First To Fall. Carys Jones

       Aiden Connelly’s first case…

      Lawyer Aiden Connelly has traded the frenzy of Chicago for a slower pace in sleepy Avalon – and his first case appears to be as open-and-shut as he could hope for. Hired to defend a local ex-beauty queen accused of murdering her husband, he’s confident that he’ll have the case closed in record time. But below the surface lurks a darker truth…

       Will be one he’ll never forget.

      Suddenly, a quiet backwater has transformed into a dangerous pressure cooker. In a town where everyone knows everyone, gathering evidence should be easy… but the harder Aiden searches, the more he appreciates how tangled this net of loyalties is. And as he digs deeper, Aiden begins to realise that his very first case in Avalon could be the beginning of his undoing…

       First to Fall

      Carys Jones

       Copyright

      HQ

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

      First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2014

      Copyright © Carys Jones 2014

      Carys Jones asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      E-book Edition © June 2014 ISBN: 9781474006422

      Version date: 2018-09-20

      CARYS JONES loves nothing more than to write and create stories which ignite the reader’s imagination. Based in Shropshire, England, Carys lives with her husband, two guinea pigs and her adored canine companion Rollo. When she’s not writing, Carys likes to indulge her inner geek by watching science fiction films or playing video games. She lists John Green, Jodi Picoult and Virginia Andrews as her favourite authors and draws inspiration for her own work from anything and everything. To Carys, there is no greater feeling than when you lose yourself in a great story and it is that feeling of ultimate escapism which she tries to bring to her books.

      For my number one fan; my Dad

       Contents

       Cover

       Blurb

       Title Page

Copyright

       Author Bio

       Dedication

Chapter One: Welcome to Avalon

Chapter Two: First Encounters

Chapter Three: Little Miss Southern Star

       Chapter Four: He’s Our Hero

       Chapter Five: It Will Be All White

       Chapter Six: Superhuman?

       Chapter Seven: Shattered Glass

       Chapter Eight: Unhappy Families

       Chapter Nine: Don’t Be Fooled

       Chapter Ten: Father, Can You Hear Me?

       Chapter Eleven: People in Glass Houses

       Chapter Twelve: Let God Be the Judge

       Chapter Thirteen: Unlucky for Some

       Extract

       Endpages

       About the Publisher

       Chapter One: Welcome to Avalon

      The dusty road lay empty before him in the fading light. Aiden Connelly rubbed his eyes wearily wondering just how much of his journey was left. Behind him, his little angel, Meegan, slept soundly, oblivious to the dramatic change her life was currently undergoing. His wife stirred in her sleep and Aiden could not help but smile at her tangle of mahogany curls splayed widely around her head. She was usually so immaculate, yet in the throes of sleep she had wrestled around on the uncomfortable seat of the rented car and now resembled a wild woman. This was how Aiden liked his wife, Isla, best. Relaxed, carefree. For so long they had both been so consumed by everything. Even the birth of Meegan had felt like yet another chore, something else to be responsible for, rather than the joy that it should have brought them.

      That was why they were here, now. Travelling down an old highway that seemed to be leading them into the middle of nowhere. In reality it was taking them away from it all: the stress, the chaos, the ridiculous pace of the city to a new, quieter life. It was what they needed. Aiden could feel himself becoming a stranger to his family; the hours he needed to spend at the office were increasing daily and he had begun to question his motives in life and the choices he had made. Initially he got into law for the money, but as he progressed through the