No Way Out by Cara Hunter

From Cara Hunter, author of the New York Times bestseller Murder in the Family, comes book three of her DI Adam Fawley series, one of Britain’s most enduringly popular and mega-selling crime series. Fawley investigates a ghastly house fire on Christmas Day launches an investigation that shocks a community. It's one of the most disturbing cases DI Adam Fawley has ever worked. It's Christmas in Oxford, and firefighters have pulled two children from the smoking ruin of their home. The mystery deepens when it becomes clear that the parents are nowhere to be found. Why were the children left in the house alone? Why is neither parent answering their phone? Were they kidnapped? Murdered? From the start, DI Fawley—still reeling from his own personal tragedy—knows that this house fire is the scene of a crime, not an accident. Then new evidence comes to light and confirms the team’s worst suspicions. The blaze was arson. Who would have torched a seemingly happy family’s home on Christmas? As DI Fawley and his team of detectives sift through the evidence, old tensions and new problems in the family are slowly revealed. Something terribly out of the ordinary has happened, and the truth slowly begins to reveal itself... A gripping and provocative tale of arson, murder, and family intrigue, No Way Out is everything you’d expect from one of Britain’s queens of crime, Cara Hunter.

Well paced, well written and engaging crime thriller. Not my typical cup of tea, but really enjoyed it.

I was a little wary of picking this book up (from recommendations) as it was book 3 in DI Adam Fawley books, but it turns out there was nothing to worry about.

Although the story does include characters whom I can only assume had their backstories explained in previous books, it only adds depth to the characters rather than feeling like I was missing something.

The story itself begins with a house fire and (effectively) an entire family being consumed in the blaze. DI Fawley and team then set about digging out leads and trying to understand what had happened.

It's what I'd expect from a crime novel (whilst I half imagine an Inspector Morse episode). The story is extreme thorough in taking me through the approach to the investigation, each following up on leads, some dead ends, some theories requiring proof. There seems to be just the right amount of supporting characters that I can follow them as each chapter changes perspective.

There's also a fairly significant plot points around infant death - something that is in my personal life and I'm wary of reading or watching in stories - but the author, Cara Hunter, doesn't include this in a grotesque way and it's handled carefully (or carefully enough for me).

Otherwise a really well paced thriller - where I found I seemed to gobble down the last 1/4 of the book in a few short sittings and couldn't put the book down right at the end. Great stuff. Definitely introduced me to a genre I've typically not been interested in.