When DI Adam Fawley is woken during the night he knows it is something serious and he is confronted with a missing 8 year old. Daisy Mason has gone missing from a party at home and the clock is ticking to find her but her mother doesn't seem to have any interest in the investigation and her father is obviously not telling the truth. I enjoyed reading this novel although the twitter comment running through it just didn't interest me. I realise it's topical and comments stirring up
people are the normal things but It just didn't appeal to me.
Thank you for Netgalley for my copy of the book.

I really enjoyed this book. It was multi-faceted with different story threads running through. There were perspectives from different family members and police officers. It was also a very sad tale of child neglect and loss. The end was totally unexpected!

An absorbing read. A murder mystery with a difference, Hunter keeps the reader guessing throughout the traumatic search for little Daisy who goes missing at a family party. As the investigation goes no attention focuses ever closer on Daisy’s parents - who both have things to hide. The surprise ending is worth waiting for - although I couldn’t understand the prologue which just didn’t square with it and mendaciously sent us off the scent from the word go. A prologue shouldn’t cheat in that way.

Whilst not usually one for crime books I gave this a shot due to the intriguing description and I'm so glad I did. I stayed up late finishing it and was blown away by the many twists and turns that kept me guessing right to the end.
Daisy is an eight year old who goes missing during a family BBQ. As the police question family and friends they reveal a twisted web of lies and hidden agendas.
I loved the little reveals that were then turned on their head by more evidence, I really felt like I was learning it all along with the Police and I thought there was a very good use of social media which shows how it can be a two-edged sword.
I think this would be a great one for book-groups.

Really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. Daisy disappears from a family party - or does she? This book twists and turns and just as you think you have worked it out another scenario appears. It is a real roller coaster with a twist at the end. If you read one book this year it has to be this!!

Strangely this was one of the books waiting for me to review that wasn’t really piquing my interest! Once I started though it was impossible to put down!! Cleverly written, we are taken on a rollercoaster ride that has so many twists and turns you really don’t know who to believe! The parents are unlikeable, the brother odd, the friends not really friends, and every person we are introduced to seems to have some kind of secret! This really did keep me guessing right until the end! What I really enjoyed though was just how easy it was to read, despite the twists and turns, it wasn’t hard work! One of my favourites so far from NetGalley - can’t recommend it highly enough!

Daisy was frightened – she could hear someone coming for her; she knew she couldn’t get away.

When Detective Inspector Adam Fawley was called in the middle of the night, he knew it wouldn’t be for anything good. But learning it was a child abduction was much worse – they all hated cases involving small children and Daisy was only eight years old. The big party the parents were holding, with fireworks, lots of people from the neighbourhood, including children – the noise would have muffled the sounds of a child screaming…

As the force investigated, the door to door with the neighbours, the scouring of the nearby bush and surrounding land, Adam knew time was running out for little Daisy. They had to find her, and fast. But where would she be? How could she just vanish as if from the face of the earth? Surely someone had seen or heard something…

Close to Home by Cara Hunter is an intense psychological thriller that just buried itself under my skin and stayed there! The pace was electric – the clues and innuendoes horrifying. But the twist at the end – now I didn’t see that one coming!! Absolutely brilliant! My first by this author, and definitely not my last. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read and review.

What a fantastic debut.
This is a very cleverly written and well thought out plot, with a believable storyline, great characterization, plenty twists and turns and an unexpected ending this book is definitely a winner.
Can't wait for Cara Hunters next instalment.

Thank you netgalley, Viking and Cara Hunter for allowing me to read and review this book.

I enjoyed Close to Home. It’s a nice gritty thriller of a book where DI Farley and his team of Oxford Detectives hunt got missing 8 year old Daisy Mason.

Going between past and present, this well written and flowing book takes you on a journey following what happened to Daisy with some fabulous twists and turns thrown in.

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

If I could give this book twenty stars I would. I have not read anything like this.

If I'm not mistaken this is Ms Hunter’s first book, and all I can say is - please never stop writing. You have this thriller/suspense thing covered!

An eight-year-old girl goes missing - seemingly from a party at her parents’ home.

Detective Inspector Adam Fowley believes something doesn't quite fit, and he and his team slowly uncover unimaginable secrets.

Her ten-year-old brother is also not who he seems.

The author takes you on twists and turns, psychological journeys into people's sick minds that will make you gasp. She makes very clever use of social media as well. It’s an excellent job. I could not put it down as I was mesmerised. This should be a movie as it would be a blockbuster.

For those who are on another planet, the book is written in British grammar so there's no “bad grammar” here. There's nothing not good here, in fact.

Enjoy!

Elsa

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

Set in the lovely university town of Oxford, I was expecting this to be, from current reviews, a gripping thriller about the hunt, led by DI Adam Fawley, for eight-year-old Daisy Mason, who goes missing from a family party. The title suggests the obvious: were the parents responsible, a neighbour perhaps, a sibling? Your expectation is of a suspenseful, edge-of-your seat thriller to find out not only the culprit, but of course, is she dead or alive. It certainly lived up to all of that, but my guessing journey was completely thrown off course with a surprise twist at the end. I really wasn’t expecting that...in a good way! (Sorry, no spoilers.)

A very skilfully written and devised plot with a full cast of well-portrayed characters…those you’re meant to hate (oh heck, you really hate them) and those who are meant to garner your sympathy, empathy even, did just that.

However, just a couple of issues needled me a little throughout. Firstly, various fonts and typefaces were used to isolate 'public' tweets (the public invariably become judge and jury in these cases)…but some were extremely difficult to read as they were very feint grey which does not work in Kindleland. Not a deal-breaker, but I just didn’t see the value of it as well as struggling to read them.

Secondly, whilst the book was written from both first POV and third-person POV in the present tense (not my favourite, I'm afraid), the present tense didn’t work for me with the flashbacks. They were in the past, so for me, they should have been in the past tense. And a message to the author, editor and copy-editor: ‘there’s (there is)’ is followed by a single noun, not a plural one. This is elementary grammar, so I was a tad disappointed to see the error in one of the slightly better-edited books I’ve read.

For all that, this previously unknown-to-me author is a new exciting find for me. Not only that, I gather this is the first in the D. I. Adam Fawley series, so I’m really looking forward to getting to know more about him.

At a busy party in an Oxford suburb one lazy summer night, an eight-year-old girl vanishes without a trace. Both Daisy Mason’s social-climbing mother Sharon, and her philandering father Barry say they have no idea where she could be, but to DI Adam Fawley, something doesn’t add up. In fact, as Fawley begins to investigate, it soon becomes clear that lots of things don’t add up. Stories change rapidly, Sharon alternates from hysterical to uninterested, Barry can’t keep on top of his lies, and Daisy’s younger brother, Leo, seems to know more than he is letting on.

Close to Home is the first novel in Cara Hunter’s crime series featuring DI Adam Fawley, and although I read a lot of crime thrillers, this was one of the most gripping I’ve read in a while. It helps that I grew up in Oxford and Hunter’s writing really captures those parts of the city beyond the ivory towers of the university that are so often passed aside in portrayals of the city in popular culture. Hunter adds to the drama by inserting fragments of social media, including vitriolic Facebook comments, some of which may edge closer to the truth than you might imagine. The Masons seem a little caricatured at times — as though their personalities have been taken straight from a particularly trashy Daily Mail article — especially when contrasted with the smart and likeable DI Fawley. Close to Home is satisfyingly twisty and although I did guess the final twist, it took me quite a while to do so, and I certainly enjoyed the rest of the ride. I look forward to finding out what Hunter has in store next for Fawley and his colleagues.

A fantastic debut novel for Cara Hunter, the story of a young girl Daisy who goes missing during a family event. Great characters, a gripping read with twists and turns to keep you interested. I’ll look forward to future books in the Adam Fawley serie.

What can I say about this book well it was amazing a fantastic debut novel. I loved it from start to finish.

At first I have to admit I thought it was going to be a predictable detective book but I was so pleasantly surprised and it was so so so brilliant.

It starts with Daisy Mason a little eight year old girl who goes missing and it's down to DI Adam Fawley and his team to solve the crime.
At the beginning we find out that DI Adam Fawley has lost his son just two months before and he is dealing with all the raw emotions of him losing his son but we do not find out what has happened to him until further in the book. DI Adam puts his own thoughts emotions and feelings aside to find Daisy.

When you first read the book, you know that there was something not right about Daisy's mum and dad. You know they are hiding something and as the book unravels you start to see what horrible parents they really are. Then there is their son Leo who you feel for right from the start. He has so much to deal with and all he wants is love and support from his parents, but does not get any. It was heartbreaking when you find out what he is going through. Leo is an amazing character and we get to follow him right to the end of the story.

I also like the way the book uses social media to show what people are thinking about what is happening as the police hunt for Daisy. It's a refreshing change to get that in a book and adds to the plot of the book just brilliant.

What also makes this book special is that DI Adam wants to see what happens to Leo and visits him once the case is over which you do not get in to many detective novels just brilliant.

You have so many mixed emotions right from the start and this book as so many plots including paedophiles, abuse, abduction killing I could go on but do not want to spoil the book you have to read it.

This book is hard hitting and takes you on a roller coaster of emotions from start to finish.
The ending has a brilliant twist that never would you see coming just brilliant. I can't wait for the next book.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would it deserves a lot more so much emotion brilliant

One nightmare of anyone with children is that your child goes missing. This is how this debut crime mystery of Cara Hunter begins; Daisy Mason disappears during a costume party her family is throwing for their neighbors and children under everyone’s watchful eyes.

Oxford Detective Inspector Adam Fawley and his team are assigned to the case and soon realize that something is utterly wrong with the Mason family. A mother who is more concerned with her appearance then what happend to her lost 8 year old, a very disturbed brother Leo and Barry, the father who is falling apart faster than his wife. As DI Fawley start scratching at the surface of Daisy’s family, more questions popp up than answers. Is it possible someone in her own family had a motive?


Despite Cara Hunter keeping a fast pace flowing between various suspects depending on new findings by the police, I would only give this debut a four star rating. I was never bored but felt the novel was more of a kind that had been told before. Perhaps the publisher intended to feed the appetite of readers of this genre with a new author. The ending is good but not totally unexpected as the author did not leave too many possibilities by the time the last chapter arrived.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Close To Home follows Detective Inspector Adam Fawley and his search for missing 8 year old Daisy. As is often the case, the kidnapper may be closer to home than everyone thinks, and Adam is tasked with finding out who lying.

IAdam Fawley is a dynamic leading man. He's charismatic, likable and obviously good at his job. I liked that. Too many times in novels like this we see police officers who are so incompetent its a miracle they even catch the suspects. I was happy to see this was not the case in this book.

The other characters in this were all a little annoying and unlikable. Daisy's mother doesn't seem to care that her daughter's gone missing, and her father is more concerned with 'keeping up appearances' than actually trying to find his child. As the story continues, we see why the parents are acting like this, and the reasoning behind their behaviors is explained well - but I just still didn't like them. As we see Daisy's backstory unfold and we see a precocious intelligent little girl, I couldn't even bring up any feelings for her. I had no sympathy for any of them, and that made it difficult for me to care.

The story itself is also a little all over the place with flashbacks to back fill and flesh out the main characters and develop their history and significance to the case. This meant the plot jumped around at times, and disrupted the flow of the story. I'm not a fan of this type of story telling personally. I like a more linear approach. I also would have appreciated less of the police reports which seemed to reiterate or repeat information the reader already knew, making the plot a little too long winded.

Look, I'm very picky with my contemporary thrillers. I like something a little out of the ordinary, and something that's going to really shock and surprise me. Unfortunately, I think this subject matter is very common at the moment, with a flood of novels relating to missing children etc. and I think in some parts the novel suffers because of this. I didn't find it particularly original or griping enough at all - and the ending requires a large amount of suspension in belief, and made no real sense to me.

Unfortunately not for me.

"you can't hide from me. I'm going to find you. You know that don't you Daisy. I'm going to find you." Those are the opening words of the book, however we don't know which of several suspects is saying them.
Canal Reach estate in Oxford is the setting for the disappearance of 8 year old Daisy Mason. Her parents have hosted a barbecue in the garden of their family home with many friends and neighbours in attendance. The children are in fancy dress, which muddles the time line of when Daisy was last sighted. The book is well written as we are fed clues and information in a very muddled fashion, just as would happen in a real enquiry.
Father Barry Mason appears to have a close relationship with Daisy, mum Sharon is far more interested in her own appearance to give Daisy and brother Leo much attention. As is usual in cases of a child's disappearance social media goes crazy and allegations against the parents are lighting up twitter and the police are forced to ask difficult questions of Barry and Sharon. Daisy's close school friends are questioned which throws up some interesting rifts in the young girls' friendship group. Leo seems to be hiding something from the officers during questioning but they are unsure whether this is purely due to him being a quiet, shy lad or whether he knows something which could help the enquiry. For much of the story the police are chasing dead ends and false starts but eventually a break through comes and charges are brought - some of which are fairly shocking and unexpected. The story draws to a conclusion despite there being loose ends which are never quite tied up, but the author has held back one absolute gem and I defy anyone to work out the final twist in the tale. As I tweeted the author after finishing the book "not even specsavers could have got me to see that one coming!".
A review of this book will appear on my blog at www.sandiesbookshelves.blogspot.co.uk nearer to publication date

Close to home by Cara Hunter is a thrilling 5 star read.
From the very first page of this book I was hooked, the author took me on an emotional rollercoaster that had me right on the edge of my seat throughout. I would highly recommend this book, I can’t wait for the next instalment.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley

The story is the kind that is all to familiar in today's newspapers : child goes missing, can the police find a body? the social media comments added to the familiarity of every day events.
The ending is a total surprise but I think stretches the reader's imagination just a step too far..
I had bother believing in both mother and father and thought their motives for having a missing daughter too contrived.
Yes, it was a good read to the extent that I wanted to know what happened to Daisy, the missing daughter but overall it was not a page turner.