When I shared that I’d be reading this book a few people commented on how much they love Cara Hunter’s books and the DI Adam Fawley series. I was embarrassed that I’d not heard of them before. It may be because they’re more popular overseas than here in Australia. Either that or I live under a rock, I’m not sure.

But although I’ve started with number four (and I hate entering series’ part way through) I very much enjoyed this book. I suspect I’ve been privy to some spoilers from previous outings but I’d definitely still be interested in reading some earlier books in the series.

All The Rage
by Cara Hunter
Series: DI Adam Fawley #4
Published by Penguin
on 23/01/2020
Source: NetGalley
Genres: Crime Fiction, Police Procedural
ISBN: 0241985110, 9780241985113
Pages: 416

Goodreads

A teenage girl is found wandering the outskirts of Oxford, dazed and distressed. The story she tells is terrifying. Grabbed off the street, a plastic bag pulled over her face, then driven to an isolated location where she was subjected to what sounds like an assault. Yet she refuses to press charges.

DI Fawley investigates, but there's little he can do without the girl's co-operation. Is she hiding something, and if so, what? And why does Fawley keep getting the feeling he's seen a case like this before?

And then another girl disappears, and Adam no longer has a choice: he has to face up to his past. Because unless he does, this victim may not be coming back.

This book is particularly twisty. Not only do we have the potential that DI Fawley got it wrong twenty years earlier (with the arrest & imprisonment of Gavin Parry) and a rapist’s been on the loose all of this time, but Hunter throws in several very surprising red herrings throughout the last third of the book. And each time we think we (well the police) have solved it, something new comes to light.

As I’ve not read other books in this series, I’m not sure how much of Fawley’s involvement in the Gavin Parry case has been mentioned previously – if any… despite it being a bit of a turning point for him at the time. Perhaps it’s an overarching story arc throughout the four books. Speaking of missing backstories, there was obviously some surrounding his team and colleagues and his wife and their son that I’ve missed.

That lack of context wasn’t a problem however – it intrigued me more than anything. Perhaps it meant I had more surprises here than others did.

Hunter confronts a few social issues in this book. Deftly. And isn’t afraid to (ahem) ‘kill her darlings’; and I was certainly saddened by the death of one of her more likeable characters. #butnospoilers

I also really liked that Hunter introduces a range of ‘media’ – via interview transcripts and tweets and the like. I had a discussion with someone recently about whether inserting tweets / Facebook updates (in the form they appear online) or podcast transcripts would ‘date’ a book. I actually like the inclusion of something that mixes up the formatting a little, jolting readers out of our complacency. It also ‘grounds’ the story, making it more relatable.

I’d be keen to read more of this series as I liked Fawley. I also enjoyed meeting his team and wonder if some have played bigger roles in past books as I’m eager to learn more about them.

All The Rage by Cara Hunter will be published by Penguin UK and available from 23 January 2020.

I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.