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2000s: Do you know what your neighbours are hiding next door?
In the Dark
What you need to know before your trail
A woman and child are found locked in a basement room, barely alive…
No one knows who they are – the woman can’t speak, and there are no missing persons reports that match their profile. And the elderly man who owns the house claims he has never seen them before.
The inhabitants of the quiet Oxford street are in shock – how could this happen right under their noses? But DI Adam Fawley knows that nothing is impossible.
And that no one is as innocent as they seem . . .
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Oxford
Some of the main streets in the city are fictional and when you read this novel you’ll see why. Frampton Road where the house of horrors is Crescent Square is also fictional. However the scenes come alive just off Bury Road which runs through Oxford and which more than sets the scene. Aldate Police station is very real and is the one which deals with the investigation.
Oxford through the eyes of the police in the novel:
“If you’ve ever been to Oxford, you;; know: its all of nothing in this place – when it rains the stone is piss-coloured, but in the light, when the colleges look like they’ve been carved from cloud there is no more beautiful place on earth. And I’m just a cynical old copper”
Frampton Road House of Horrors:
There is work being done on the house, but despite the dire state of the house next door, the messy garden, the rusting exterior and goodness knows what else, there’s hope for improvement. The builders are in, the cellar is being converted. but then:
“There’s been a bit of a hitch on the cellar”
Crescent square where Hannah Gardiner lived is idyllic and in a nice part of town:
Bikes against railings, cat walking across the road, mother and small boy on a scooter”
Wittenham Clumps
This is a real place just outside of Oxford where a housing development is being discussed and where the mystery of the novel deepens. The Cuckoo Pen and the Money pit are also real as is the legend that goes with them (no spoilers here)
Streetview Maps
A) Oxford - Aldate Police station
D) Oxford - Wittenham Clumps
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Oh my dear goodness. When I found out what the neighbours had in fact been up to, at the end of the first chapter no less, I almost screamed, so vivid was the image. That’s just the start. It gets a whole lot weirder and creepy from that point on.
I enjoyed Cara’s first book but this is just out of the water! It gets very dark very quickly with creepy hills, birds, legends. I’m going to stop there as you have to discover this for yourself. Blinking good is what I’m calling it. Slightly afraid of ever meeting Cara in real life, but then again the goriest crime thrillers tend to be written by the nicest people! Its always the quiet ones as they say.
Top notch thriller from start to finish. Confident gritty writing and a killer turn of phrase. Oxford and its surroundings play a great role. So much so, I think this will encourage some very interesting tourist visits…
Booktrail Boarding Pass: In The Dark
Destination : Oxford Author/Guide: Cara Hunter Departure Time: 2000s
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