Close To Home is Cara Hunter’s debut novel. It’s also the first in a series set in Oxford, England, and starring Detective Inspector Adam Fawley. The second book in the series is In The Dark, and I’ll be reviewing it in a month or so. If you love mystery/suspense, you must read this series by Cara Hunter. They read fast, they’re hard to put down, and they are so good. The third one was released recently in the U.K., and I ordered it because I can’t wait for it to be released in the U.S. Also number four is scheduled for release later in 2019, so I have to keep up here. But back to Close To Home, ya’ll, the plot twists Hunter throws down in the first 50 pages will give you whiplash, so hold on to your seats while you read this one.
Near the end of a neighborhood barbecue in her family’s backyard, eight year old Daisy Mason is found to be missing. D.I. Adam Fawley, a man who is himself recovering from a personal tragedy, and his team are called in to work the case. And oh, what a case it is.
From the first interview with the parents, Sharon and Barry Mason, and their son, Leo, Fawley can tell that this family is odd (and that’s giving them the benefit of the doubt). As the investigation proceeds, the family’s dysfunctions and secrets are laid bare. And everyone has secrets—from Daisy’s parents to her own brother. Even Daisy herself has secrets, such as her unfortunate proclivity for eavesdropping and knack for using people’s secrets to subtly manipulate them whilst exploiting their insecurities; this habit makes the girl privy to all sorts of secrets and adult conversations. However, neither Sharon nor Barry can recall actually having contact with Daisy during the barbecue itself, having been too busy seeing to their many guests, and as the inquiry winds around many hairpin twists and turns, it emerges that no one can quite pin down when or from where Daisy went missing, all of which turns the investigation on its head. Soon the case reignites Fawley’s own grief over the mysterious loss of his son only a year before; the tragedy, while obliquely referenced throughout the book, is not fully illuminated until nearing the conclusion of both book and investigation.
The portrait of Daisy’s family, from her parents’ own issues to what life was like in that house with that mother, that emerges over time makes your heart ache for both Daisy and Leo because neither Barry nor Sharon have the proper tools to raise well adjusted children, let alone support one(s) with special needs or challenges. And the (adult) Masons’ lies to investigators unnecessarily hamper the investigation and set it back greatly by blowing up the timeline of the disappearance. I mean, these people are an enigma—both assume their daughter was home after school because they hear music blaring from her room, but neither one paid any mind to her at all at the barbecue! It boggles my mind.
The story is interspersed with police interview transcripts, twitter threads, news articles chronicling the developing story, and sections of story that flash back to the days, weeks, and months prior to Daisy’s disappearance to illuminate Daisy’s interpersonal relationships with her family, friends, and schoolmates. This is a gripping, page turning, suspenseful, hard to put down mystery that keeps you guessing. Ultimately its resolution will haunt the reader long after its conclusion.
A Series of (Un)Fortunate Reviews 