Murder in the Family – Book Review

A shocking thriller about a cold case, a fictional true crime series, and the family caught in the middle.

SIX EPISODES. ONE KILLER.

It was a case that gripped the nation. In December 2003, Luke Ryder, the stepfather of acclaimed filmmaker Guy Howard (then aged 10), was found dead in the garden of their suburban family home.

Luke Ryder’s murder has never been solved. Guy Howard’s mother and two half-sisters were in the house at the time of the murder–but all swear they saw nothing. Despite a high-profile police investigation and endless media attention, no suspect was ever charged.

But some murder cases are simply too big to forget…

Now comes the sensational new Netflix series Infamous, dedicated to investigating–and perhaps cracking–this famous cold case. The production team will re-examine testimony, re-interview witnesses, and once again scour the evidence. The family will speak. The key players will be reunited–on camera. The truth will come out.

Are you ready to see it?

Murder in the Family by Cara Hunter follows a TV show called Infamous where they are investigating a cold case of a brutal murder of Luke Ryder that happened in 2003. Luke Ryder’s murder case is still unsolved and when Luke Ryder was murdered his older wife and her daughters swore that they didn’t see anything. Now twenty years later, crime experts from UK and USA reopen and reinvestigate the case with fresh eyes, investigating the witnesses’ testimonials and statements so that finally Luke Ryder’s case will be solved and the murderer will be caught.

The whole book is written in the format of script, which is interesting rather than in the traditional novel way. This book reminded me of Applerton Angels by Janice Hallet who also wrote in the same way using the format of script, text messages, email messages and newspaper articles. I actually do like this change of scene. And reading this book kind of made me feel like I was watching an interesting crime documentary on Netflix which is how I actually felt.

Besides the settings and format of the book, overall, I like the story. The cold case that is now reopened, piles of turns and unexpected twists in each and every episode (chapters) and of course an unexpected ending at the end.

Overall, if you are into watching crime documentaries and like reading fictional ones, then try this book out. Worth four stars.