‘Do you know what they’re hiding in the house next door?’
In the Dark is the second book in the Oxford based series featuring DI Adam Fawley by Cara Hunter. Just published with Viking Books (Penguin), I am delighted to bring you all my review. I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in this series, Close to Home and you can read my review HERE.
Cara Hunter writes with a style that really appeals to me, and to many more readers also based on the incredible volume of 4*/5* reviews on Amazon UK and elsewhere.
Described by renowned crime writer Peter James as a ‘real gripper of a read’, this series is definitely one that I recommend.
Please do continue reading for my thoughts…
About The Book:
A woman and child are found locked in a basement room, barely alive…
No one knows who they are – the woman can’t speak, and there are no missing persons reports that match their profile. And the elderly man who owns the house claims he has never seen them before.
The inhabitants of the quiet Oxford street are in shock – how could this happen right under their noses?
But DI Adam Fawley knows that nothing is impossible.
And that no one is as innocent as they seem…
My Review:
You buy a property in an up-and-coming area for your family. You are a very busy man, not particularly likable but very successful. The building work is delayed and you are annoyed and frustrated but then the unthinkable happens….
Mark Sexton arrives to have a heated discussion with his builders. He is man who does not take kindly to hitches in his plans. There appears to be an issue with a wall in the basement, a possible supporting wall that was undetected by the original survey. On closer inspection they make a very disturbing discovery. Through a crack in the bricks they see a woman and a child locked in the basement of the adjoining house.
The police are immediately called to the scene. There is no answer next door resulting in them having to force their way in. A grim discovery awaits them. There is a frightened old man found whimpering in a downstairs toilet and the house is clearly neglected. Slowly unlocking the cellar, the police are greeted by a foul stench and there on the ground lies a young woman with a small child, clearly held captive but also clearly abandoned.
The girl is unresponsive and the boy is in total shock. Both are immediately transferred to a local hospital as the police try to determine who is behind this chilling discovery. The old man is incomprehensible and suffering from Dementia. He has no knowledge of who the girl is.
How did she get there? Who is responsible for this terrifying act?
DI Adam Fawley and his team are soon caught up in this very complex case where nothing is as it seems and where no one person is capable of providing answers.
Having read the first book in this series, Close to Home, I was familiar with the background story of Adam Fawley. I would recommend you read it first, but it is not vital to following the story-line of In the Dark. Adam Fawley and his wife have had their own personal cross to bear after a very tragic loss in their lives. Adam struggles when he sees children suffering and witnessing what has happened to this young boy in the cellar chills him to the bone. No stone will be left unturned. There will be answers and Adam Fawley wants those answers now.
As a reader you are drawn into a seriously complex web of lies and deceit. Cara Hunter teases you with possible scenarios as you attempt to unravel the truth….but this is a tough one folks!! I know I have probably over utilised the word in recent times, but seriously In the Dark is a roller-coaster journey. Adam Fawley and his team are caught up in a very tangled and disturbing case. I found myself having to stay fully alert at all times reading In the Dark, as the stage kept changing with new possibilities and permutations. This is one dramatic book!!
In the Dark is a fantastic addition to this new series. DI Adam Fawley and his team are very credible and I think that is one aspect that draws the reader into the book. While it is a thrilling police procedural, we see a very human element in these books that feels very genuine at all times.
Authentic. Exciting. Accomplished.Compelling.
Purchase Link ~ In the Dark
About Cara Hunter:
Cara Hunter is a writer who lives in Oxford, in a street not unlike those featured in her series of crime books. Her first book, Close to Home, was picked for the Richard and Judy Book Club.
In the Dark is her second novel featuring DI Adam Fawley and his team of detectives.
Twitter ~ @CaraHunterBooks
I loved this book so much! I still haven’t been able to formulate a sensible review!
It is a fab series Julia and there will be more!!!! Whoop