Hope to Die (D I Fawley) by Cara Hunter
| Hope to Die (D I Fawley) by Cara Hunter | |
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| Category: Crime | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Book six in a series that's getting better with each book. One of the best police procedural series around. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 432 | Date: August 2022 |
| Publisher: Penguin | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0241990162 | |
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It began rather oddly. There was a 999 call suggesting that a shot had been fired in an isolated house but the call hadn't come from the householder. A couple of PCs went to make certain that everything was alright and it took quite a while for the elderly householder to answer the door. He somewhat reluctantly told them that they'd better come in. In the kitchen there was a body on the floor: the head had been blown off with a shotgun and the corpse was holding a knife in its right hand. Richard Swann told the police that he'd heard sounds of an intruder and had come downstairs to investigate. The ignorant young lout had called him Grandad and come at him with a knife. Swann had shot him in self defence.
An open-and-shut case, you might think, except for the possible discussions about whether the force used had been undue, with people weighing in with arguments about an Englishman's home being his castle. Well, it wasn't quite that simple. The young man was carrying no identification of any kind. He was supposed to have broken into the house but what tool had he used and where was it now? How had Swann managed to get the gun out of the cellar where it was kept without alerting the intruder? Why hadn't Swann made a 999 call? There had been plenty of time.
DI Adam Fawley is in charge of the investigation and he has two Detective Sergeants on his team, which is unusual. One is Chris Gislingham, steady and loyal - a safe pair of hands. The other is Gareth Quinn, newly reinstated as DS and overly keen to make his mark. I liked that Cara Hunter has continued her practice of giving us a brief run-down of the police team. She handles what seems like a cast of thousands with aplomb but this just fills in a bit of background and you start the book knowing who's who. There's an excellent mix too - from the DC who tries to steal other officers' thunder through to the ones who are simply trying to do their best. They stay with you when you've finished to book and as you look back over the series, you can see how they've developed.
I've thought for a while that this is one of the best police procedurals series around at the moment. The writing is superb, characterisation is top class and the plot is exquisite. It's actually based on a true crime story but I'm not going to tell you which one. You really need to come at this story absolutely cold but - be warned - once you start it you will need to know how it ends. I finished it in two sittings and was resentful that there were no more pages to turn.
I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.
You could read this as a standalone but for the most pleasure, start at the beginning.
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