Hope to Die

Cara Hunter

HOPE TO DIE

Contents

Previously … in the Fawley files

Hope to Die

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Cara Hunter is the author of the Sunday Times’ bestselling crime novels Close to Home, In the Dark, No Way Out, All the Rage and The Whole Truth, all featuring DI Adam Fawley and his Oxford-based police team. Close to Home was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and was shortlisted for Crime Book of the Year at the British Book Awards 2019. No Way Out was selected by the Sunday Times as one of the 100 best crime novels since 1945. The Whole Truth was also a Richard and Judy Book Club pick in 2021. Cara’s novels have sold more than a million copies in twenty-nine territories worldwide, and the TV rights to the series have now been acquired by the Fremantle group, who are in script development with a network. She lives in Oxford, on a street not unlike those featured in her books. Hope to Die is her sixth novel.

PRAISE FOR

CARA HUNTER

‘Your next riveting, twisty read’

SHARI LAPENA

‘Fast-paced and a fantastic cast of characters. Kept me guessing to the end’

FIONA BARTON

‘Cara writes with an intelligent vivacity. You can almost hear her characters breathing on the page’

JANE CORRY

‘Cancel everything. You’re not going anywhere until you finish reading’

EMILY KOCH

‘A masterful, engrossing, twisty novel’

ROSAMUND LUPTON

‘A top-notch psychological thriller’

JP DELANEY

‘I was totally gripped and terrified’

ARAMINTA HALL

‘The most gripping book I’ve read in ages’

KAREN PERRY

For the Oxford pride

I couldn’t have got through it without you

And for the real Chloe Sargent

A very special person

Previously … in the Fawley files

In The Whole Truth I included a summary of the police characters at the beginning, to help people coming to the series for the first time. So many people got in touch to say they loved it that I’m including one again here. There are a few updates to the old hands, and the first chance to meet the new members of the team.

Name

DI Adam Fawley

Age

46

Married?

Yes, to Alex, 45. She’s a lawyer working in Oxford.

Children?

The Fawleys’ ten-year-old son, Jake, took his own life two years ago. They were devastated, and thought they’d never be able to have another child. But against the odds, Alex fell pregnant again, and they now have a precious three-month-old daughter, Lily Rose.

Personality

Introspective, observant and intelligent, outwardly resilient, inwardly less so. He doesn’t care that Alex earns more than he does, or that she’s taller than him in high heels. He’s good at lateral thinking and bad at office politics. He’s compassionate and fair-minded, but it’s not all positives: he can be impatient, and he has a short temper. He was brought up in a dreary north London suburb, and he’s adopted, though he only discovered that by accident – to this day his parents have never discussed it.

He doesn’t watch crime on TV (he has enough of it during the day); he listens to Oasis and Bach and Roxy Music (Alex once told him he looks like Bryan Ferry, to which he replied ‘I wish’); if he had a pet it would be a cat (but he’s never owned one); his favourite wine is Merlot, and his favourite food is Spanish (though he eats far too much pizza); and surprise, surprise, his favourite colour is blue.

Name

DS Chris Gislingham

Age

43

Married?

Yes, to Janet

Children?

Billy, 2

Personality

Chirpy, good-humoured, hard-working, decent. And a serious Chelsea fan.

‘Always described as “sturdy” and “solid”, and not just because he’s getting a bit chunky round the middle. Every CID team needs a Gislingham, and if you were drowning, he’s the one you’d want on the other end of the rope.’

Name

DS Gareth Quinn

(recently reinstated)

Age

36

Married?

A long-standing Lothario, Quinn is now in his first serious relationship.

Personality

Cocky, ambitious, good-looking. Fawley describes him as ‘sharp suit and blunt razor’.

‘Quinn took to DS like a dog to water – zero hesitation, maximum splash.’

Name

DC Verity Everett

Age

34

Married?

No. But has a cat (Hector).

Personality

Easy-going personally, ruthless professionally. Lacks the confidence she should have in her own abilities (as Fawley is well aware).

‘She may look like Miss Marple must have done at thirty-five, but she’s every bit as relentless. Or as Gis always puts it, Ev was definitely a bloodhound in a previous life.’

Name

DC Andrew Baxter

Age

39

Married?

Yes, but no children.

Personality

Stolid but dependable. Good with computers so often gets lumbered with that sort of stuff.

‘A solid man in a suit that’s a bit too small for him. The buttons on his shirt gape slightly. Balding, a little out of breath. Halfway to high blood pressure.’

Name

DC Erica Somer

Age

29

Married?

In a relationship with a

DI

in Hampshire Police, Giles Saumarez.

Personality

Her surname is an anagram of ‘Morse’ – my nod to Oxford’s greatest detective. In the last book, Erica discovered she had cysts on her ovaries and was sent for an

MRI

. She also had an argument with another Thames Valley officer which has resulted in a disciplinary process.

Name

DC Thomas Hansen

Age

25

Personality

Just transferred into Fawley’s team, after

DC

Asante moved sideways into Major Crimes. Previously at Cowley. Shrewd, understated and effective.

Name

DC Chloe Sargent

Age

24

Personality

On secondment with Fawley’s team. She was previously in the

PVP

(Protecting Vulnerable People) unit. Tough but kind, hard-working and insightful.

Name

DC Bradley Carter

Age

23

Personality

Temporarily covering for

DC

Somer and determined to make the most of it. Ambitious and out to impress.

The other members of the team are Alan Challow, Nina Mukerjee and Clive Conway, in the CSI department, Colin Boddie, the pathologist, and Bryan Gow, the profiler.