In the Dark

Det. Insp. Adam Fawley, the self-deprecating, ironic narrator of British author Hunter’s arresting, unnerving sequel to 2018’s Close to Home, leads the investigation into the case of a young woman and a toddler, presumably her son, found imprisoned in the cellar of an old Oxford mansion. The police arrest the house’s Alzheimer’s-afflicted owner, retired professor William Harper, but he claims he knows nothing about them. The unidentified mother and son are taken to a local hospital, where a psychiatrist thinks the mother, who screams when questioned, is suffering from PTSD. The subsequent discovery of a body buried in Harper’s garden raises the ante. The painstaking work of Fawley’s highly diverse team emerges in transcripts of interrogations, emails, witness interviews, BBC scripts, and other documents that enhance authenticity. Hunter exposes human frailties such as social and governmental missteps and policemen’s personal mess-ups while celebrating the essential humanity of those sworn to serve and protect. Readers will eagerly await Fawley’s next outing. [em]Agent: Anna Power, Johnson & Alcock (U.K.). (Feb.) [/em]