DI Adam Fawley and his team here return to the case featured in the first book of the series, the disappearance of a little girl, Daisy Mason. Although no body was ever found, Daisy’s mother was convicted of her murder. Eight years later, the body of a young woman is found in woodland by a historic tree famous for the execution of a witch, but also bound with tape carrying Daisy’s DNA. Fawley finds himself once more investigating his old case- what really happened to Daisy Mason? Hunter displays all her usual skills of twisty plot development, tension building and complex investigations pieced together to solve an unexpected crime. It is unusual to revisit an old case and see what happened to the characters, and that works really well here, including a sensitive look at how the original crime and its consequences affected everyone involved. It also features one of the most disturbing characters I have ever come across in fiction! My only criticism is that the large number of police characters investigating from fifferent forces meant that we only had fleeting glimpses of old favourites such as Gis, Ev and Erika and didn’t really have the chance to catch up much with their back stories. I foundit quite difficult to keep up with who was who, even though Hunter supplies a cast list at the beginning. Generally though, another gripping read that will keep the reader turning pages to get to the stunning conclusion.

I was so pleased to discover Cara has written a new DCI Fawley novel and boy is it a good one! Very difficult to put down, I just had to find out the outcome. Brilliant plot, great characters. Anyone who enjoys a police procedural should read this book. I highly recommend it, thank you #netgalley

I was so disappointed as I have read all of her books but this one wasn’t for me I didn’t like all the illustrations on some of the pages and it was very confusing I couldn’t even finish it. I felt that it wasn’t her writing it sorry.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC

As always Cara has written another thrilling book, and this time we get to revisit a case and character we’ve met before.
Following Fawley and his team through the investigation and all the twists and turns this case took was great and trying to solve it all alongside them made for an interesting read. This is the last book in the series and I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next book, whether it is a stand alone or another Fawley book.

Gripping story, held me to the end.
A child murdered, a mother arrested. But 8 years later could this daughter be alive? A hair found on a second body suggest that perhaps the straightforward case those years ago might be more than it seems.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC in return for my honest review

I really loved Close to Home, the Daisy Mason origin story, I wasn't sure how I felt about delving into that story again as the first book wrapped incredibly well with a brilliant twist. I have mixed feelings now that I've finished Making A Killing - whilst I enjoyed learning more about Daisy / Sabrina the ending felt incredibly anticlimactic, I was surprised when it ending I expected more chapters.
For me there were too many characters and it felt like a challenge to keep track of who was who - whilst I appreciate there's a character index at the start of the book it's not easy to access on Kindle.
I really enjoy the Adam Fowley series and look forward to the next, sadly this isn't the strongest.
3 stars.

I had high hopes for this book and it started well. I like an introduction to characters and although it is realistic to have so many police in a team, trying to keep track of 10 police members not to mention the 10/12 other characters, it became impossible.
I got the gist of the story, I knew what was happening but I couldn’t tell you who was who.
The ending? Frustrating/predictable/tired.

#MakingAKilling #NetGalley
Brilliant.
When Nick Vincent, producer of true-crime show Infamous, hears about an explosive new angle on a high-profile case—the 2016 murder of an eight-year-old girl in Oxford—he leaps at the chance to send a researcher to verify the claims. Two months later, a dog walker discovers a woman’s body, bound and buried in a shallow grave in the woods. Forensic evidence links the corpse to the disappearance of that same child. DCI Adam Fawley, the original investigating officer, is called in to run the enquiry. And he remembers the case well—he arrested the child’s mother for murder. A murder he now knows she didn’t commit. The investigation raises more questions than answers. What connects the two crimes? Where has the dead girl been all these years? How did she manage to disappear? For Adam Fawley, this is personal.. I loved it.
I hope she'll come up with a standalone thriller in this series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK Harper Fiction for giving me an advance copy.

My original thoughts about another DI Fawley book was 'do we need another? They're not blowing my mind like they used to'. How wrong was I. I thoroughly enjoyed returning to the Daisy Mason case and I could have read another 200 pages of this book. 5 stars!

This is a fantastic series which has circled back the first book about missing Daisy Mason. After a break from the characters it was good to have the reminder about who’s who at the start as there’s lots of different characters, old and new, so it can be a bit confusing at times. I definitely think you need to have at least read the first book in the series to really enjoy this one as it does refer back to the past a lot.
There isn’t really proper chapters, which I found a bit hard at first, but I like all the different media used like emails, transcripts, photos etc. I always love Hunters books and this one is no different, can’t wait for the next one. I think we haven’t heard the end of Daisy!

Having followed this series since book one (I still have the honour of my name being in the front for the review) I was equally pleased to get to review this one and what a book.
It does follow on from a previous book but this can be read without having read that as it still has enough in there to work.
Needless to say Cara Hunter has done it again she has the unique quality of being "the mastermind question read" - I have started so I have to finish (and as fast as possible). Once I start one of her books I know I might as well clear my day and settle down to a damn good crime read.
Once again the characters are well described and you really get dragged into the story and can not believe what you are reading.
This will be THE crime read of 2025.

Nice to have Adam and the team back and to finally solve the mystery of what happened to Daisy eight years previously. Also nice to have new people to help out and hopefully they will put in an appearance again. When questioning old friends and family it is obvious that not everyone told the truth then and may still be holding back vital clues. The chase leads us to Ireland, America and around Britain before we finally learn the truth. Cleverly thought out plot that only reveals at the end what has happened.

Nice to have Cara back, again a cleverly worked out thriller/mystery although I am not really keen on her new writing format.

Thanks to Harper Fiction and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
I absolutely love Cara Hunter as a writer. Her writing style is so current and fresh, totally on pointe with life and language of today. The story didn't disappoint either, it was really good revisting Daisy's life and the return of DCI Fawley and bringing back together the old crew who worked with him was brilliant idea. More please and soon.

Adam Fawley is back investigating an old case of a missing girl. The child went missing so long ago that she has been presumed dead and her mother is in prison for her murder. All is not as it seems of course and the story gets darker and darker as it delves deeper into the case and the psychology of the protagonists. It’s difficult to say much more without giving spoilers but the story is well written, chillingly characterised and effectively plotted, although the ending was a bit disappointing. I know this book is a sequel, but having not read its predecessor it stands very well on its own.

DCI Adam Fawley is back and not before time. it's been 6 long years since our last outing.
We revisit an old case involving 8 year old Daisy Mason, who we thought was dead at the hands of her mother Sharon,but when a corpse is found, everything is thrown up in the air,
Why are there links to Daisy's case 8 years later?
I love that we are totally made to feel involved with the case with newspaper clippings,journal entries,emails, recordings, and pathology reports.
Yet again, Cara has left us with an open ending,but on the bright side, we know that certain characters will be making a return in the future.
Another standout read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.

Making a Killing by Cara Hunter
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publication date: 13/02/2025
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Cara Hunter and in particular the DI Adam Fawley series has been a firm favourite of mine since the beginning so when I saw it was making a comeback I knew I had to read it.
The book begins with a refresh which is particular useful knowing how many characters are in these novels. Forensic evidence turns up at a crime scene indicating that Daisy Mason who disappeared 8 years previously is not dead as was presumed by police. Leading DI Fawley to lead a team in two locations to identify what did in fact happen to Daisy.
Cleverly written, leaving me guessing throughout and a few twists as I have come to expect from Hunter. The alternative text types like voicemails, newspaper cuttings etc add interest to the read. This book should definitely be added to your TBR pile.
Thank you to NetGalley, Cara Hunter and Harper Collins UK for this ARC in return for an honest review.
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#books #booknerd #bookworm #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstack #bookchallenge #booklover #reader #readersofinstagram #reading #bookswithcookandacuppa #netgalley #2024reads #CaraHunter #MakingAKilling

I was so pleased to be invited to review this new DCI Fawley novel - one of my favourite police procedural series of recent years. It was great to catch up on the familiar team and see how they have progressed over the last 6 years; I enjoyed the different points of view that make up the novel although I would have liked to see more of my favourite, Gis!
It was fascinating to see how the Daisy Mason story was deconstructed and put together again in a totally different way - what a twisty, brilliant idea! I thoroughly enjoyed it and it makes a great addition to the series. I’m slightly on the fence over the ending; it was a cliffhanger but not necessarily satisfying for the reader. There will have to be another book to resolve the issue!

I love Cara Hunter but will need to wait for a more stable format in order to read this. The formatting is all over the place with fonts and sections of text all jumbled together and repeated. Really disappointing as I was enjoying what I had read so far.

As a long-term follower of Hunter, it's exciting to see Daisy Mason make a return, and it's fun to see the old team back together again. But I guess one of the problems of knowing a writer's series is that it's easy to predict where the story is going as we recognize the author's tics. That's the case here. Whereas the earlier books were shocking and full of moments that almost gave me whiplash, this one went where I thought it would... until that ending. I like a cliffhanger as much as anyone, but this feels unfinished, rather than intriguing. Still, Hunter's police characters are always fun to spend time with and the writing is involving and fluent with some welcome flashes of humour. The plot isn't as slick as I'd have liked and the trope of the reader knowing more than the police detracted from the tension for me, especially through that cliche of a journal, but a decent police procedural nevertheless.

A cold case is suddenly hot. Very hot. Why has the DNA of a murdered 8 year old turned up in the shallow grave of an unknown murder victim?

Cara Hunter brings together the cast of detectives from the previous crime, along with a few new faces, and presents the evidence to the reader through the mixed media of emails, recordings, statements and the perpetrator’s ’shadow journal’.

This is a really enjoyable read - gripping and intriguing. The sources are well woven together with clues revealed piecemeal as you read.