Rating: 4.2/5

Already being a huge admirer of Cara Hunter's DI Adam Fawley series, I was always going to jump at the chance to read a new standalone mystery from that same author. There are certain traits that will be familiar to those already acquainted with the Fawley books, but there are also certain aspects that are handled quite differently and display an element of experimentation and boundary testing on the part of the writer, which may not necessarily go down well with all readers.

I won't rehash the plot here - there is already ample information in the accompanying marketing blurb and other early reviews. Suffice to say that Cara Hunter takes the traditional police procedural format and combines it with the real life crime genre. That, in itself, is nothing new - the sixth (and at time of writing, most recent) Adam Fawley novel, "Hope to Die" also utilised elements from each of these genres. The difference here is that it is presented as a televised cold case investigation on Netflix.

I have commented elsewhere that police procedurals are perhaps the one area of written fiction that actually tend to work better as televisual adaptations. Cara Hunter's previous books have incorporated literary / publishing mechanics that embellish and enhance the overall impact of the written word and create something close to "the best of both worlds". In "Murder in the Family" the author takes that approach further than she has previously and, as a result, this latest novel often has a feel that is far more akin to the style of Janice Hallett's books.

For the most part, the narrative is presented in the form of a screenplay, with the inclusion of additional sections from media such as mobile phone text messages and email. There is quite a cast of characters, which could be potentially daunting, but Cara Hunter again uses a technique already deployed in the Fawley series, by providing a little background précis of the key players at the start of the book. As ever, the characterisation is entirely credible with each protagonist being given a distinct persona. However, the format does prevent the author being able to create the same depth of character that she usually manages to achieve. The style of the narrative and the level of detail also mean that it is not always the easiest to follow, especially in the earlier stages while you are becoming accustomed to the format.

The mystery itself is as clever and tightly plotted as you might expect from the pen of Cara Hunter and there are certainly plenty of unexpected, but perfectly legitimate, plot developments that will keep you on your toes and catch you unawares. The pacing of a novel is usually another one of this author's strong suits, but that does feel a touch constrained by the format in this particular novel. That said, there is ample intrigue as the mystery develops to ensure no loss of interest on the part of the reader.

Overall, this is another highly appealing mystery from Cara Hunter. Once again, she challenges conventional crime writing formats and the expectations of the reader, but with success - although it does occasionally compromise some of the author's strengths.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

Intriguing premise and original layout for a book. The story about a cold case being solved by experts and the family involved was well done. However I did on my Kindle have problems with the ;layout. Some of it was far too small to read and could not be enlarged. Some text was greyed out and very difficult to read. The novel needed to make up its mind whether it was going to use UK spellings or American. Given its sup[posed to be the Met investigating I feel the book should use UK spellings. Some errors in the text too. Shame

I started reading this book and was immediately hooked.
A book posing as a script posing as a book, genius!

The story is laid out in a very clever way that keeps the reader hooked and and eager to see what the next ‘episode’ will hold.
Ultimately I loved this book but I have to admit to not completely loving the ending. In a book full of possible conclusions I can’t help but feel the one chosen was perhaps a little too easy and a bit of an easy way out. I found myself looking to see where the next page was and yet it had actually ended.

I love Cara’s books so was intrigued to read Murder in the family.
Written very differently to her other books, which did take me a little while to adapt to, but once I got used to it I enjoyed the concept of newspaper articles, text messages and a running documentary.
Who killed Luke Ryder is a twisty suspenseful read that will keep you guessing, then floor you as each new revelation is revealed!
Lots of characters to get used to and American police procedures as well as British, but a fantastic concept for a new read Alone book which I’m sure will be very popular!
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

This book is cleverly done, the murder mystery takes the form of a cold case television programme. A wealthy widow with three young children, takes a young husband, who is found beaten to death in the garden of their luxury home. The killer is never found, and the children are now adults, and the youngest child wants to solve the mystery. The "experts" selected for the programme all have connections to the case that the director is aware of, so there are a lot of dramatic "reveals". There are a lot of surprises and twists and turns, and misunderstandings.
In addition to the programme, there are text messages exchanged between some of the parties, and a fan chat, which seems a bit redundant, until it delivers a witness.
Very enjoyable.

I’m a Cara Hunter fan after ready all of the Adam Fawley series so I was looking forward to reading her new stand alone!

Unfortunately I struggled, a long list of characters that I couldn’t keep up with and remember who was who, I didn’t mind the format being in a documentary style however not being able to decipher who was who made it difficult to read and get into.

Took me a while to get into, there were some twists and turns and a slightly rushed ending.

I wish Cara had written this in her usual style!

I really enjoyed this novel. I'm a fan of using different narrative styles and like the use of TV show, emails, and newspaper articles. This has been done very well in this book.
I enjoyed watching the plot unravel with its many twists and turns. I worked out the ending fairly early but that's about me not the author's skill.
The large cast of characters occasionally made it hard to remember who was who.

I'm a huge fan of Cara Hunter's DI Adam Fawley books - She has captured my attention with every single one of his stories. I struggled on occasion with this book though. It is a very visual book - I suspect it would be much easier to follow in hard copy rather than on an e-reader. Some of the documents and text were super tiny.

This follows a tv series which a series of 'experts' have been brought together to solve the murder of Luke Ryder over 20 years ago.

There were elements of this book that I did enjoy - some clever little twists that I did not see coming. I felt sometimes the impact of them was slightly dampened down due to the large cast list which was on occasion a struggle to remember who was who.

This book had the feel of The Appeal by Janice Hallett and I do wonder if we are about to go through a stage of many authors trying out the format of snippets of information through social media, email and texts.

Fab book, really compelling and interesting, it read like a Janice Hallett book where the reader could be expected to solver the mystery. I didn't but I did work out some of the twist and turns!

As someone who loves their sleep, it takes a lot for me to read late into the night, which is exactly what Cara Hunter made me do with the ultimately gripping and can’t-put-it-down thriller, Murder In The Family. Written in the style of a true crime documentary about the twenty-year old murder of Luke Ryder. It is this style that made this book feel fresh and different from anything I have previously read, and I loved how the twists and turns of the case kept coming and coming. As a fan of crime crime dramas and documentaries, it is a genre that I happily binge-watch and I this is a book that made me put down my remote and binge-read. I cannot wait to discover what Cara Hunter writes next!

Murder in the Family
Cara Hunter
Publication Date: 25th May 2023

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Thanks a mil to Netgalley.co.uk and HarperCollins Publishers aswell as the author Cara Hunter for an ARC of Caras latest book 'Murder in the Family' prior to its release date in May of this year.

Cara Hunter proves herself yet again with this fantastic standalone. Its utterly different to her other books and the format is unusual as the story is told in documentary form using texts
voicenotes, emails, interviews and newspaper clippings; it took me a while to get used to reading this format, I wasnt a fan to start with but I soon adjusted to it and the story was so cleverly written it kept me hooked throughout. Really enjoyable read with so many clever twists. It read very similar to an Agatha Christie at times, filled with unlikable characters, lies and secrets, jaw dropping moments that I never saw coming ... this one certainly had me guessing right to the end. I loved it and will defo be recommending it to all my friends and family.

A very deserving 4 stars from me.
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Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but I'm sorry - this book just wasn’t for me. The layout made everything so difficult to follow and, possibly because mine was the electronic version, parts of it were so greyed out that it was impossible to read. In addition there were several times when the person speaking was given the wrong name, for example Alan Carrick says something and Alan Carrick replies! So confusing. Apart from such errors which hopefully will be corrected, there was just too much going on and it seemed very disjointed. All the wild goose chases and red herrings that came to nothing – I started to get annoyed. I think this would work very well as a ‘real’ TV documentary but, for me anyway, it certainly didn’t work as a book.

Is it possible to have too many clues? Too many red herrings? If so, this book wins the prize. However it's a gripping thriller without a single boring episode, just high speed reveal after reveal;
the sort of book you're desperate for friends to read so that you can discuss the ending.

The format is unusual as the story is told in documentary form using emails, interviews and newspaper clippings; this is becoming a popular format which I have enjoyed in a couple of books recently but it doesn't necessarily translate well onto an e-reader as the changing font sizes can be difficult to read. Regardless, it's very enjoyable and I highly recommend it.

I’m loving being in my murder mystery era!

We have mix media and from the get to we are into the action. I love being able to escape into a good book!

Slightly disappointed by this original mystery novel

Having enjoyed my first Cara Hunter book, I found this one a little disappointing. . The premise is that a cold murder case, taking place in London, is investigated in a television series by a team of "experts". The format therefore follows the script and displays shown on the box. In the Kindle version, the displays were not easy to read. The plot involves a lot of revelations, some of which were a little unnecessary in my opinion. It's a format which didn't really work for me but it's certainly an original way of telling the story.. I hope to enjoy other works by the author in the future. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A challenging format and a multitude of characters but once you get through that, Cara Hunter doesn't disappoint. Clever premise and a fresh approach to true crime with lots of reveals along the way to keep the reader guessing.

You can never go wrong with a Cara Hunter thriller.
As always a great who done it.
I did struggle at first with the lay out as the story is a series of newspaper articles, text messages etc.once i had got my head around that it was an enjoyable read.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Guy Howard's step father was murdered at their home when he was ten years old. Now, on the 20th anniversary of the murder, as an aspiring film maker, he is taking part in a documentary to attempt to uncover what really happened with this unsolved murder.

This is absolutely one of the best books I have read in a really long time. I really like this author's Adam Fawley series, but this is way beyond that. It is written in an 8 part documentary format, and of course the purpose of the documentary is to keep the viewer engaged, and that obviously worked to keep the reader engaged too. I love a book where there is new information turned up around every corner and that is what happened here. I was never bored for a minute and tore through this one in just over one day. This book was full of twists and turns and I loved every bit of it. Just excellent.

Guy Howard is the director of a true crime series which sets out to solve the murder of his step father 20 years ago, the so called "Cougar Murder"

They have a panel of experts and each of the six episodes ends on a cliffhanger until the surprise conclusion.

I love Cara Hunter but don't like this "television transcript" format but it's still a great book!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Harper Collins Publishing for the chance to read and review this book

The story itself reminded me Agatha Christie's books. Every single character is a suspect in a murder. Despite that, the writing format is very unusual-mostly interviews for documentary research series. It was difficult to follow as there were many characters in the picture and without deeper analysis they looked underdeveloped not very interesting.