In December 2003, Luke Ryder was found dead in the garden of his family home in London, leaving behind his wealthy older widow and three stepchildren. No one was charged.
It’s now twenty years later and the case is being re-examined by a team of experts as part of a true crime series- but do those involved in the show know more than they are letting on or does the truth lie closer to home?
Murder in the Family is Cara Hunter’s first standalone novel and seeing as I absolutely love the DI Fawley series, I was excited to read this thriller.
The book is written in a script format, which I found off-putting initially, however I soon got used to it and by the time I finished I appreciated it for being different. You experience the story as a viewer would with each chapter marking an episode of the series and ending with reviews, emails, messages, and online discussions (the latter was impossible to read on Kindle format), all of which added depth to the story.
Whilst the format was different and felt modern one drawback was that it was very difficult to warm to the characters. This is because whereas in usual novels you would experience individual thoughts/emotions, the lack of narrative didn’t allow for this. As a result, I didn’t particularly think a lot of the characters- however I liked the way they all fitted into the story and thought the plot was well thought out.
As for the statement in the blurb of the book ‘the truth will blow your mind’, unfortunately I wasn’t left feeling that way. There was something at the beginning which already narrowed down my suspects so already that took many of them out of the equation. I felt like the clues were there- however on the cover of the book it does say ‘Can you solve the case before they do?’ so perhaps that was the intentions of the author for us to work it out as opposed to being shocked at the end?
Overall, whilst I enjoyed the different format of the book and the fact the mixed media made it feel modern- in terms of thrillers I have read this was very mediocre hence why I am giving it three stars.
Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Murder in the Family will be published on the 20th July 2023.
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