THE WHOLE TRUTH, the fifth D.I. Adam Fawley thriller, is something special. Cara Hunter already has stood out with the design of this series, combining both standard narrative and other forms of communication --- transcripts, texts and emails --- to depict a crime story.

This latest installment juggles a couple of different cases, each of which is deviously conceived and plotted. Hunter pulls out all the stops and will have readers guessing right up until the surprising reveals. She opens the book with bios of the principal characters, which will be very helpful for newcomers or those who would like to have their memories refreshed.

"Cara Hunter does a superb balancing act with these two brilliant cases, each of which could have carried their own novel, and keeps readers breathlessly glued to their seat having no idea what either outcome will be."

Fawley’s first case comes by way of a phone call from the administration at Oxford University. He could use the distraction as his wife Alex, a local barrister, is eight months pregnant, and they have been experiencing some marital difficulties. Two members of Fawley’s loyal squad, Gareth Quinn and Verity Everett, pay a visit to Oxford and are introduced to student Caleb Morgan. Caleb claims that a senior member of the faculty, Professor Marina Fisher, physically and sexually assaulted him at her home. He provides evidence of scratches to his body as a way of confirming this.

Meanwhile, Fawley is dealing with the reality that someone who he put away years earlier has been released from prison. Gavin Parrie, dubbed the “Roadside Rapist,” swore the entire time he was behind bars that he was innocent. A popular podcast called “The Whole Truth” has been campaigning for his release for years and devoting many episodes to support his claims of innocence. Guilty or not, Parrie very well may have revenge on his mind now that he is back on the streets of London.

Professor Fisher vehemently denies Caleb’s accusations and insists she doesn’t remember what happened in her house. She woke up to find her sequined dress ripped, but she had brought it in for tailoring and to remove a wine stain before the CSI team could examine it. She seems to be quite credible, even though some students and faculty members feel that she dresses too suggestively. It appears to be a confounding case of “he said/she said” that truly will test Fawley’s squad.

The police receive evidence of a phone call the night of the alleged attack that reported a young man and a blond female companion fighting verbally and physically outside of a pub. These individuals turn out to be Caleb and his girlfriend, Freya. Is this just a coincidence, or did Caleb's scratches come from this altercation?

Hunter then throws a wallop at the reader with an unrelated murder case. The body of a woman is found on the train tracks. An investigation shows that this was not a suicide jump; she was killed first and then thrown from an overpass in front of an oncoming train. The victim is Emma Smith, a good friend of Fawley’s. To really make you jump, the CSI team finds evidence in Emma’s apartment that reveal Fawley's fingerprints as well as one of his pubic hairs on the body.

Fawley, of course, denies any wrongdoing. However, an investigator who obviously has a past with Fawley is ready to move full steam ahead and nail him to the wall. This means that the team must proceed with the Oxford case on their own while desperately trying to think of anything that could get their beloved boss off the hook. With evidence mounting against him, it seems like an uphill battle.

Cara Hunter does a superb balancing act with these two brilliant cases, each of which could have carried their own novel, and keeps readers breathlessly glued to their seat having no idea what either outcome will be. THE WHOLE TRUTH is by far the best entry in this series and is a must-read for all mystery/thriller fans.