The Whole Truth by Cara Hunter was a brilliant sequel to All the Rage. I do enjoy familiar characters and following their personal and professional development and Cara does this so well with DI Frawley and his team. I’m left wanting more. What’s going on with Erica for example? The character strengths and flaws are credible and engaging. The plot line is fascinating and the sexual allegations and interviews are well handled in the book. Good plot twists and realistic ambitions and grievances impacting on the players as they work to solve crimes. Another great five star read

I’m always excited by a new Cara Hunter novel coming out but this is the first time I liked the fact it had a recap of who is who at the start but I would say though if you haven’t already done so read the novels from before (this is book 5) as it will make understanding of the characters much better as there is quite a back story. This particular one has Detective Adam Fawley investigating a alleged sexual assault between a student and teacher, it uses a narrative between the characters and podcasts and hashtags showing the way crimes are now seen as trial by media in the 21st century, it is cleverly written with plenty of twists and turns to keep you engaged. The epilogue at the end was a satisfying conclusion and excellent news that the rights have been given to making the series into a tv programme, I just hope they can live up to the novels.. I look forward to the next instalment.

I really enjoyed this latest Adam Fawley mystery. It challenges our preconceptions but it was hard to work out where the truth really lay. Great story with strong underlying questions and authentic characters.

I have to admit firstly that I have become a real fan of Cara Hunter’s books, so was very happy to be offered this one to review. I was not let down! This time our protagonist is the one in the spotlight, accused of the most appalling crime, whilst we also examine a tale of sexual assault. Who really is the perpetrator?
I loved this book and especially the epilogue.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher Penguin General UK for the ARC.

This is Book#5 in the Adam Fawley series. I've rather enjoyed them all. Adam has a really good team around him and the author continues with their individual back-stories so we know what's going on. Adam's wife Alex is now 35 weeks pregnant - and feeling it. He's worried about her. Not least because Gavin Parrie (The Roadside Killer) has been released from prison - both Adam and Alex know that he was guilty of rape and murder - but, he was convicted on a lie.

The story begins with DI Fawley's team being called in to an Oxford college to investigate a sexual assault. Caleb Morgan is accusing his supervisor, Professor Marina Fisher. The assault took place in her home where Caleb had been babysitting Tobin, her eight year old son, following a very successful fund-raising dinner for her department.

The narrative alternates between text messages, newspaper reports and a podcast being broadcast to show just how Parrie had been set up, as well as different points of view in interviews, interspersed with the actual ongoing investigation.

She said/he said - who's telling the truth - Marina or Caleb. As the investigation continues the team have to re-think their strategies and assumptions: does eight year old Tobin hold the key?

There are lots of twist in this story as Adam needs to understand what's going on but, despite being unwell, Alex starts to make connections after Adam is arrested for raping and killing her friend Emma.

I have to say, although I have enjoyed these books before, I did get rather bored with the interspersed re-writing of the Parrie case and the on-line posts, so am not going to rate it so highly.

Having not read any of the other books in this series I was worried that I would struggle to keep up with the characters and background knowledge but when offered the chance to read this book, I couldn't say no. I like to think now that I'm good at predicting endings and 'who dunnit' and whilst I was correct in areas, Cara Hunter's believeable writing not only had me gripped but also had me second guessing my predictions and proving me wrong! Two stories of investigations that make you question every time, who is lying and is that the truth? Is the professor a female predator? And of a tall rugby player at that. The second: is Gavin Parrie back to torment DI Fawley? Is he stalking his wife? Did he really commit the crimes? Was he framed? And is he now framing Adam?

The Whole Truth is the 5th book in the DI Adam Fawley series. This was my first taste of the series but it did work quite well as a standalone story so don’t let that put you off too much! I really liked that there is a table at the beginning containing information on the main characters including their physical appearance and anything about them we should already know from reading the other books. I have not seen this used before and it was a really nice way to get an overview of everyone and to stop some bits from becoming repetitive for those who have read the other books. I assume it is full of spoilers though so if you want to read the rest of the books, don’t start here first!

The main case in The Whole Truth was really intriguing – a story of sexual assault but the victim is a 6 foot rugby player and the perpetrator is a female college professor. I really liked this premise and it showed how hard it is to find the truth in these cases when a lot of it relies on he said/she said evidence. There are also another 2 cases within this story, both of which feature on our main character DI Fawley and I won’t give any spoilers but they were certainly very interesting! All of the cases have a plot which kept me gripped and guessing from the outset – I never once felt lost although they do take a lot of twists and turns and it was hard to guess where they were going which is great for a reader who often correctly guesses the conclusion mid-story.

Even with my handy little ‘who’s who’ guide, there are a lot of characters to get to know in this book – it becomes a little overwhelming at times. There are 7 main character police officers outlined at the beginning of the book, then 3 cases, each of which have their own victims, suspects, witnesses and family members, then each of the police officers also have their own personal stories in the mix too and we meet their partners and members of the family. I guess if you already knew the 7 officers very well from other books this shouldn’t be too much of an issue for you. I did feel sometimes that the secondary character’s personal lives were focussed on a little too much, particularly when the main stories were ramping up to their climax. I do understand that loyal readers may have favourites though and these also set up some good drama which I’m sure will be used in the next book.

The writing style of the book was also very different from crime thrillers I have read before. We have the usual 3rd person accounts of some characters, although as it rotates between 7 voices plus Adam’s wife and occasionally the victims so there’s a lot going on here! We also have a 1st person diary-like account from our main character Adam Fawley. This felt very odd although I’m not sure if that’s because it’s quite an usual narrative technique, particularly as the rest of it is in 3rd person. As Fawley is quite a central character in the other cases this also became a bit jarring as it sort of took away any doubt the reader may have about him as he doesn’t really come across as an unreliable narrator.

The book also has a lot of interspersed media text to break up the story and give us insight into the wider world. There’s transcripts of podcasts and police interviews, snippets from newspapers and threads from Twitter. These worked nicely to keep the pace up and often all of the sections would be kept very short and particularly at the end, cycled through quickly with just enough information to keep you hanging on for the next part. There are also a few images in the book – there’s a picture of a phone with a Whats App conversation on it for example, also a page from a notebook and medical and police reports. Unfortunately, on my Kindle Paperwhite these were so small they were unreadable, although I don’t think there’s too much on them that’s important to the story – I never felt like I missed too much from not reading them.

Overall The Whole Truth is a fast paced and intriguing crime thriller which keeps the genre fresh with it’s interesting writing style. Now that I have gotten to know the characters a little better I would certainly keep an eye out for the next one! Thank you to NetGalley & Penguin General UK – Fig Tree, Hamish Hamilton and Viking for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've really loved all of Cara Hunter's D.I Adam Fawley books and this is no exception. As always, a hooking narrative drive throughout and an intelligently plotted structure with timely reveals.
What I really enjoy about these books is the creativity: there's the main story that is interjected with articles, interviews, media, reports, podcasts and many more modes of information gathering; these really work to drive the story and offer the reader with multiple perspectives.
Highly recommended, as are all the previous books.

How on earth did I not know about this author and why on earth had I not read anymore ?
This book is incredible. Read in two sittings.
Amazingly well written, great plot, twists a plenty and great characters
Already read more books so thank you not only for a fantastic read but introduction to a new favourite author - the only issue I have is I have to clear the decks to read them as I just cannot stop reading !

I’m a big fan of the DI Fawley Series and yes this could be read as a standalone but it is definitely worth reading the series in order as a lot of the storyline can carry over. I really like the fact if you have or haven’t read the others in the series you were given a quick introduction to the different characters. I was hooked from the first sentence. Loved the dual storylines and they were equally as intriguing as each other so one didn’t overpower the other. As always really likeable characters bar one or 2 but that goes without saying and adds to the story. The flow of the book worked really well and how the information was given to the reader. Would definitely recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin General UK for the opportunity to read and review this audiobook that will be published on the 29th of April.

I really enjoyed this book and there were lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing. I love the way the book is written and I would highly recommend.

My first book by Cara Hunter although not the first of her books to follow DI Adam Fawley and his team. Helpfully there is an introduction to the characters at the start of the book, which means this book works as a stand-alone.

Throughout the book, there are interesting features, such as text message exchanges or scripts from podcasts, which I found fascinating adding depth to the story.

I found myself easily drawn into the investigation of an Oxford Professor and a student and the officers drawn into the enquiry. Quite quickly I found myself enjoying reading about an entirely different investigation and marvelling at how rapidly events can change. Two intricate but separate plots carefully intertwined, also reflecting back over a previous case. There was a lot to keep my brain working overtime as I puzzled along with the officers.
I found myself emotionally invested, not only with the investigations, but also with the personal stories of some of the team, each with their own quirks and loyalties.

The story had an ending, which effectively concludes most of the loose ends (apart from who phones the newspaper?) Overall I found it easy to get into and thoroughly enjoyable. Adding Cara Hunter to my growing list of authors to follow!

Excellent page-turner with many, many twists and turns. A worthy addition to Hunter's series of books about Adam Fawley, an Oxford detective, which continues events from previous novels, but can still be read as a stand-alone.

With thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for an ARC

A breath-taking roller coaster of a ride. I couldn't put the book down. Read it in one go, I just had to get to the end. I haven't read anything by Cara Hunter before, but will now download some of her other books. She is an excellent writer; her characters are true to life and well depicted.
There are in fact two plots running side by side, but the one does not detract from the other. The main plot is focused on a sexual assault claim by a student against a renowned university professor. You may think you have heard all this before but beware! When the victim is a young good looking male, who also happens to be a six foot rugby player, and the predator is an older beautiful women who also happens to be an outstanding academic in her department, everything changes. This is another case for DI Adam Fawley and his team to work out who is lying and who is telling the truth, particularly when both have their careers at stake. It keeps you guessing right to the end.
Alongside this storyline, there is a plot to bring Adam Fawley down , based on a previous back story. But this is no way detracts from the story.
This is a fast paced thriller which seems to accelerate towards the finale with so many twists and turns it leaves you breathless and guessing right up to the end. I would definitely recommend this book

I finished this at 4 in the morning so that should tell you how readable this book is! The phrase page-turner is one of the most overused in the book reviewing world but if this book doesn’t qualify for that accolade then I don’t know what does.

I’ve never read Cara Hunter before but with the ‘previously..’ section I was able to be brought up to speed with the main team before the story began. The characters were interesting, the storyline topical, and the pace fast and entertaining. It felt very much like I was watching it on tv so I am in no way surprised to hear it has been commission to be made into a series.

It was well executed to have two storylines bubble alongside each other, if the ending involving Fawley felt somewhat rushed.

Also, as a huge Morse fan, I was pleased to be surrounded by the spires of Oxford once again and enjoyed the various nods to this legendary fictional officer.

Although nothing to do with Hunter’s skill as a writer, my ‘enjoyment’ was definitely hampered by the the crimes committed. With the death of Sarah Everard very much in my mind, been ‘entertained’ by some of the book sat very uncomfortably with me.

Trigger warnings: sexual assault, rape, child death

I'd read one of the Adam Fawley series previously, and the synopsis of the main characters at the beginning was helpful in providing a good frame of reference as it was a while ago now. Also, it makes it less necessary to have read the previous four books in the series, although reading this might prompt one to do so!

There are two story lines running simultaneously through this police procedural, and Cara Hunter handles both of them very deftly indeed.

The prologue suggests that a plot is hatching which whets the appetite! Marina Fisher, a well regarded female professor is accused of sexually assaulting Caleb Morgan, a rugby playing student. Marina is attractive and obviously intelligent, Caleb is six foot and handsome. Adam Fawley's team are called in to investigate.

Meanwhile, Gavin Parrie, known as the Roadside Rapist, has been released from prison but bears a grudge against Fawley for sending him down. This previous case rears its ugly head and causes problems for Fawley and his pregnant wife both personally and professionally.

Both stories build up at a cracking pace,and the characters are all very accessible - I found myself drawn to all of them, and Hunter builds up their personal stories as the plot progresses.
She also uses emails, podcasts and text messages as plot devices throughout the novel, which help to provide a back story,
What appears to be a complicated plot is actually very easy to follow, and there are twists and turns throughout, which keep one hanging on and longing for the conclusion.

WIth thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in return for an honest review.

Much like a few of the other reviewers, I had not realised that this book was part of a series and I also struggled to keep in mind which character was which. I think that would have been easier in a physical book as you can go back to the beginning more easily to check. The initial character list would have been brilliant to flick back to you see.
That being said the ebook was enjoyable and I really liked the new twist on the professor/student relationship. A predatory female professor felt fresh and the pace was well maintained throughout.
I'm giving it a three and a half stars just because for me it didn't work well as a stand alone and I know I'd have enjoyed it a lot more if I'd been able to read the earlier books first.

Think you know what's going to happen, think again! A university professor is accused of sexual harassment against a student. Then you have another story running alongside it about Fawley and Alex his wife who is heavily pregnant and how they may/ May not have planted evidence to send someone to prison! They are being watched, but by who? Alex knows it but can't quite see who it is in the van. It who else are they watching, and why?

Loved this novel, didn't want to give to much of the story away as I felt in this case it would definitely spoil a fantastically, brilliant storyline.

Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this book, and to Cara we most definitely need more about the aftermath of all the revelations. Have already recommended to friends and family.

I requested this not knowing it was part of a series, ifn you haven't read the previous I highly recommend you read those first. The book does start with a mini introduction of who is who but its a lot of information to retain and it is both easy to forget and hard to refer back too on kindle.

I rated as a 3 as I am sure had I known and understood the background more I would have enjoyed it much more. Some of it I still don't understand now!

It is however very cleverly written, I really like the writers style and I would look out for the authors other books.

I found it difficult to get into the story as it was part of a series. There was a great chart detailing the characters at the start but reading on a kindle made it difficult to keep flicking back. The characters were well developed and the plot was interesting. Perhaps I will appreciate it more if I read the previous books.