Cara Hunter Books in Order (Updated February 22, 2026)

Cara Hunter writes modern crime thrillers best known for the DI Adam Fawley novels set in Oxford, plus a separate true-crime–styled standalone. The Fawley books share one continuous timeline, so order matters for team dynamics, personal fallout, and references to earlier cases.

This guide treats UK first publication as the default. Some titles reached the US later (notably The Whole Truth and Making a Killing).

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A fast “choose-your-route” reading plan

If you want the clean, spoiler-safe path

Read DI Adam Fawley #1 → onward in publication order.

If you want one book to test the style

Pick Close to Home if you like tightly controlled police-procedural tension told with mixed-media elements (messages, transcripts, documents).

If you want a standalone with a different format

Start with Murder in the Family (separate continuity; built like a bingeable true-crime series on the page).

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Continuity check (so you don’t accidentally mix worlds)

DI Adam Fawley series: one continuity; read in order.
Murder in the Family: standalone; no required reading before or after.

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DI Adam Fawley series – publication order (recommended)

1. Close to Home (2018): A woman and child are found imprisoned, and the investigation turns into a pressure test of what a community thinks it knows about its neighbors.
2. In the Dark (2018): A woman’s sudden disappearance becomes a case built around gaps, missing time, missing certainty, and missing truth.
3. No Way Out (2019): A family tragedy detonates into a high-stakes hunt for what really happened, with the investigation squeezed by public attention and narrowing options.
4. All the Rage (2020): A cold case is forced back into the present, asking whether a past verdict, or public narrative, was ever stable in the first place.
5. The Whole Truth (2021 UK; later US): A contemporary sexual-assault investigation becomes a precision-engineered look at evidence, perception, and the cost of “knowing.”
6. Hope to Die (2022): A rural crime scene that looks straightforward on arrival turns into a layered dismantling of story versus reality.
7. Making a Killing (2025 UK; later US): A true-crime TV production reopens a contentious case from Fawley’s past, turning entertainment pressure into investigative heat.

Why this order works best: later books assume you remember the team’s internal history and the cumulative effect of earlier cases. Publication order preserves reveals and emotional context.

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Chronological order

For this series, chronological and publication order effectively match, so there’s no separate timeline list worth using.

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Standalone novel

Separate continuity

• Murder in the Family (2023): A cold case is reconstructed through documents and true-crime-style material, inviting you to “watch” an investigation unfold without a traditional narrator.

You can read this anytime, including before the Fawley series.

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What’s latest (and what’s not confirmed)

• Most recent DI Adam Fawley novel: Making a Killing (2025).
• No reliably confirmed next Cara Hunter release was found in the sources checked for this update.

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FAQs

Do I have to start with Close to Home?
If you’re reading Fawley, yes, starting at #1 avoids spoilers and makes the later interpersonal threads land properly.

Can I read Murder in the Family first?
Yes. It’s standalone and doesn’t depend on Fawley continuity.

Why do some dates look “off” depending on where I shop?
Several titles have different release timings by territory/edition (UK vs US publication schedules). This guide prioritizes first UK publication as the base order.

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Bottom line

If you want the safest, most coherent experience: start with Close to Home and read the DI Adam Fawley series in publication order. Add Murder in the Family whenever you want a standalone that leans hard into the true-crime, document-driven reading experience.