A strong addition to the DI Fawley stable. Clever way of telling the tale from each character's perspective and a finale of an unexpected twist. Tense, gripping, fast-paced. Everything a good book should be.

That was great story! Chilling and sad but great. I was just not a fan of the format.

Police receive a call of a shooting at a remote cottage one night. When the uniforms arrive there is a man lying dead on the kitchen floor with his face blown off by a shotgun blast, pretty gross I know. The homeowners, elderly couple Richard and Margaret Swann claim he broke in and Richard shot him in self defence. There is a knife in his hand and Richard has a nasty cut on his own hand.

Unfortunately this account is not supported by the evidence. The man has no ID on him either, also strange. At first DI Adam Fawley’s team is pretty stumped, there is not much to go on but gradually through a lot of hard graft they learn that the couple had changed their names some years ago. They used to be Dick and Peggy Rowan and their daughter, Camilla, was convicted around 17 years ago of killing her baby 5 years before that when she was 17. Camilla has always claimed she was innocent, she handed her baby to the father, Tim Baker, at a roadside lay by on her way home from giving birth only hours before. There was never a body to support the conviction.

I don’t want to say more as this was a complex investigation and a complex story. Your allegiances are constantly changing. The characters were superbly drawn although, apart from the police and the odd other ones they were largely, eventually, unlikable. You will saddened and shocked as the truth is ever so slowly drawn out. It was way worse than I could have imagined!

The plot, while not action based was consistently moving at a good clip. It was the revelations that provided the wow factor in this story. Fawley’s team is a bit different as Somer is recovering from her cancer scare and most of the new members fit in well although Carter is a bit of a worry. Is he simply socially awkward or is he genuinely undermining his team mates? Time will tell.

Cara Hunter has hit this one out of the park and, if not for the format. I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. Many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton, Viking, Penguin Life, Penguin Business for the much appreciated arc which I reviewed voluntarily and honestly.

4.5 rounded up.

Gripping!! Once I started this book I struggled to put it down until I finished it. Plenty of twist’s and turns that kept me guessing right the way through. Definitely worth reading

This is the second book that I have read by Cara Hunter, and once again I was gripped by the story and couldn't put it down. A thoroughly enjoyable read.
[I was given an un-proofed ARC by the publishers].

Brilliant police thriller, I couldn't put this one down. The police are alerted to a gunshot where an elderly couple say they've defended themselves from a knife wielding burglar, resulting in the would be officer's demise. Something about their story an the savagery of the killing seems off. This old couple are hiding something more sinister than the events of that night. DI Adam Fawley, and his team are searching for the defender's identity, and discover a link with a child murder case 20 years earlier.

An unputdownable twisty thriller, be warned, you may be up late trying to finish the book, it is so gripping. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

I really enjoyed the last Cara Hunter book so I was eager to read the next Fawley book which was a fabulous mind boggling tale which I raced through. A shooting at a remote house turns up links to a scandalous case from fifteen years ago which made for incredible and incredulous reading, more so when I read the acknowledgements and realised it was loosely based around a true crime. Although we’re kept up with the lives of Fawley’s team in this the focus really is on the case which turns up one incredible revelation after another and was totally fascinating. The mother who the original case was centred around was such a complex character that it was impossible to determine her truth and the older woman from the current case was so tricky that you just couldn’t comprehend what she was hiding. This is a hugely original storyline and it’s brilliant, can’t wait for the next instalment. 9/10

Cara Hunter is the consummate storyteller, who invariably creates a compelling puzzle. She is also a brave writer who deals with controversial subjects in a strikingly original way. We saw this in All the Rage and The Whole Truth. We see it again in Hope to Die.

Hope to Die is the sixth in the Adam Fawley series. Like the others, it has a clipped 3-word title and draws on a variety of forms to tell the story, including interview transcripts, call logs, newspaper articles, internet chat rooms and a psychiatric report. This technique quickens the pace and draws readers into the story, allowing them to experience the investigation as part of the team. The attention to detail in the documents gives the story credibility in laying out the layers of thinking that sit behind the novel.

Hunter does come up with the most fascinating puzzles. This one has us wondering just who is the victim of whom from the outset. There are plenty of twists but even as Camilla’s actions are revealed, it remains impossible to explain her motives. She remains a truly enigmatic figure.

Hunter enjoys playing with language. At times you feel she can’t resist making fun. All those police clichés, the ‘bullshit bingo’ as she calls it. And Fawley’s boss adding a qualifier to ‘unique’: who would have thought it? Nice nod to Line of Duty at one point, acknowledging the likely TV choices of her audience. And those prison nicknames - worth looking out for the Duchess and the Jailhouse Frock. There are some lovely set pieces: the dialogue in the prison is beautifully written. All very nice touches from an accomplished writer enjoying her craft.

Cara Hunter is rightly renowned for the best endings and Hope to Die is no exception in that regard. The joy of a Cara Hunter ending is that she does not always restore the moral equilibrium. We genuinely don’t know what will happen next because characters don’t always get what they deserve. And you have to read right to the final page for the last piece in the puzzle.

For readers lucky enough to know Oxford, the novels have an additional dimension. The settings show off different parts of the city and its environs. It is common enough for visitors to Oxford to be introduced to tours of Morse’s Oxford. Those who visit Wytham will now be able to combine Morse’s and Fawley’s Oxford.

To describe Cara Hunter as a crime novelist is to do her a disservice. She is a literary writer of the highest order, though one suspects she is too good a storyteller to be given the credit she deserves in that regard. These novels are far more than crime novels. Hunter seeks out the uncomfortable truths in human behaviour that lie beneath the surface of society and crime is the vehicle through which she expresses her ideas.

I have enjoyed all the Adam Fawley series so far and read this one overnight. It was interesting to see some new personnel to the team - there will be some interesting team dynamics to unravel. It was lovely to see his domestic life resolving itself positively.

I was less convinced by the crime this time - it seemed at times to be a little far-fetched - however this was redeemed by the way in which the case was worked.

An interesting read but perhaps not the best in the series.

It's been a while! But it was so lovely to get back on a case with Fawley and the team 😊

When reports come in of a gunshot heard from a house in a secluded area of countryside, police are dispatched to investigate and find a horrific scene.
Fawley's team, headed up by Gis and Quinn start the initial enquiries, but they could never have thought where this case was going to end up.

As is now expected with this series, this was an excellent story. Well plotted, fabulous characters (old and new!) And along with the usual diary entries, emails and interviews to move the story along, it also makes wonderful use of different medias to keep the reader engaged. This time there are voicemails, facebook posts and comments, newspaper articles and my second favourite to a map - a floorplan (swoon!). All this makes for a very entertaining and pacy read that had so many twists right up until the end and really kept me guessing.

A fantastic addition to what is already a stellar series and I highly recommend the whole lot!

Cara, you’ve done it again! I read the whole book in a day. Couldn’t put it down! This time though I’m left with questions. Did Peggy know all along? Now need to read it again to look for more clues 😁

Wow, what a fantastic book that was to read. Utterly captivating and with so many twists and turns to it, you really didn't want to put it down until it was finished. 5/5 and highly recommended!