Gabrielle is sitting in an apartment in Manhattan, watching the clock. Her daughter has been kidnapped, she's shot and killed a man, and is trying to negotiate with the kidnapper. He wants the October List, and he wants money. The doorbell rings...
That is the end of Gabrielle's story, and the first chapter of the novel. The next chapter is the scene which came before, and what follows is what happened before that.
He was a vicar to die for - and he did! Agatha is going through a man-hating phase and so is unmoved by news of the captivating new curate. But when she meets the golden-haired, blue-eyed Tristan Delon, she is swept off her feet . . . along with every other female in the village. She is positively ecstatic when he invites her to dine with him but the next day Agatha is left with a hangover from hell - and his cold...