Occasionally a book comes along that breaks the mold this is one such book. A whodunit but one that deals with some difficult issues that will have you guessing right up to the end. As a debut this is amazing and a real page turner.
I totally guarantee you will think one person did it then another and another.as the book progresses as the person that did it.
As the book progresses there is a clever use of flashbacks that end up opening up more clues and suspects!
The use of social media being scattered throughout and the way people use it to voice opinion (and how those opinions change) is amazingly well used and very much echoes the way opinions change and twist as the media reveals more and as people get pulled along by public opinion.
I can not recommend this book highly enough undoubtedly this will be the must read book of 2018 and would make a great TV Drama.

What a gripping book from the start. The opening was intriguing, although it later turned out that it was a red herring. I liked the use of flash backs.
I could not put this book down. I wanted to know what happened to Daisy, an 8 year old girl missing from a party. Very quickly it is revealed that she may not even have been at the party and the investigation is widened and the novel becomes more compelling. I liked DI Adam Fawley, felt he could have been developed more, as could the rest of his team. It would be good to explore their characters in future novels, if that is where this is going.
The twists were clever and the final Epilogue a surprise, even if the reader isn't entirely convinced by the verdict in the previous chapter.
It is clever in a novel that you find it compelling, despite not having sympathy for the victims, even an 8 year old child. Will be looking out for this author in future.

Really enjoyed this book despite disliking all the characters...although i think that was the idea! An ending that i didnt see coming but had me cheering. Would read more from this author

This is an excellent police procedural. It is very clear that the author knows what she a writing about.

During a party at the home of the Mason family their eight year old daughter, Daisy, goes missing. On the face of it, it is the story of a missing child and the hunt to find her. There are, however, deeper undercurrents. The narrator of the novel is Detective Inspector Adam Fawley and we see the other characters through his eyes. Barry Mason is the blustering, cocky father of Daisy and his wife, Sharon, seems more concerned about how she looks and is perceived by others, than in the search for Daisy. Leo is their insecure and troubled son.

What is new for me is the use the author makes of social media, Twitter and Facebook, the comments from which act as a Greek Chorus as events unfold. They demonstrate the snap judgements people will reach and the cruelty with which they are delivered on these forums (or fora if you prefer).

There are plenty of twists and turns in this very clever novel. I’m looking forward to the next in the series.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

Great police procedural with a missing child. Clever use of flashbacks and different perspectives. Not convinced by the very last twist but enjoyed the book a lot.

I loved this book, the characters are so real! This is helped by the first person narratiive by the lead detective. Brilliantly plotted with many twists, especially loved the last one, even though at first I couldn't remember who the character was; which added to the surprise. Set in Oxford, but in the town rather than amongst the dreaming spires. A young girl goes missing at a party... Was she snatched or is it someone close to home? This book reworks this familiar premise brilliantly, with as many red herrings as a Christie.

A very promising start to a new crime series featuring DI Adam Fawley.

Not many books keep me guessing throughout and make me change my mind about the perpetrator quite so frequently as this one did although I found the police procedural side of things a little bland for my usual tastes.

I can see why the author would want to add excerpts of twitter feeds however in this instance they did not lend anything to the plot which was a shame.

I am looking forward to book two in anticipation of finding out more about the main police characters and seeing how they develop.

Thanks to Penguin Books UK for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story was good and many of the characters portrayed well however, the Police team characters remained two dimensional. The 'life tragedy' was at least to the male DI but neither developed his character or added to the plot. The construction of the book was problematic with poor clarity when the backstory section was over and the today story resumed. Despite all this criticism, I enjoyed the book which held me at a time when other books didn't .

A thoroughly enjoyable, complex crime novel with a very unexpected conclusion.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book with the surprise ending. It has everything that you want in a spellbinding novel.

This was the perfect holiday read. I enjoyed it from the first page and it was easy to engage with the characters. Eight year old Daisy Mason has gone missing from her parents' party, wearing a daisy costume, but no one can quite remember when they last saw her. The Twitter comments add authenticity and give a contemporary feel to the story. It is every parent's worst nightmare and the main character, DI Adam Fawley, has all the more reason to be affected by it as he has been in a similar position. He is a likeable character. We can see that he is struggling but he is doing his best. The story is handled sensitively and reaches a memorable conclusion. I really enjoyed it.

An insight into modern policing techniques as the story follows the investigation into a little girl missing from home during a house party given for her school friends and their families. With no one seeing anything and not leads, the police investigation then turns to unearthing all her and her families’ background and friends. While search parties find nothing and as the days go by there is much public speculation on her possible death as depicted in social media excerpts. The police interview many witnesses and possible suspects and the results of those are shown as transcripts and flash backs of the events that the police are interested in are given to reveal the actual events. As the story unfolds we learn that behind a facade of respectability there lies a most troubled and dysfunctional family with dark secrets and troubled backgrounds. Neither the little girl nor her body is ever found but the police are able to bring charges and so justice is served. With an added twist to the end, that all’s well that ends well so everyone gets the justice they deserve.

A frustrated police investigation in to a missing girl called Daisy. Nothing is what it seems, the Mum, Dad or brother. Personally, I found it frustrating in that there were too many hidden histories for it to be believable. Yes, I know it's fiction and one can bend reality but I like something to be a little more plausible. I'm not sure the social media transcripts really added much either. The ending too..........well, really? For there to have been a plan, so many coincidences would have had to join up perfectly and life isn't really like that. Want to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans! Quite a good read nevertheless.

I thought long and hard about writing this review. On the one hand, whilst reading the book I quite enjoyed it, on the other hand, after finishing it I felt quite differently. It is always hard with a murder story not to give anything away and I shall try not to. I thought the book was well written but there is just too much going on, sometimes less is more. There were just too many elements to the story, too many coincidences to give the edge of reality that would make it believable. I found the ending to be totally unacceptable, in my opinion a murder mystery book should have clues, however obscure, throughout that lead the reader to the culprit, I found none of these. I am ambivalent about the use of twitter, could see how it contributed to the story but it did nothing additional for me. I think there is a good story in there, but it is totally obscured by everything else that is going on.

A really great well written thriller. It's a gripping read which keeps you guessing throughout, I couldn't put it down and read it in a day.

The twist at the end was SO good and very unpredictable.

One of the best crime thrillers I have read this year. I'd love to see it made in to a TV series, very Broadchurch-esque!

I'm looking forward to other books in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Books and Cara Hunter for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Close to home by Cara Hunter.
A child goes missing Daisy Mason. They are having a party. Everyone is looking at the family but did they do it?
This was an absolutely fantastic read with brilliant characters. What a twister of a read. I did not see that coming. A very gripping and shocking read. This is a must read and I would highly recommend this book. Definitely worth more than 5*. Netgalley and penguin books UK.

A fabulous innovative debut, this book captures the readers attention immediately and does not let it go. Largely told through DI Adam Fawleys perspective it is so much more than a police procedural. Full of twists and turns, the almost lyrical prose offsets the bitter, gritty core that lies at the very heart of this novel. Suspicion envelopes many of the key characters like a fog creating a cloying feeling of mistrust.

Torn between not wanting it to end and an utter compulsion to keep reading, I raced towards the breathtakingly extraordinary conclusion and was left blinking with astonishment!

Thank you so much to the Publisher and to NetGalley for the advance copy, I can not wait for In the Dark which Is hopefully coming very soon!

This is a brilliant novel by Cara Hunter, and anyone who has enjoyed the first Broadchurch Series I think will really enjoy this.
It involves the disappearance, and subsequent police investigation, of eight year old Daisy Mason from a summer party held at her parents home. It details how the disappearance affects the relationship between her parents Barry and Sharon Mason, and also her brother Leo.
The detective investigating the case also has a back story, which is gradually revealed as the novel progresses. I liked the way that the author introduced social media into the mix, with excerpts from Facebook, showing how it can be a good source of support and information, but also can be stressful when it is used to spread rumours, abuse towards the parents, and speculation, potentially ruining their reputations.
It is a very intriguing, well written book which has a very good ending, with a interesting twist, I would love to see it turned into a tv drama.
I look forward to reading more from this author, many thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely fantastic book by Cara Hunter. This book grabbed me from the very beginning and the story developed brilliantly with each page i turned. Very fast passed with loads of twists and turns which will keep you guessing until the end. Cant wait for Cara's next book.

Absolutely fantastic book. A family torn apart before a death occurs. A little girl gone missing. Why? Who took her?