Close to Home: A Novel (A DI Adam Fawley Novel Book 1)

This book! It’s SO GOOD! Why has no one told me how good this is? In any case, I am here to tell you to go read this book!Close to Home kept me guessing the whole time. Did one of my guesses end up being right? Sure, but I had about 9 theories going at the same time and I really didn’t commit to the real conclusion until only a few pages before it was revealed. Hunter did an incredible job of making numerous red herrings seem not just plausible, but likely.The characterization was really great, as well. I really hated the Masons and I just wanted to find out what the deal was with this crazy family. I also really liked all of the police officers. It’s not often in these type of books that the members of the police force are so likable, but they were here. I can’t wait to read more about them. Adam Fawley was a great main character. Even though he had a tragic backstory, he was not some cliched, half-way functioning alcoholic. He was a good detective and he was also a good person.I thought I would hate the non-traditional formatting with it’s lack of proper chapters, but it actually ended up working for me. It kept the pace very steady and it made it so much easier for me to keep reading right past my bedtime. I loved the multiple POVs and timelines utilized, as well as the tweets. I feel this book helps prove my theory that Twitter is the worst thing to ever happen to society (and yes, I say that knowing that I will tweet a link to this review). The whole Trial by Twitter thing is so relevant to our world today and I thought it was really smart to include it here.The only tiny thing I didn’t like about the book was that I wanted more details for the conclusion. We’re given enough answers to know what happens, but I would have liked to have known all the little details on how we got there. It was just a little too vague to fully satisfy me, but this is me just being nit-picky.Overall, I just loved Close to Home. I loved the characters and the writing and the mystery. I am blown away that this is Cara Hunter’s debut book. It was so cleverly written and I never wanted to put it down. This is my favorite book of the year so far and Hunter has made her way onto my favorite authors list. I can’t wait to read the next book!Overall Rating (out of 5): 4.5 Stars

After a run of less interesting or gripping books this book was a welcome relief.Close to Home is a good police procedural, it’s not the best book I’ve read but was entertaining and in parts thought provoking. It has a good plot but is also strong on character, not that many of them are particularly likeable, but they are memorable. I suspected a final twist but not the one in the book. The only downside with the book’s twist is that while the people suspected are not nice people they don’t deserve convictions for things they didn’t do.The author tells a twisting tale with plenty of reveals as the story proceeds and that kept me reading. The series is about DI Adam Fawley and some of the chapters are from his point of view using first person, but overall it didn’t feel as if he was the main character. This may change in future books. Other chapters are from varied points of view and are in third person. This is a relatively common technique, but the use of present tense less so and I found that distracted from my reading as the writing didn’t flow as well as past tense and generally speaking the tale wasn’t fast-paced which is the usual reason given for using present tense. Mixed between these chapters are section of social media discussions which are disturbingly realistic in that people make up their minds on very little evidence.I enjoyed the ‘pruned-back’ almost script-like sections of police interviews where we have the question and answer dialogue with little else other than a few ‘stage/acting’ directions.Overall a good debut novel and I’ll certainly read more by this author.

Barry and Sharon Mason host a summer barbecue for friends and neighbours. When the party ends their eight year-old daughter, Daisy, is nowhere to be found. From the moment DI Adam Fawley arrives on the scene, the lack of emotion, and odd behaviour of both parents strikes him as odd. And as he soon discovers that’s only the beginning.Wow, the characters in this book couldn’t have possibly had any more skeletons in their closet. The secrets just kept on coming, and just when you thought you knew all there was to know, there was more. And while you were recovering from that, still more.Cara Hunter expertly utilised red herrings, subtle misdirection, and well-timed and carefully hidden hints. There was many a scene, where I was so immersed in what else was going on that I failed to notice important clues, and each new reveal left me reeling, thrilled over the authors ability to surprise me.The plot unfolded in the present – mainly focusing on the investigation into finding Daisy, as well as flashbacks to before. The flashbacks used a format not often seen, with the first one taking place the day before Daisy went missing, and then working backwards. Often there would be a plot reveal in the present, followed by the flashback relating to it, increasing my dread at every turn. There were also twitter posts inserted throughout, containing sadness and well wishes from the public, as well as accusations, conspiracy theories, and escalations of violence. Not only were the views and opinions downright scary in some instances, but they also showed just how much social media can impede an investigation. There are some distressing and disturbing scenes – given the topic it would be hard for there not to be – but they are handled sensitively, and aren’t overly graphic.I really enjoyed DI Adam Fawley and his team. Even though we did get some of his tragic back story, I feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface, and I’m relishing delving more into his psyche as the series progresses. Can’t wait to get stuck into book two, ‘In the Dark’.

Close to Home is Cara Hunter’s first novel in the Detective Inspector Adam Fawley series. I had already read the other 2 books in the series, (In The Dark & No Way Out) so this was a huge desire to return to the debut novel and complete the series to date. Not a bit of wonder this series has become so highly regarded and anticipated because this debut smashed it out of the park.Cara has the wonderful ability to enable the reader to experience a detailed police procedural story that feels real with all its discovery, dead-ends, tensions, horrors, frustrations and rewards. Cara introduces modern sources of information including Twitter feeds, police interview reports, transcribed phone discussions etc. This adds to a genuine police investigation feel with all the public intrusion and misdirection.In this missing person hunt, young 8-year-old Daisy Mason has been reported missing from her house-party in Oxford. No one that attended the party can remember anything strange, in fact, no one can clearly remember her even being at the party. The Mason family are the obvious initial targets for any investigation and we see that under the hood of the apparent normal English family there is a completely dysfunctional family with questionable behaviour, privately, socially and in business. The father, Barry, works in construction and has until recently been very close and affable with Daisy, exhibiting that easy father and daughter connection. The mother, Sharon, seems a little neurotic with a strange maternal attitude and obsessive vanity, and the 10-year-old son, Leo, is distant and is obviously hiding something and unwilling to speak up. The family refuse a police search of their home which sparks suspicion, however, the investigating team must keep options open. The media storm kicks into high gear and Cara uses this backdrop expertly in propagating an atmosphere of suspicion, blame and frustration, particularly with the public involved.The investigation team of DI Adam Fawley are a wonderful array of characters that add so much depth and variation to the storyline, with DS Gareth Quinn, DC Chris Gislingham and DC Verity Everett. It will take all their wits and expert investigative skills to unravel this complex winding plot that is so brilliantly woven. Flashbacks to Daisy help create the background and potential motives and routes the plot can take. This is a real gift Cara Hunter exhibits, the ability to plot so many captivating threads that the reader is constantly kept guessing right to the end.I would highly recommend this book as a full-on entertaining and thrilling mystery, framed perfectly in a police procedural structure.

YES! Finally a five star crime thriller! I thought this was absolutely fantastic. Easy to read, kept me guessing the whole way through - a real page turner.I loved the mixed media elements; texts, interview transcripts etc - it really added to the story. The court proceedings weren't boring to read either, sometimes they can be dull but this was brilliantly written.The characters are far more relatable too, all with their own quirks and flaws. A superb ending! I enjoyed this one so much that I picked up the second one in the series straight away.

An enjoyable read, it took me a little while to get into it and at first I found the time hopping a bit difficult to follow. Once I'd settled into the story, I did find it gripping. The book should come with a trigger warning though, I found some of the interview scenes quite hard to read, particularly the one with Jamie's interview. A bit graphic.

Wow...... what can I say, ordered the first two of her books( because I'm up to date with my regular list of authors) she had good write ups, so gave her a try. Totally blew me away, read the first one in 2 days and the second one even sooner. Her style of writing is smooth, not too many characters, easy to read/pick up. Her stories always have twists and turns that leave you unable to put the book down. Give her a go, they are a brilliant read.

I haven't read a book cover to cover for years; I usually lose interest half way. As many have pointed out however, this book was simply too hard to put down. I love a gripping who-dunnit and this story didn't fail. Other viewers have complained about the lack of depth to the characters but I actually prefer that; sometimes you build up a picture in your head of a character and then further in to the story there's some new information that contradicts and thus spoils this image! If you like things quick and to the point then you'll appreciate the author's style. The person I suspected was indeed involved bit the clever plot still kept me guessing right until the end. The only reason why I've given four stars is because, although I found most of the story believable, I found that the children were presented as older throughout the story. For example Daisy was eight years old but she came across as an adolescent. She was described as bright and intelligent throughout but it's almost as if the author forgot how old she was. Until the very end that is when the author suddenly seems to remember again....you'll see! Great book overall though, one of the best I've read.