Publication: 20th July 2023 – HarperCollins
IT WAS A CASE THAT GRIPPED THE NATION
LUKE RYDER’S MURDER HAS NEVER BEEN SOLVED
In December 2003, Luke Ryder was found dead in the garden of the family home in London, leaving behind a wealthy older widow and three stepchildren. Nobody saw anything.
Now, secrets will be revealed – live on camera.
Years later a group of experts re-examine the evidence on Infamous, a true-crime show – with shocking results. Does the team know more than they’ve been letting on?
Or does the truth lie closer to home?
Can you solve the case before they do?
The truth will blow your mind.
I am a huge fan of Cara Hunter’s novels. Her DI Adam Fawley series is one of my favourite and I am always looking forward to the next novel. I was really excited about Murder in the Family, which is a stand-alone, and I wasn’t disappointed.
On the 20th anniversary of the murder of Luke Ryder, a true crime series, Infamous, wants to reopen the case to solve his murder once and for all. Twenty years ago, the lifeless body of 26-year-old Luke had been found in the garden of the family home by his stepdaughter. The police never found the killer and, now, six experts have been called to study the case. There is a retired Met police officer, a freelance journalist, a forensic psychologist, a lawyer, a former NYPD officer, and a forensic pathologist. The team also includes Guy Howard, stepson of the victim and ten years old at the time of the murder. Guy wants to find out the truth to bring closure to his family, no matter the cost and what uncomfortable truths about his family may come out during the investigation.
The story is written in script format and, as the author’s previous novels, is accompanied by news clippings, maps, text messages, email exchanges, and comments on forums. Luke’s murder had been sensational at the time as he had recently married a wealthy widow older than him. At the time of the murder, only ten year old Guy was in the house sleeping, but could his wife have come back from the party and killed him? Or maybe her stepson Rupert, who had introduced them a few years earlier? Or maybe someone from his past? As you read you realize that everyone on the show was chosen for a reason as secrets are revealed and twists just keep coming. I don’t usually watch true crime documentaries, but I think I would watch Infamous, if only for the cliffhangers at the end of each episode that made it almost impossible to put the book down.
Masterfully executed, addictive, and thrilling, Murder in the Family kept me up late at night reading until the one final shocking revelation that you can always expect from Cara Hunter’s novel and that makes you gasp in surprise. Highly recommended!
A huge thank you to HarperCollins and Netgalley for a proof of the novel.
Cara Hunter is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling crime novels Close to Home, In the Dark, No Way Out, All the Rage, The Whole Truth and Hope to Die, all featuring DI Adam Fawley and his Oxford-based police team. Close to Home was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick (as is her latest) and was shortlisted for Crime Book of the Year in the British Book Awards 2019. No Way Out was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 best crime novels since 1945. Cara’s novels have sold over a million copies worldwide, and the TV rights to the series have been acquired by the Fremantle group. She lives in Oxford. Murder in the Family is her first stand-alone crime novel. The Fawley series will also continue.
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