The Whole Truth by Cara Hunter @NetGalley @PenguinBooks @VikingUKBooks @CaraHunterBooks #TheWholeTruth

 

The Whole Truth by Cara Hunter

Published by Penguin

Publication Date 29th April 2021

Genre: Crime, Mystery & Thriller

My grateful thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my opinion. 

Book Description:

An attractive student. An older professor.

Think you know the story? Think again.

THE NEW UP-ALL-NIGHT THRILLER FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER CARA HUNTER

She has everything at stake; he has everything to lose. But one of them is lying, all the same.

When an Oxford student accuses one of the university's professors of sexual assault, DI Adam Fawley's team think they've heard it all before. But they couldn't be more wrong.

Because this time, the predator is a woman and the shining star of the department, and the student a six-foot male rugby player.

Soon DI Fawley and his team are up against the clock to figure out the truth. What they don't realise is that someone is watching.

And they have a plan to put Fawley out of action for good...

My Thoughts:

I have followed this series right from the debut book, Close to Home, and I can honestly say each book just gets better and better. The series follows DI Adam Fawley and his close knit team of detectives all of whom look out for one another in their own way - some better than others. Although each book is a separate episode crime-wise I would definitely recommend reading the books in order to get the most from them, especially this last one as it refers back to previous events in quite some detail in parts of the story.

In this book, Fawley and his wife are expecting their baby imminently, and due to the tragic loss of their previous child they can't afford for anything to go wrong so Adam has his lawyer wife under close observation so she doesn't exert herself in any way.  Which is why the timing of the case which comes to the fore could not be worse. The head of the university specifically asks to speak to Adam regarding the incident so he can't even pass it to one of his colleagues. An accusation has been made against one of the lecturers by a student - very much a case of his word against hers. But there's far more going on than first appears and Fawley soon finds himself in deeper trouble than he ever imagined.

As usual there are podcasts, online quotes from social media and other such soundbites dropped in between the chapters to keep things interesting - a bit of a trademark of the author's which works so well.  These little insights contain valuable nuggets of clues to help the reader solve what's going on but in true Cara style there is sufficient smoke screening to be able to keep the best til last.

But Fawley really is in trouble this time; someone knows he's not squeaky clean and is going all out to make him pay. What is the price being asked though, and is it really Fawley who owes the debt?

I cannot commend this author's writing enough and every time someone asks me for a book to read I will put her name forward. Every book in the series is brilliant in its own right but this one stands way above the others. I'm delighted to hear that book 6 is due next spring so you have plenty of time to catch up with the story so far!

From 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....