapped it up nicely in the end. I said earlier that this isn't the type of book I normally pick up to read, but after finishing this, I would definitely get Rachel's next book. show less

So this is how I chose to close out my reading year of 2013. I had high hopes that this would be a spectacular read. The opening pulled me in & I was all in on this murder mystery. I really liked the DI & all of the officers working with him & the story moved along well. I was even intrigued with the tiniest bit given of a girl alone in a dark house just waiting. It felt foreboding & of course the murder must be tied to it somehow. The momentum kept up for a bit as we meet the wife & her long banished from her life, BFF. And then the detour happened in the form of letters given by Laura to Imogen in order to explain her relationship with her, now murdered, husband, Hugo. It was like hitting a brick wall & then having one’s face show more scraped across in slow motion. Also, it felt like it came out of nowhere. Instead of following a murder mystery being unravelled by the police, we were taking a detour to show the steps that eventually led here. The shift was jarring & far longer than I expected & sadly, didn’t hold my interest as much. A lot happened but I kept thinking, “So when are we getting back to the actual investigation?” And when we did it really plodded along. I haven’t yet worked out why the letters were given to Imogen to read instead of Laura just telling her everything. They were together in the same place afterall. It felt much like an info-dump & I found it difficult to invest too deeply in most of it though it was not wholly uninteresting.

An exchange between Laura & Tom six months on in the investigation captured my sentiments exactly:
Laura: I can understand that , Tom. I expect you want something with a little more action. This case must be getting a bit dull for you.”
Tom: Oh, it’s certainly dull. It’s been dull for the past six months, actually.

In resolution, there’s a happenstance discovery of a confession & I wasn’t much annoyed, I was just glad that it was nearly over. Three stars because I was definitely in to the end but I didn’t love the trip. Still, I would read another by the author. Her writing was good but here the format nor the characters much engaged me. show less

This is a well-set, well-written and exciting thriller, with a deeply disturbing theme. I'm looking forward to seeing the police officers in future books - I know one already from The Back Road. The characters were complex but convincing. I hope there is a third book available!

I really liked this book as you can tell by my rating of 5 stars. It grabs you with the first page and doesn't let you go. It reminded me of Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series, but the author has definitly found her own voice. The characters were well developed and made me feel they were real. I was wanting everything to turn out well for them. The story line was fast paced and kept me quickly turning pages to the very end. For me, this was one of those books that I didn't want to finish; I wanted to be able to just keep reading. I won this book at a Bookplex giveaway.

This reads like it must be in the middle of a series, because there are events referred to that have happened prior to the action of this novel, but it is actually a debut title. I've found that a strategy other authors have used in fairly recent publications.

DI Tom Douglas is an unusual detective as he doesn't keep his distance. When he begins to investigate the murder of Sir Hugo Fletcher he quickly gets on to first name terms with Lady Laura Fletcher. He knows instinctively that she is the clue to understanding Hugo's death.

ONLY THE INNOCENT has a complex plot with quite an array of characters. It is not a novel for the faint-hearted reader either. The structure is interesting. There are letters that Laura has written to her best show more friend Imogen which have never been posted which explain what has happened to Laura since her marriage to the high-profile Hugo. There are also occasional passages which describe the plight of a girl who has been imprisoned and is waiting for a release that may never come. These strategies heighten the tension and suspense in the novel.

Excellent reading, and in particular an excellent start for 2015. show less

Rachel abbott is a talented writer who brings a lot of great tools to the table. She does a magnificent job of setting the scene, and providing beautiful prose for descriptions. Her attention to detail is to be admired. This isn't my normal type of read, but my wife read this and loved it, so I thought I'd give it a try. Rachel's characters are well painted with a good amount of depth. A few times I questioned whether one or the other would really act that way, but that is a subjective opinion, and, in a discussion afterwards, my wife indicated she had no problem with it.I had a little bigger issue with plot, and the way the story was told. A couple of times I thought the author revealed a tad too much, almost as if she didn't trust the show more reader to pick up on something. It is a shame, because if left alone the well-placed clues would have worked wonderfully, but I personally felt the author drew just a tad too much attention to them. With that said, it was definitely not enough to spoil the book or the plot for me. The characters were well done. Some likable and some not, as it should be. I found that I loathed the antag, yet Rachel did a great job of giving him traits that made you say...okay, this woman could have fallen for him, a crucial element to the story. Overall it was a good read that moved along at a nice pace, and with no major flaws. She wrapped it up nicely in the end. I said earlier that this isn't the type of book I normally pick up to read, but after finishing this, I would definitely get Rachel's next book. show less