I had a few minor grievances, the few false solves mostly. And for a while, I couldn’t decide if I liked the format or not. It was harder to connect to the characters but it wasn’t that kind of story. So I think in the end, I liked the effect. It heightened the drama. This isn’t a book for connection and once I got used to it, I was ok with that. Sometimes a book that’s pure drama is fun.

I liked the way the bulk of the book unraveled. Following the threads was entertaining.

I had my suspicious about where it was going but it was still fun to follow things through.

Releasing September 2023!
MURDER IN THE FAMILY by Cara Hunter is just as unputdownable as I hoped it would be.

Here’s what you need to know:
As a child, Guy Howard’s stepfather was murdered in the backyard of their family home and the case has never been solved. Twenty years later and now a famous filmmaker, Guy has developed a team to create a true-crime documentary series exploring the unsolved case and find closure for his family.

The story is told through mixed media storytelling, involving transcripts of the documentary, text messages, documents, Internet forums, and emails. This has now become a favorite sub-genre of mine and I will read all the books in this format forever. Send me all the recommendations please 😎.

I also think it’s important to note: I read this e-galley on kindle and I strongly encourage anyone to get the physical copy if possible. There are images of documents and other images that made reading in kindle format a bit tricky.

Perfect for fans of true crime docuseries or authors like Janice Hallett and Benjamin Stevenson. I enjoyed the ride, was sad when it was over, and I hope to see more books like this coming out in the near future.

Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for a free review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

A really good, smart book. So many things here surprised me! Fans of the genre and the author will be very happy with this one. Recommended.

A true crime documentary looks into a 20 year old cold case with industry experts trying to solve the case together. It’s all directed by the step-son of the victim, who is determined to find the truth.

I loved this one! It is completely untraditional writing with interviews, dialogue transcriptions, emails, etc. and I think it worked great! It made it feel so fast paced and you really felt like you were finding out clues as quickly as the characters.

Spoilers below:
I also loved how all the detectives/experts became suspects themselves. That was a twist I didn’t see coming and thought it really heightened the drama! You get almost a glimpse into this at the beginning with the first news article, but I thought it was going to refer to the family, not the experts!

Overall, this novel was thrilling, engaging, and I just couldn’t put it down! I’d highly recommend to anyone who wants a good mystery. The unconventional style might not be for everyone, but I really loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy in exchange for a honest review.

I have been such a fan of Cara Hunter since I read all of the DI Adam Fawley series. Her books are smartly written and leave just enough breadcrumbs along the way keep you guessing until the end.

I had no doubt Murder In the Family would deliver and it did! Told completely in an epistolary format, we follow a group of experts as they try and solve the 20 year old mystery of a man found murdered at his upscale London home.

This book read like a true crime documentary with transcripts, texts, emails and newspapers clippings. In true Hunter fashion, we are playing along as armchair detectives as we get bits and pieces of the truth along with a lot of smoke and mirrors. It’s one of those books that once you know the ending you want to go back and re-read to recognize all the clues that you missed along the way!

Well paced and full of drama, this is a fun read for those that love a good mystery!

This book is like a podcast come to life!! Follow along as a team of experts assembles to solve a twenty year old mystery - who killed Luke Ryder, much younger second husband of a socialite wife? Told through a jumble of media and methods, Hunter is in complete command of her story. To say anything more would give away the book’s juiciest bits. Best to go in knowing nothing and enjoy the journey! My only quibble is that on an e-reader, the text exchanges and graphs are hard to read. That aside, thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for this terrific read.

I really enjoyed this book, It was my first by this author and won’t be my last. I felt like I was a detective solving the crime the whole time I was reading, Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

First of all, thank you NetGalley for this opportunity of reading this book.

Second, this is a great book however it was also hard for me to read. I like the theme but I don’t like reading books with straight interviews, “talking or texting in quotation”. But people that do enjoy these types will love it.

“Luke Ryder’s murder has never been solved. Guy Howard’s mother and two half-sisters were in the house at the time of the murder–but all swear they saw nothing. Despite a high-profile police investigation and endless media attention, no suspect was ever charged. But some cases you can never forget”. Quote from

https://thebibliophilechronicles.com/2023/02/01/book-review-murder-in-the-family-cara-hunter/

4 stars-What I love is a good true crime documentary and a new Cara Hunter novel, especially a DI Adam Fawley one. This is a stand-alone and it does have Hunter’s signature procedural style, but in the form of a script of a documentary, along with some voicemails, text threads, and newspaper articles. While I enjoyed the book it just wanted the same for me as her other books. In particular, I found this one very difficult to read on my Kindle. Another reviewer mentioned that she wanted to go back and look at past pages for reference. I found that the non-script parts of the book (the texts, newspaper article, Reddit (I think) threads, etc, we’re not able to be enlarged in text size like the rest of the book. I was reading it on a paperwhite outside. While I don’t think I missed anything crucial to the plot, I wish I could have read those other additions as well. A huge thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy. All opinions are my own.

When someone says they want the truth to come out, no matter what….what happens when it does?

Twenty years ago, a young man named Luke Ryder was murdered, found bludgeoned to death outside his wife’s home in a tony section of London. It was dubbed the “Cougar Murder”, because he was married to a wealthy woman more than a few years older than him. His two teenaged stepdaughters and young stepson were at home, but saw nothing, and the murder was never solved. Now that stepson, an aspiring filmmaker named Guy Howard, has joined forces with “Infamous”, a reality TV true crime series (à la American Crime Stories, only based in the UK) to look into Luke’s murder. A panel of experts have been gathered to go through the evidence and testimony of record as well as re-interview witnesses and participants from the original investigation, with the hope of uncovering new evidence that will finally solve the case. Guy is fully participating in the project, as is his sister Maura (albeit reluctantly). His mother is suffering from Alzheimer’s so is not able to participate, while his second sister Amelie categorically refuses to be involved. The panel includes a retired UK police detective, a journalist who had covered the case when it first happened, a leading UK prosecutor, a forensic psychologist, a crime scene expert and a retired US detective, all working under the direction of producer Nick Vincent. Unlike other installments of “Infamous”, the episodes of “Who Killed Luke Ryder” will not be dropped all at once; viewers will have to wait week by week for each installment. It doesn’t take long for some of the panelists’ egos to clash, and each early episode ends with explosive new information. How is it possible for members of the panel to unearth major new developments so readily? With a producer more interested in making “great telly” than in safeguarding participants’ privacy or feelings, panelists looking to score the next coup, and voices in the press and on social media following and dissenting every episode, this is definitely must-see-TV. But at what cost to those who lived the tragedy? And in the end, will the truth ever be known?
I loved both the premise of the novel and the manner in which the story was laid out. The narrative includes columns from a tv reviewer, communications (text, email, and voicemail) between different characters, and dialogue between the panelists on each episode complete with filming notes and directions, rather than a straight third person view. That occasionally made reading it on my e-reader a little difficult, but I made it work. Given the current enthusiasm for true crime shows in real life, Murder in the Family certainly has a large audience into which it can tap. The exchanges and dynamics between characters proved to be an effective way to develop their personalities….it became clear who most sought the limelight, who was concerned with the possible fall-out of revelations, and so on. As each episode was unveiled, and new facts about the case and its participants came out, the more intriguing the mystery became. What started out as “Who Killed Luke Ryder” soon became a far broader search into not only who killed Luke but why. Who, in the end, was Luke, and who would have wanted him dead? More questions than answers are discovered, and the panel of experts start to turn on one another (much to the delight of the producer). If you have ever enjoyed a true crime book, show or podcast, or would enjoy a behind-the=scenes look at what goes into a reality-based tv show, than I would strongly urge you to add Cara Hunter’s latest to your nightstand. The pace is quick, the characters an interesting mix, and the mystery at the center of it all an intriguing puzzle. Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for allowing me access to an advanced reader’s copy of Murder in the Famiy.

You will not want to put this one down. Keeps you on your toes throughout the whole book. I really enjoyed this one!

interesting take on true crime shows, told in interviews and texts as the episodes explore this fictionalized cold case after so many years. I think my students will enjoy this different way of looking at it and learn something, which is a bonus for me as an educator

MURDER IN THE FAMILY is a 5 star mystery unlike any other. A team of experts are brought together to solve the cold case murder of a man on an extravagant London estate. This multimedia story reads like a bingeable Netflix documentary and includes maps, resumes, voicemails, texts, emails, and photos that bring the story to life.

Expertly plotted and perfectly paced, Cara Hunter delivers just enough clues that allow readers to try (and most certainly fail) to solve this layered mystery. The twists start early and never let up until the very last page. With true crime cases woven into the fictional story I went down many a google rabbit hole.

I was wholeheartedly invested in this story of old money, revenge, and deceit and I know you will be too.

PUB DATE: September 19, 2023
RATING: 5/5

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A true crime documentary is being made about the twenty year old unsolved murder of Luke Ryder, found at the bottom of the garden steps at his older wife's stately London home. A group of experts has been brought together and the series is being directed by the victim's stepson in hopes of solving the cold case that has hung over the family's head for so many years.

This book is going to be at the top for me for most unique format. The entire story is written from the point of view of a documentary. The chapters are broken down by episodes. We get a call sheet, the transcript with the experts discussing evidence (new and old), newspaper articles, emails, comments in a discussion forum, texts between sisters. It's like being on the other side of a true crime show. It's all very fun and incredibly addictive to read. I finished it in less than two days.

I love the creativity put into this and I kept thinking how fun it must have been to write. There are cliffhangers after each episode. New evidence keeps being discovered and as we learn more about the experts who are uncovering it an unease begins. There is a lot more to the story than first appeared. Pay attention to everything if you want to solve this cold case. In place of a traditional epilogue we get a couple newspaper articles. Do not skip them!!

Murder In The Family is a refreshing mystery thriller. I think this will be an enjoyable read even for readers who prefer mystery over thrillers as it allows you to focus so well on the investigation. I am so happy I got to read this! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher! Murder In The Family by Cara Hunter will be published September 19.

Young Australian Luke Ryder marries wealthy older woman Caroline Howard and is tragically murdered one year later. Luke’s stepson Guy Howard now twenty years later and a filmmaker decides to do a reality show on Luke’s death.
Many secrets and lies are revealed.
This was an amazing read with enough twists and turns to give whiplash. Thanks NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC that will be released September 19, 2023!

I really enjoyed the creativity of the book being read as a documentary. I found there to be too many characters weighing in. I was able to guess Luke's killer almost immediately, which made the remainder of the book hard to get into since there wasn't any mystery left. Unfortunately, I struggled to get through this one.

The format is very creative and original. The entire book is told in news clippings, texts, transcripts, charts, maps, etc. It took me a bit to get used to this style, but once I did the book flowed more smoothly. I came to really appreciate the originality of the format. Each episode leaves on a cliff hanger, that is further explored in the following episode. I can only imagine watching or listening to this in real life and having to wait a week until the next release. It reads like true crime. There are a lot of characters and I thought it would be hard to track, but it was quite easy to follow. There are a whole bunch of twists and wow factors. I'm still picking my jaw up off the floor from the ending.

Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow, William Morrow Paperbacks for a digital ARC.

With constant twists and turns throughout, this book sucks you in and will have you finishing it in a matter of days. Written in a style akin to that of Daisy Jones and the Six, it’s a fast read that will have you ASTOUNDED by the surprise reveal in the ending. Even if you think you figured it out early, and the book confirms your suspicions, by the end, you’ll realize the answer is something you never could have guessed.

4 ⭐️
This is a "who done it" investigation and this book has this cool aspect where the book utilizes a unique writing style! The book has text messages and news clipping and stuff??? I was like 👀. This aspect of the book made the book enjoyable and it really got me hooked. The pacing was medium paced and the genre is a mix of everything like Psychological Thriller to mystery and this story itself is well written with unexpected plot twist!

Thank you Netgalley and William Morrow for this e-ARC inexchange for a honest review!

When I first starting reading this I wasn't so sure about the style and hesitated continuing. However. I soon came to really like it and it added to the story. The ending was a bit disappointing, but otherwise, A decent read. .