Thrilled to bits to join the blog tour for No Way Out by Cara Hunter today! My thanks to Ellie at Viking for the invitation to join and for the fab review copy!

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

The Christmas holidays, and two children have just been pulled from the wreckage of their burning home in North Oxford. The toddler is dead, and his brother is soon fighting for his life.

Why were they left in the house alone? Where is their mother, and why is their father not answering his phone?

Then new evidence is discovered, and DI Fawley’s worst nightmare comes true.

Because this fire wasn’t an accident.

It was murder.

| MY THOUGHTS |

If you’re sitting there wondering if you need another crime fiction series in your life, the answer is “yes” and this right here is that series.

Set in Oxford, No Way Out is the third instalment in the DI Adam Fawley series and it is utterly chilling from the get-go as we follow a firefighter via the camera on his helmet during a fire at the home of the Esmond family. Two young children are pulled from the wreckage. Matty Esmond is fighting for his life but his toddler brother is found dead. There is no sign of their parents. Were the children left in the house alone? Their father was supposed to be attending a conference but why isn’t he answering his phone? When new evidence is discovered, DI Adam Fawley soon realises this fire was not an accident.

Some of the chapters are set before the fire that wrecked the Esmond family home and if those were supposed to have any clues, I completely missed them. Cara Hunter incorporates newspaper articles, emails and fire investigation reports throughout the story, giving the whole thing a truly realistic touch. Things are not as straight forward as you might first expect and there are plenty of twists, turns and dead ends leading DI Adam Fawley and his team to frustration.

Speaking of the team, due to events in the previous book one of the team members finds himself demoted to DC, while another is promoted to acting DS. Could there be trouble? Meanwhile Adam himself is struggling with personal issues that may or may not interfere with his ability to do his job. I thoroughly enjoy the balance Cara Hunter achieves between Adam’s job and his personal life. Especially during this investigation because, if you’ve read the previous books, then you know anything involving children is particularly hard for him.

Stories involving children are always so heartbreaking and I may have uttered an “oh my god” here and there, and even let out something resembling a sob, especially near the end. Talk about a punch to the gut. I never really expect to need a tissue while reading crime fiction but I did here. Heartbreaking for sure.

No Way Out is hugely gripping, immensely compelling and extremely addictive. I dare say this is the best one in the series yet and that’s saying something because the previous two books are insanely outstanding as well. Yet Cara Hunter managed to raise the bar another notch and I stayed up way past my bedtime, desperate to reach the conclusion only to find myself faced with a cliffhanger that has me itching to get to the next book. Luckily we don’t have to wait too long as All The Rage is published in December and you can already preorder it here.

I highly recommend you add this series to your shelves. It is one of the best crime fiction series out there and a definite must-read!

No Way Out is available to buy!

Affiliate link : Bookdepository
Other retailers : Amazon US | Amazon UK | Kobo | Waterstones | Wordery

Make sure you also check out the previous two books in the series!

| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |

I’m lucky enough to live in the city I write about. Oxford will be familiar to crime fans across the whole world because of the fabulous Morse novels and TV, but my version of the town is a long way from the beautiful ivy-clad colleges. A much edgier place where the crimes are darker and closer to home.

I’ve always been a voracious reader and viewer of crime – I’ve learned so much from the outstanding writing that we now see on crime TV like Line of Duty or Broadchurch, and I’ve tried to recreate the experience of watching series like that for my readers. I love true crime TV as well – my husband used to tease me about it but now just nods sagely and says ‘research’ !

What else about me? I have pet cats who do their best to distract me whenever I get close to a keyboard (if you have cats, you’ll know), I love travelling, spending time with friends, and I have never knowingly turned down a glass of champagne….