Close to Home

A Novel

By: Cara Hunter

Narrated by: Lee Ingleby, Emma Cunniffe

Length: 9 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

A brilliantly plotted psychological crime novel about a missing child and the scandal that erupts in the aftermath with a shocking twist

They know who did it. Perhaps not consciously. Perhaps not yet. But they know.

When eight-year-old Daisy Mason vanishes from her family’s Oxford home during a costume party, Detective Inspector Adam Fawley knows that nine times out of ten, the offender is someone close to home. And Daisy’s family is certainly strange—her mother is obsessed with keeping up appearances, while her father is cold and defensive under questioning. And then there’s Daisy’s little brother, so withdrawn and uncommunicative . . .

DI Fawley works against the clock to find any trace of the little girl, but it’s as if she disappeared into thin air—no one saw anything; no one knows anything. But everyone has an opinion, and everyone, it seems, has a secret to conceal.

With a story that feels all too real, Close to Home is the best kind of suspense—the kind that sends chills down your spine and keeps you up late at night, thrilled and terrified.

©2018 Cara Hunter (P)2018 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Cara Hunter has written like a pro, with admirable command of pace and rising tension."―The Times (London)

“Hunter does a masterly job of building tension and keeping the reader guessing to the very end.”—Publishers Weekly

“This well-written psychological drama will keep you guessing until the very end.”—Book Reporter

Hooked Me

A plot with many angles, smart and likable investigators, and an ending I didn’t see coming.

Great read, I looked forward to each twist

With the first chapter I didn’t think I’d like or finish the book. The male detective had too many negative comments about fat people and wasn’t keen on listening to that. However once the story took off even the annoying Tweets being read wasn’t enough to stop me looking forward to finding out what was next. And nope, didn’t guess the ending almost entirely. I had a sneaking suspicion about one of the characters but boy of boy good job!

Twists and turns

Every time I thought I figured it out, a new twist changed the direction. The best ending.

Riveting!!

All I can say is, wow! A true psychological thriller. The plot had tons of twists and turns, and kept me guessing up to the very surprising end. The characters were all very well developed and believably integrated into the story. A little girl goes missing and half the people in her life seem like they have motive to have killed her, told from multiple perspectives. Narration was very good but a bit hard to understand the hard British accents at times. Overall an excellent read and worthy use of a credit!

Twists and turns

Full of twists and turns, and a few unanswered questions. And yet a string underpinning of character development. Be ware of digging your own grave.

I did NOT guess the ending.

A twisty story. Good narrator. I truly did not see the ending coming.

4/5 for the flipping around timeline and the female narrator could have had a bit more range for her male characters. But, I will buy more from this author.

All in all, a good mystery and worth the time.

Wow

So good, just wow, I did not see that ending coming!! I rarely give 5 stars but wow!

Awesome!

IMPOSSIBLE to guess ending! Great performances! Can't wait for more books by this author! Loved it!

Kept me interested the whole way through

I really enjoyed this book. The story was great. There were lots of unexpected twists and turns. Right from the beginning I was hooked. I loved that there were multiple narrators and that they spoke the lines without saying "he said.. she said." The main narrator in particular was great. I have to say one negative thing, however - something another reviewer noted. There was WAY TOO much social media. They literally spoke the Tweets word for word, punctuation and all, complete with "hashtag, underscore..." And it went on and on. It was probably fine for the written book, but excruciating to have to listen to, and it added nothing to the story.

The end justifies the means

Excellent narrators! They did a great job & had multiple voices to distinguish between all the characters.

The author uses flashbacks to fill in the gaps. I can't decide if arranging the scenes in chronological order would ruin the effect or not. Thankfully, all flashbacks related to the story.

The story. Wow. That was a bumpy ride! I didn't know who did what until the final reveal.

I bought the next book in the series as soon as I finished this one.