Like its predecessors, Close to Home and In the Dark, the third Adam Fawley mystery, No Way Out, is a frenetically-paced, meticulously crafted whodunit. Compelling and suspenseful, Cara Hunter keeps every stage of an investigation into a deadly house fire clear while peeling back layers of her expansive cast’s personal lives, delivering a novel you’ll devour in hours, with characters and a plot that will linger for days.
No Way Out opens with two children hauled from an inferno that was once their home in North Oxford, their parents undiscovered among the wreckage, which is quickly determined to be an act of arson; therefore, homicide. Adam Fawley — struggling with a personal crisis — is the leading investigator, but takes more of a backseat this time, sharing the spotlight with various other members of the Thames Valley Police, including DC Quinn, DS Gislingham, DC Erica Somer and DC Everett, as they dig into the lives of Michael and Samantha Esmond, and their two children.
Writing in short, snappy scenes that tick like a time bomb as they flick between characters, and events of the past and present, No Way Out is intricately plotted, fast moving and full of surprises.
Simon McDonald 