In the first book of the Adam Fawley series, we meet Fawley and his team as they investigate the disappearance of an 8-year-old girl, and her increasingly suspicious family members. This book is not only a rather gripping crime case but also serves as a nice introduction to a cast of characters that will come to be central in the rest of the series from Fawley, Everett, Summer and Quinn, among others.

I was really gripped by the case of Daisy, and it honestly felt like there were so many twists and turns, I didn't have a clue about what had really happened to her because as soon as something came up or appeared obvious, it felt too much like a red herring. Having read a later book in this series already, I was aware that Cara Hunter is just really good at these slippery type of cases that seem to have a handful of suspects with probable cause, and no way for the reader to really figure out who it was.

I really like the cast of characters in this series, though in this book we are really chiefly getting to know Fawley as our main character and his tragic home life. There were lots of hints, and ominous tips about what had happened, with an epilogue confirming the sad story (though again, because I've read the 4th book, I knew what had happened).

My one gripe with this book is I felt it closed off very suddenly. The last chapter or so turns to a court case which I can only presume takes place months after the actual investigation and I just felt like it was a very abrupt switch from an active investigation to the court case with no real 'aha' moment. And then the last chapter before the epilogue in which everything is laid clear really disappointed me as it felt so over the top and unexpected, and it just didn't work for me. The writing in this book is excellent though and I'm looking forward to continuing with the series.