Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

“Don’t Look Away” by Rachel Abbott is a riveting addition to the Stephanie King series that masterfully intertwines suspense, mystery, and the complexities of familial bonds. Abbott’s narrative prowess is on full display as she delves into the haunting disappearance of Nancy Holland’s sister, Lola, on a seemingly idyllic holiday in Cornwall.

The novel opens with Nancy’s reluctant return to the seaside village and cottage where her sister was last seen. The palpable tension of the setting is a character in itself, mirroring Nancy’s internal turmoil. Abbott expertly crafts a tale that is as much about the unraveling of a family as it is about the mystery of Lola’s fate.

As Nancy sifts through the remnants of that fateful summer, the reader is drawn into a labyrinth of secrets and lies. The storytelling is deft, with Abbott using a non-linear timeline to reveal pieces of the puzzle in a manner that is both disorienting and compelling. The narrative is anchored by Nancy’s perspective, whose reliability is skillfully called into question, keeping readers on their toes.

The discovery of a body sets off a chain of events that escalates the suspense to new heights. Abbott’s use of the rugged Cornish landscape adds a chilling backdrop to the unfolding drama. The sense of place is so vividly rendered that one can almost feel the salt in the air and the chill of the sea mist.

What sets this thriller apart is a path to self-discovery. The family dynamics are portrayed with nuance and sensitivity, adding layers to the narrative that go beyond the typical genre fare.

In true Abbott fashion, the climax is both shocking and satisfying, with a twist that is unforeseen yet entirely plausible. “Don’t Look Away” is a testament to Abbott’s ability to craft a psychological thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is thrilling. It’s a must-read for fans of the genre and a standout in a series that continues to impress..

This was a gripping and suspenseful read that I couldn't tear my attention away from. I will be thinking of this one for awhile!

Thank you Netgalley. I wanted to like this book but it fell flat. It felt like every other thriller out there. The story was suspenseful but it seemed to drag a bit. An okay read.

Fans of Gone Girl, The Woman in the Window and Ruth Ware will love Don’t Look Away. The book started out slow for me. There is a lot of backstory in the beginning. There were a lot of secrets throughout this dark and disturbing book. You also don’t get an ending so stay tuned for the next book.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC.

I was looking forward to reading this one but I found it to be very slow moving and hard for me to finish. There was though a good amount of mystery and characters. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

I've never read a bad book from Rachel Abbott and this is no exception. Book #3 of the Stephanie King series is full of suspense and atmosphere, great characters, and will keep you engrossed and reading into the night. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC.

I am a huge fan of Rachel Abbott and she did not disappoint! Stephanie King is back on a case that opens the door or an unsolved missing girl case. This was the perfect vacation book for me. I love Stephanie as I can relate to her insecurities but also how she is so good at her job and feels for the people she is working with. I highly recommend this book. All the characters jumped live off the pages of the book. I felt like I was investigating the case along with Stephanie.

When I hear Rachel Abbott, I am in! Suspense, love the characters - and the story line? Divine!
Creepy, an old house, and shady small town people? Um yes!
Nancy and her family visited her aunt's cottage in Cornwall - desperate to recover from the death of her mother. But another tragedy struck - Nancy's sister disappeared.
11 years have passed - Nancy has inherited the cottage. Will she solve the mystery?
Always a must read!

I really enjoyed this book! I didn't expect the ending and the characters are well written. There were a lot of twists and turns in the book and it is a very well crafted mystery. There were some genuinely creepy and unnerving moments in this book which is my favorite thing about it. I got really invested in the characters because of how well they are written! I will definitely be checking out more books from Rachel Abbott. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy thrillers or mysteries. Special Thank You to Rachel Abbott, Bookourture, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t Look Away is a cold case mystery about a girl who went missing many years ago. This story has a lot of twists and more than one case in involved in the story. I enjoyed that because in real life detectives work more than one case at a time. I liked how the author kept me on my toes the entire book!

Rachel Abbot does it again! Page after page had me wanting more of this book! This book reaches in and grabs a hold and does not let go until the very last page!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the ARC of #DontLookAway by #RachelAbbott. This book was absolutely amazing. A first of this author for me, but I will be reading more of her books. I loved the lies, secrets, deceit and the roller coaster ride that led to the ending I never saw coming.

Visiting her aunt’s cottage in Cornwall when she was a teen was always something Nancy truly enjoyed. However, when her sister Lola disappeared one night, that joy turned to sorrow for Nancy. Nancy has now inherited the cottage and so she returns, despite the sadness that accompanies her. Nancy never knew what happened to her sister but she is now determined to find answers.

On the beach near the cottage there is a cave and bones have been discovered Could these bones be that of Nancy’s sister? DS Stephanie King steps in to investigate. The intrigue grows from here. In fact, there is a story that begins to unfold that not only brings further pain to Nancy, but clues Stephanie in to what proves to be a much bigger case than she could have imagined.

This third book by Rachel Abbott had some surprising twists and this dark story kept me turning pages as I just had to know what would happen.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

The Prologue is super creepy and I quickly began ‘flipping pages’. AND, I am going to start off by saying, if you don’t have blinds, curtains, drapes, or some kind of window covering and close them, especially at night, well…..read this. LOL

Nancy Holland had never wanted to come back to Cornwall, but her Aunt Helen had passed away and left the cottage to her. Nancy’s sister, Lola, had disappeared here and she had nothing but bad memories. She was alone. Her mother had passed away and her father had died in a car accident. She carries the guilt of the disappearance and deaths on her shoulders.

I had an instant dislike of her father, Ray. He heaps all the bad onto her, telling her it is her fault. He gives me the creeps and I wonder what the real story is. I think Rachel Abbott did a great job of describing him because I felt he was slimy, a snake, and I never waivered. Am I right? Am I wrong? I have to read on to find out.

She is not in Cornwall long before the search for her sister, Lola, is reopened due to new evidence. There was also a body found in a cave and even more questions arise.

Effie, I think she is a wonderfully developed character. Her personality comes through the pages and I love that she is there for Nancy.

Stephanie and Gus have a crisis and I must say, I would have been furious. I don’t want to say why, BUT, men need to wear a condom! Take some responsibility for your actions. I am not liking Gus very much. I feel he is arrogant, egotistical and patronizing towards her.

Don’t Look Away by Rachel Abbott started out slow for me. I kept getting the heebie jeebies though. I felt there were a lot of secrets, dangerous secrets buried in the pages. Men sure don’t come across as winners in this book. I felt rage, disgust, empathy, sadness, and hope, among a lot of other things as the story unfolded.

I am trying to describe how dark and disturbing many facets of Don’t Look Away by Rachel Abbott are, without giving anything away. I had ideas of what was going on, some were right and some were wrong and some I totally missed the mark.

The story is not over, and I saw that coming, sorta….so, I’ll be waiting for the next book.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Don’t Look Away by Rachel Abbott.

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What a thriller!! Well developed characters who all intertwine in a way I never predicted! This mystery follows Nancy, a 30 something year old, who inherits her aunts cottage, back in her hometown, a place where tragedy took place 11 years ago. Her mother dies from illness under her care and her sister goes missing. But what really happened?? Rachel Abbott takes you on a journey with this novel about family, deceit, and tragedy.

Don't Look Away by Rachel Abbott was a taut, compelling thriller that kept me turning the pages.
The writing kept me riveted throughout. I was spellbound and couldn’t turn pages fast enough.
I enjoyed this suspenseful, mystery. It's an entertaining read with well-developed characters. With lots of secrets and twists, it will keep you guessing until the end.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing
eARC!

Actual rating: 3.5 out of 5

Don't Look Away is the third book in the Stephanie King series. This can be read as a stand-alone. In fact I read the two previous books but I have no recollection of them and I did not feel lost reading this one.

Nancy Holland's life has been hit with tragedy one right after another. After inheriting a cottage, Nancy is forced to go back to where she last saw her sister eleven years ago. As she decides on what to do with the cottage, more discoveries and questions pop up about her sister's disappearance.

This book did keep me engaged to finish it but unfortunately I found the story to be at a slow pace. There were some surprises at the end that I did not see. It feels like DS Stephanie King is more of a support cast than a protagonist.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Rachel Abbot for an ARC of "Don't Look Away".

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read "Don't Look Away" in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the third book in the Stephanie King series and it was a fantastic read. The tension and suspense are gripping in this story about how miscommunication leads to tragedy.

The story will grip the reader from the very first chapter because we find out that someone is watching someone else sleep but we don't know who is being watched or who is watching until much later in the book.

The time then moves to 5 days earlier when two brothers are mucking about on a cliff and one of them loses their trainer. When one of them climbs down to retrieve the trainer he ends up in a cave where he finds more than just a trainer.

Then we meet Nancy Holland who has come to Trevyan in Cornwall after she inherits a cottage from her aunt Helen. Returning to the cottage brings painful memories to Nancy. All her life she has carried the guilt of her mother's death - feeling that everyone - her father and her sister, blamed her for falling asleep when she was her mother's sole carer at the age of 19. Their mother had a stroke and they had no money for a caregiver so Nancy was told to take care of her 24 hours a day. The last time she was at the cottage was 11 years ago. She wasn't all that close to her aunt so she wonders why gift her with the cottage.

When Nancy was at the cottage last with her father and sister Lola, her mother had recently passed away before turning 40. Lola was a moody, sulky and irritating 15 year old.

DS Stephanie King is assigned to the cave where the brother found the trainer. Her partner DCI Angus Brodie is also on the case.

The story goes back in time to tell what happened that summer when Nancy and Lola were at the cottage. When Lola goes missing a young PC named Stephanie King is assigned to get the details. Now a DS when she hears that Nancy is back looking for her sister and asking questions, she wants to be involved. Why was Lola planning on running away that summer? How did their mother, an a bedridden alcoholic get her hands on vodka?

Nancy feels that someone has been in her house or is still in the house. The tense way that this part is written will have the reader gripping onto the book all the more harder and they worry about Nancy's safety.

When her new friend Effie can't find Nancy she contacts Stephanie. Stephanie and Gus find no one at the cottage but Nancy's purse and phone are there. Where is Nancy? Stephanie feels in her gut that something is wrong and something has happened to Nancy but she has trouble getting others to believe her that the danger is grave.

When we learn what happened to Nancy and what has truly been going on, the book which to this point has been great, gets even better! The reader will get answers as to what happened when Nancy's mother died, did her father really commit suicide and what happened to Lola.

The best part is that there is a brilliant cliff hanger and you know that there is another book coming to tie up these loose ends. I truly did not want this book to end because it is so well written and the descriptions of everything from the cottage to the cliffs of Cornwall are so descriptive that you feel that you are standing there with Nancy.

Oh, let me take you on a thrilling journey into the world of Don't Look Away by Rachel Abbott. Imagine a haunting mystery, shrouded in guilt and tragedy. Nancy Holland's life is forever changed when her sister vanished eleven years ago. Now, circumstances draw her back to the very place her sister was last seen - a seaside village in Cornwall. Determined to uncover the truth, Nancy digs deep into the past, but someone doesn't want her meddling with the secrets hidden there. As she unravels the enigmatic threads, more than just her sister's fate comes to light, leaving us wondering how much darkness can lurk behind seemingly ordinary lives.

I got my hands on an ARC of Rachel Abbott's latest Stephanie King novel, Don't Look Away, courtesy of NetGalley and Bookouture. While the book stands well on its own, the growth of the intriguing characters, Stephanie and Gus, keeps drawing us in and rooting for them. Nancy's journey is a rollercoaster of emotions as she carries the weight of guilt and tries to find her sister against all odds. Abbott's writing lures us deeper into the story, and with every page, we're left questioning the hidden truths that people hold dear. Brace yourself for countless twists and turns that will keep you hooked until the very last page. "Don't Look Away" is a captivating mystery that grips your heart and mind, making you wonder how well you truly know those around you.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Don’t Look Away. I wanted to love it but I just didn’t. The story dragged and I didn’t connect with any of the characters.