Book Review: In The Dark by Cara Hunter (DI Adam Fawley #2)

In The Dark follows Close To Home in the DI Adam Fawley police procedural series.

Book Description

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY’RE HIDING IN THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR? 

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. 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 Thoughts

Hunter wrote a winning novel with Close to Home, and she is back with another winner – In The Dark. This novel isn’t just “ripped from the headlines”, we see the headlines! Hunter tells parts of this novel using articles, emails, and texts; this combined with the police interview structure brings this novel to life, makes it feel contemporary and real, and that is why this novel is such a success, why you become invested in the plot. Also, the change in structure keeps you engaged, makes it feel like you’re getting the new information in ‘real time’ and you’re finding things out at exactly the same moment the detectives do.

The mark of a good mystery/thriller novel surely has to be when you don’t see it coming, whatever ‘it’ is, it’s got to surprise you, impress you, but still make sense to the plot. And that is what Hunter achieves in this novel. In fact, it surpasses book one, which has me excited that this series will get better with each book – I don’t make that statement lightly because I really enjoyed book one. 

What both books in this series so far have in common is their strong investigative element. This police procedural doesn’t delve into the lives of the officers at the expense of the mystery. I’m a sucker for a good character backstory; I really like what Hunter is doing with this series – slowly, slowly, we are learning more about our leading character, Adam Fawley, but in a way that doesn’t overpower the mystery, so for those who like less of a backstory and a strong focus on the current investigation, you should consider reading this series. Also, the limited character backstory means this one can work as a standalone (although I’ll always advocate for reading series in order).

However, for the backstory-lovers, Fawley’s personal life isn’t stagnant; in book one we were made aware of this pain in his past, and we learn a bit more about it in this novel, it’s emotional and I’m invested. Basically, this book has the best of both worlds, and I’m excited to read the third instalment, No Way Out.

This book is available to buy from: Amazon UK / Book Depository

*My thanks to the publisher (Penguin UK) for providing me with a copy of this book*

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THE DI ADAM FAWLEY SERIES IN ORDER:

#1 Close To Home

#2 In The Dark

#3 No Way Out