No Way Out by Cara Hunter - Review

As I enjoyed the first in the DI Adam Fawley series recently, I made a note to read the next two pretty soon. I'm trying really hard to not buy books currently as recently I've had quite a few that I had preordered arrive. Plus of course I already own around 900 books. So I decided instead to not read any of those but to reserve another of Cara Hunter's books from the library. I actually reserved both. This one arrived first so even though it's the third in the series I decided to start it. Often crime novels will hark back to previous books but not give spoilers out so that each one can be read as a standalone, and that's exactly what happened here. I got a bit of the story of the second novel, but that just intrigued me and made me want to read it more!

This book is set just after Christmas, in early 2018. Adam Fawley is called to a house fire in the early hours of the morning. Felix House, on Southey Road in Oxford, is lived in by Michael Esmond and his wife Samantha, and their two children Matty and Zachary. Zachary is found dead in the nursery upstairs. Matty is taken to hospital and later dies of his injuries. Samantha is found in the remains of the house, but Michael is nowhere to be found.

Clearly police are eager to talk to him so they contact his brother, who is on a yacht in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and his employer, the university, who have had a complaint of sexual assault made against him. They don't seem to be getting anywhere very fast.

As before, this story is told from several different points of view. There's first person narrative from Adam himself. I find him a likeable detective who doesn't seem to suffer from the same narcissism that a lot do. There's third person narratives from some of his team - DC Somer, DC Everett, DC Quinn, and acting DS Gislingham. Then there's newspaper reports mixed in which often included members of the public's comments, which are often of the witch hunt variety. Then there's passages about what happened to the family in the months running up to the fire, which often reveal things that you as the reader don't realise are pertinent until later. I like the way these books are written - it feels quite modern and fresh.

I raced through this, finishing it on Friday lunchtime while sitting outside in the grass. I can't wait to read the next one, and I've lent the first one to my mum because I want her to like it too!