Murder in the Family
By Cara Hunter
Published year: 2023
Page Count: 475 pages
Medium Used: Paperback
Genre : Murder Mystery, Suspense, Screenplay, Book Review, 2024-read.
Rating : 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I so thoroughly enjoyed it. This is my first book with Cara Hunter but it has quickly propelled her into the list of my must-check-out authors. This seems to be the first of a kind book in creating an atmosphere of the reader brainstorming with the detective/expert panel which is resolving the case. The unraveling happens like a screenplay .. fully packed with witness interviews, montages of images and it sort of branches off into different angles before striking the target. And the funny part is that the target hit at the end might not be legit. The author seemed to have hinted at a sequel or there being a different explanation to the mystery. Anyways, I am eager to know and read what it would be. The reading is a very engaging and refreshing experience.
A man, 28 years old, is found murdered in the garden of his house in October, 2003. Initially, it was suspected that his wife - many years his senior - might have indulged in what was termed 'cougar killing'. Though there were multiple suspects and a lengthy investigation, the Met officers couldn't find a closure to the case. Twenty years later, a Showrunner channel has picked up this case to be explored/hopefully solved by a panel of its selected experts in its online/onscreen show called Infamous. The mystery unravels in a sequence of seven episodes that are filmed and aired. Each episode blows the mind of the reader/viewer with explosive revelations and shocking findings. The series not only becomes a massive success but also claims to solve the age old, dornant mystery ( only the author hints otherwise). The ending - if it is how the murder happened - would be a disappointment for me. It is too easy and it is only figured out now because the witnesses that kept silent/lied twenty years ago come forward to open up and lay out their cards on the table. I desperately and actively wish for a sequel. For something more alive and adventurous.
So the experts lay their suspicions in three possibilities for the murderer's identity. He/she could have been a lover of the wife who got jealous and killed the husband. He/she could have been someone from the victim's past which caught up with him in a macabre ending. He/she could have been a distant relative that stood to benefit from the death of the victim. The ending is so deviating from their expectations and suspicions that they didn't see it coming. And neither did the reader. Because it is not plausible. It feels so wrong. And incongruous.
But wish there is a sequel and a more thrilling end to this quagmire! The psychological insights into a person's mentality - like 'Peter Pan Syndrome' , ' Wendy's Syndrome', Trauma/abuse induced dissociation in children are edifying and positively value adding to the narrative.
Until the next book, Cheers!! 🍻
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