No Way Out: The most gripping book of the year from the Richard and Judy Bestselling author (DI Fawley)

Product Information

While the first two books in the series are available here, I had to get a UK version of the paperback for this one and I know I’m going to be going that route for book four, as well. With the father not answering his phone and the family car gone, DI Adam Fawley proceeds to investigate as a lengthy fire investigation gets underway, and with every indication that the fire is no accident the team set about uncovering every aspect of the Esmonds’ life. Each personality shines through, especially if you’ve read about them before; for me, although you have the protagonist and it’s from his point of view, you still get the other characters who you get excited to see and hear from.

This is a case that feels very personal to Fawley, two dead children who seem to have been failed by their parents making uncomfortable parallels with the death of his own son.As initial suspicion falls on Michael Esmond with reports of his erratic behaviour in the last few months and an ongoing anthropology departmental investigation into his conduct underway, the story dissects every aspect of his life.

DI Fawley takes something of a backseat this time around, but that allows the others in his team to shine and I loved that. As with the previous books in this series interspersed within the narrative are media reports of the initial fire and subsequent discoveries along with the related reader comments, official police and pathology reports, as well as flashbacks to periods prior to the fire which gives us an insight into the mindsets of Samantha and Michael and certain events in the months leading up to that fateful night.I found it a more effective impact to create the impression that major and essential information was driven from a news source or police report. Slowly the team begin to piece together a picture of the couples life, their marriage and family dynamics, and it's almost voyeuristic as we soon discover how Samantha was struggling with the effects of post-natal depression, a case of sibling jealousy from 10 year old Matty towards 3 year old Zachary, and Michael is not without his own fair share of problems, professional, personal and financial, that he was struggling to deal with. This case resonates with them, particularly Fawley, as he previously lost a child and his marriage is still reeling from that incident. Cara Hunter has a very unique writing style for the main characters and the added bonus of so much mixed media in her books.