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.

Very good, kept me guessing until the end.would recommend and buy this book as gifts

Cara Hunter begins her series featuring DI Adam Fawley of Thames Valley Police with a mix of police procedural and psychological thriller set in Oxford. It begins with a scene of a fearful Daisy Mason. The precocious 8 year old Daisy goes missing at her parents barbeque and fireworks party for parents and neighbours. The police are called in, and DI Adam Fawley instigates local area searches. Adam has a focused and highly competent team that are determined to find Daisy that includes DS Gareth Quinn, DC Gislingham and the sharp eyed DC Everett. However, the parents, Barry and Sharon Mason are displaying strange behaviour and refusing to countenance a detailed search of their home. Leo, their 10 year old son, is clearly not opening up about all that he knows. In the meantime, the media have parked up outside their home with no intention of leaving anytime soon. A social media storm takes off, firstly mostly concerned but later a more trolling, toxic presence with its vilification of the parents, threats and more worryingly, incitement to violence and murder.

As the team delve into Daisy's life and her family, it soon becomes clear that they are a dysfunctional family mired in secrets and lies. Sharon is insecure, vain and lacking the maternal instincts to nurture her children. Barry has a secret life of other women and dodgy business practices. Daisy is painted as a exceedingly bright child, who feels like a fish out of water with her more intellectually pedestrian family. She is given to eavesdropping on the conversations of others, has her own secrets and emotional fallouts amongst her own coterie of schoolfriends. We are given flashbacks that go back a considerable number of years to the more recent past. Adam and his team slowly find that every assumption they have made begins to slowly fall apart as they try to find out what happened. Matters are further complicated as we become aware that Adam and his wife, Alex, recently lost their son, Jake, in highly emotionally upsetting circumstances. In a investigation where nothing is as it seems, suspicions focus on and oscillate between Sharon to Barry, as Adam believes the perpetrator is usually close to home.

This is a fast paced and well plotted story peppered with social media postings, news bulletins and police interviews. It authentically replicates the reality of how outrageously people behave on social media in real life missing children cases. There is twist after twist in the narrative that has you desperate to keep reading to find out how it all ends. The final twist requires a huge suspension of disbelief in my view, as indeed does the portrayal of Daisy as a 8 year old, but this did not stop me from enjoying the novel. One of my favourite parts is just how well Adam's police team worked, their absolute commitment to the case and how they support one another. A highly entertaining and absorbing read. Many thanks to Penguin for an ARC.

I absolutely loved this book, it was gripping from start to finish with many twists and turns in the plot

The ending was a great twist, would highly recommend this book to anyone

What I liked about this is how it was plotted and developed – following the investigation in real time and then with flashbacks starting close to the disappearance and moving outwards in time, enveloping the reader into two strands as the police uncover clues and we see where those clues originated. It keeps things moving in a pacy and engaging manner, also giving somewhat of an insight into whether the police assumptions were bang on the money and when they were not. It was kind of like being part of it.

The author also digs into our current social media trends as we see people tweeting and commenting on Facebook posts as the family undergo trial by public opinion – in this case we have a family who garner literally no sympathy – a mess of contradictions and nasty personality, they were really quite fascinating.

*thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Books (UK) for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

5 amazing stars!! (And worth every bit!)
Holy shit!! Sorry. Im not one to swear but.....omg....!!!! THAT ENDING!!! My heart is still racing from the shock. I was 100% NOT expecting THAT! Wow!

Ok. Ok. Calming down now. As soon as I requested this book, I was soooooo hoping that I would get it. I love the cover so much and the description sounded so so good! So when I was approved I was ridiculously happy. Now having read it, I am even more thankful to the author and publisher for a copy. 

From the beginning I was hooked once Id started reading and it only got better and better. There are so many discoveries along the way that it makes you feel like you just need to keep reading. I wasnt fussed about the twitter and facebook entires but then again im not a fan of those sites anyway so they werent really for me, but for people who like twitter and facebook will probably enjoy reading those throughout the story. There is so much I cant say because I wont spoil it for anyone but, you seriously need to read this if your considering it. 

Ohh wow, ok so still calming down from the ending. Those who have read it will know exactly what I mean. I havent read anything from this author before but shes definally on my radar now!

When 8 year old Daisy goes missing at a family party questions are soon asked why the parents claim to have not actually spoke to their daughter since before the party began. As we delve into the story searching for Daisy we learn that mum and dad aren’t quite as they seem. I enjoyed this book and there were many different endings opened up by the author but with a great twist at the end it kept me hooked.

I did enjoy some things about this book and would encourage others to read it but there were just some elements that spoiled it for me. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what I was not keen on but I never felt convinced by the characters. Many of them seemed to behave in ways I could not ever believe people would believe of a child was missing.
I was often confused by who was telling the story too and add to that the odd way bits of the story never seemed to get explained properly and that left me a tad dissatisfied.

Another very enjoyable read. I couldn’t put this down. I will be waiting for the next book by this author and recommend to everyone who enjoys a good thriller.

Brilliant story with an ending I never saw coming.. Can't wait for the next book in this series.

I’m very glad I wasn’t busy today, because I just couldn’t put this down.
Cara Hunter has written a gripping crime novel set in the ever popular Oxford area and featuring DI Fawley in what looks to be the first in a series - a series that I am certainly going to follow if her next is as good as this one.
The story revolves around missing 8 year old Daisy and her dysfunctional family and, intermingled with the ongoing police investigation, are both flashbacks involving Daisy and her school friends and, bringing a frighteningly all too nowadays familiar reaction, the social media responses to the media coverage.
Throughout the book, we are kept aware that DI Adam Fawley has his own problems in that he has also lost a child and it is not until the final pages that we learn what happened to his son, Jake.
Nor is it until the very end do we discover what happened to Daisy. With every twist and turn we are left wondering- or at least I was. Was it Daisy’s father? Or her mother, her brother, or one of her friends - or someone else? Was it really that ‘Close to Home’?
Do read it, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.
I got this book via NetGallery and I’m very grateful to the publishers for the opportunity to be able to enjoy an author that I might otherwise not come across and thus not write this totally unbiased review.

My review as posted on Goodreads:

This is the first time I have read one of Cara Hunter's books. It certainly won't be the last.

I liked the use of so many real Oxford locations. This helped to give a sense of geography to the story for me. However, if you don't know the area, don't be put off, the plot lines and the narrative make this a good novel.

I like the way the characters were developed.

There are so many twists in the story line and several suspects along the way.

Red herrings a plenty, with the biggest twist saved for the very end.

Who can you trust?

I like the fact it is listed as DI Adam Fawley # 1. I look forward to future outings with this team of detectives.

My thanks go to Netgalley and Penguin UK (Viking) for a copy of this book in return for this review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this brilliant first novel of Cara Hunters and an introduction to DI Adam Fawley and his team. It’s every parents nightmare when your child goes missing although Daisy Moons parents left a lot to be desired. I liked the way Cara bought in the communities thoughts on Twitter because that’s what happens isn’t it and also the press releases. This was a real page turner and had me sweeping from one suspect to the other. The ending was shocking and surprising. A great debut novel. I am looking forward to what seems to be a great series.

This was quite a good story relating every parent's nightmare. The 1st person narrator was a little too "chatty" with the reader for my liking but the story unfolded nicely.