Wow. Wow. Wow. I have read all the series of these books from Cara Hunter and they have all been brilliant page turners. This one grabs you from page 1 and does not let go. You feel like you are part of the team, present at all the scenes she is writing about. I really like all the insertions of other media and communications it flows so well and gives even more depth to the story. Totally brilliant. Thank you so much to the publishers for giving me access to an early copy. If I could give more stars I would.

I am in awe of this book it was amazing from start to finish, considering there is a long list before this book in the Fawley series it is as good as the very first one!! love the new members of the team even Carter! atm! 😂
keep up the fabulous work cara!!

Another fantastic crime thriller from Cara Hunter.
She uses the same familiar police team to tell the most unbelievable stories in the most believable way

Cara Hunter is back with Hope To Die, the sixth novel in the D I Adam Fawley series. If you haven’t read the series yet you really should, it’s such a gripping series with a unique narrative. More on that later! Hope To Die turned out to be a cracking read and everything I hoped for and more. A body shot at point-blank range. Is it a case of a burglary gone wrong? DI Adam Fawley suspects there’s something more to it. A child’s murder, and a connection to a historical high-profile case are intricately connected to Fawley’s case, creating a gripping, darkly addictive tale that will reel you in from the get-go.

If there’s one thing I love about Cara Hunter’s books it her attention to detail, not only does she provide the reader with a gripping story line, but there’s the clever integration of things like social media opinions, suspects statements, psychological evaluations and even a fictional Netflix series that runs alongside the narrative. It’s such an original concept which adds authenticity to the read, it also helps the reader to feel their part of the investigation rather than a bystander, sifting through the mountains of evidence, poring over statements looking for that one clue that will finally “crack” the case.

Cara Hunter has woven an intricate plot. Red herrings are perfectly placed. Tension increases tenfold, and remains that way right up to the last page. Hunter has a way of writing that immediately draws you in. When you add to this the unique way of including various media’s to present a story, and I mustn’t forget the well-developed characters, you have another outstanding read from Cara Hunter. Highly recommended, and a MUST read for crime thriller lovers.

Keep with it for this book full of twists and turns and a brilliant ending.
Despite starting with a bang-literally- I struggled a bit to get who was who amongst the police in my mind but once that all clicked in to place this was a face pace read which had many twists and turns.
great characters you could love or hate and good old fashioned policing.
A five star read.

The murder of a young man occurs in an isolated farmhouse, where a vulnerable, elderly couple live a reclusive existence. Self defence? Robbery gone wrong? Adam Fawley and his team are soon chasing leads from unexpected witnesses, and delving into the past of the family at the heart of the tragedy and their wider circle, all the while dealing with the day to day dramas and difficulties of their personal lives and workplace politics.
Deft characterisation and a plot with great pace and judicious use of incidental detail lead to an unexpected but wholly believable denouement. I read this book in a day, completely hooked by the story and the intrigued by the characters. I can’t wait for Fawley’s next case and will be recommending this to my book group.

Love the Adam Fawley series and what an amazing book. Can easily be read as a standalone if you haven’t read the series. Gripping, twisty and read in a few sittings would 100% recommend

A great book. The plot is fantastic and the characters are pretty good as well.
I literally couldn't put it down and was finished in one weekend.

This book is brill

The twist which I didn't work out was amazing.

Once again brilliant writing .

I enjoyed this book by Cara Hunter which starts with the shooting in Oxford of a man with a shotgun, and delves back into the past about the birth of a baby boy by Camilla, and keeps one enthralled to the final pages.

DI Adam Fawley #6

I love these characters so it’s a delight to be back in Oxford especially now that Adam and his wife Alex have the joy of baby Lily Rose; these cases are always just the right blend of police investigation and the personal. If you’ve never read the series then don’t worry as the author has included an excellent summary at the beginning.

An emergency call from a member of the public dispatches the police to an isolated farmhouse on Ock Lane, Wytham where a macabre scene is discovered. It seems an intruder is dead and he’s clutching a knife in his hand. The householder, elderly Mr Swann, is arrested. However, the case does not add up on several fronts and a major challenge is underway as the mystery deepens as Adam and his team enter a veritable minefield.

I always enjoy the way Cara Hunter tells a story using a variety of formats including Netflix extracts this time and, as always, Adam‘s perspective and with good injections of humour.
She is now so adept at this the storyline flows well and this case is darned intriguing. The Swanns prove to be a shifty pair especially aggressive Peggy and her brand of motherhood contrasts sharply with that of Alex. Through dogged police work (including young DCs Hansen and Chloe Sargent who will both go far!) they make some shocking discoveries and my jaw literally drops on occasions and possibly the odd little naughty may be uttered at some of the explosive revelations. They sure have poked a bear, opened a can of worms et cetera et cetera and every other idiom involving hornets and so on. Talk about a mystifying mysterious case as this is the very epitome of one! The plot is complex and very clever, the pace rises and falls appropriately and it’s compelling and entertaining from the beginning to the end.

I don’t want to give too much away but at the centre of the puzzling conundrum is a character who is fascinating, who will make you recoil in horror and who is most definitely a chameleon who changes and lies with startling alacrity. That characterisation is superb as your emotions change as new evidence emerges. It’s full of very good twists and turns, it’s exciting and unpredictable and as yet another excellent addition to this outstanding series.

I hope number seven is underway as like every other reader who loves this series I can’t wait to see what’s next in store for Adam, by then I hope DC Erica Somer has recovered and back to work and that DC Bradley Carter gets his comeuppance, the snake.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General UK for that much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

CARA HUNTER – HOPE TO DIE ****

I read this novel in advance of publication through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The stories of Alex Fawley are always worth a read. Cara Hunter knows how to develop an intriguing story line, often, as in this case, taking a real-life crime as her inspiration and fictionalising it.

In the middle of the night a young man turns up at a remote farmhouse. With what motive? To rob its elderly owners? There is a struggle. The young man gets shot. The elderly man pleads self-defence. But is it? And who is the young man?

Languishing in jail for 15 years, a young woman, vilified for leaving her baby for dead. Hounded by press and public opinion. Tried by a jury. But what if everyone got it wrong? And why would she accept 15 years in jail if she didn’t do what she was accused of?

Hope to Die is full of twists and turns, right up to the last pages. And because there are no chapters, just scenes, you find yourself speeding through... just one more scene before I stop reading…

Cara Hunter is an expert at what she does, aided by specialists who make sure her police procedural facts are checked. An enjoyable page turner for anyone who enjoys police mysteries; an easy recommendation.

Another fantastic read from Cara Hunter. I love the series and DC Fawley and colleagues are great characters. Plenty of twists to keep you guessing. Looking forward to more from Cara Hunter.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an arc in exchange for an honest opinion

Absolutely love this author. The new Ruth Rendell. This series is brilliant. Each book could be standalone but I’d say read in order to get the full value. Each time you think they can’t get better. But they do! What a talent. Privilege to read first. I buy my dad a copy as soon as they are released. 5/5.

Another excellent book from Cara Hunter involving DI Adam Fawley. This is the second one about this character and like the previous book full of twists. An excellent read and definitely one to be recommended.

A new novel in Cara Hunter’s excellent DI Fawley crime series is a cause for celebration. The previous novel in the series, ‘No Way Out’, was one of the best crime novels I’ve read.

These are all great standalone thrillers but if you read them in order you’ve got the added bonus of following the fascinating private lives of DI Fawley and his intelligent, diverse, devoted team. If you haven’t already read all the novels in the series, I envy you. In fact, after finishing ‘Hope to Die’ I’m planning on reading them all again.

I read this latest addition to the series in two days, delighted by all the twists and turns of the plot that I didn’t anticipate.

The novel opens with a man in his seventies claiming to have shot a burglar in self-defence. So why has the burglar got his back against the wall? And why didn’t the householder call the police?

And what is the link between the burglar, the householder, and a notorious child killer, demonised in the tabloids as ‘Milly Liar’? ‘Milly Liar’ claims that she didn’t kill her baby, but handed it to its father. Her case is being investigated in a Netflix true crime series.

As usual, the plot is revealed through online chat rooms, police interview transcripts, psychiatric reports, Wikipedia entries and voicemails, with the fascinating addition here of the Netflix documentary scripts. It’s an absolutely superb way of presenting the reader with all the information available to the police so that we can play armchair detective ourselves.

Cara Hunter doesn’t insult the reader with an easily solvable case. You’ll be totally gripped by this complex crime. Is ‘Milly Liar’ a devious, narcissistic, manipulative liar, or an innocent girl who has been vilified by the press? As in the Netflix series ‘The Staircase’, fascinating new facts keep on coming and overturning everything you thought you knew.

It’s no surprise to learn that the DI Fawley novels are going to be made into a TV series. They’ll be a gift to the screenwriter with their well rounded characters, their authentic police procedures, their realistic dialogue and their bang up to date contemporary plots. Can’t wait to see DI Fawley on screen!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for an ARC of this unputdownable thriller.

I have read a number of Cara Hunter books in this series and this installment does not disappoint. It is fast paced with a good story attached. I like the use of modern media in moving the plot along. Waiting for the next book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK for the advance copy of this book.

An elderly couple living a life of solitude suddenly thrust into the media spotlight for all the wrong reasons. A woman universally hated for killing her baby. And a young man shot dead in the opening pages. How do they all tie together? This is the question Cara Hunter has posed in her latest offering ‘Hope to Die’.

Overall I found the story pretty gripping, if a little incredulous at times. There was just enough ‘Fawley’’ time versus the main plot, a balance I think authors often struggle with when they have established protagonists in this kind of series.

There are a fair few additional police characters who can be hard to keep up with, and it’s difficult to develop any real insight into their characters or indeed care about their role in the story, given we only see snippets into their lives.

What was missing for me in this book was the real ‘why ‘ behind Camilla’s actions. The course of the book largely seeks to discover the ‘what’ and leaves the reader (in my view!) guessing as to her motivation. Who was really each baby’s father and why did she continually get pregnant in quick succession? Why did she proceed with the pregnancies? Why were social services not more closely involved? What led her to be such a cold and brittle character- was her father an abuser or was she just some kind of solipsistic narcissist even as a young teen?

Despite the events that befell Camilla it was hard to drum up any empathy when her motivations remained so unclear. I also felt somewhat ambivalent about the Swanns at the end, given it wasn’t clear whether their parenting was absent or overbearing (from the brief glimpses we are given it appears a mixture of both). I would have preferred a deeper exploration of Camilla’s relationship with her parents; I had no real sense of how they would have reacted to her pregnancy (ies!) and whether her reckless behaviour was a result of toxic parenting or simply a lack of regard for anyone but herself.

I’d give the book 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. An enjoyable read but in my humble view not one of Cara’s best.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I have read all of Cara Hunter's novels and this does not disappoint. Camilla Rowan is in prison, serving a sentence for killing her baby boy. But did she? A young man is found dead at the home of an elderly couple and this is when the real story begins. Who is this young man? Is he connected to Camilla Rowan? She is a good liar so we don't know what to believe, but Adam Fawley is determined to find out and solve this case once and for all.

Another addictive book from Cara Hunter. I’ve read all the Adam Fawley books and this latest one has to be the best yet. I’ve loved watching the characters evolve and all of the plot lines are sophisticated and well written. Gripping story with interesting characters… I found this very hard to put down and as always, I’m sad to have to wait for the next instalment!