Cover Image: Lie by the Pool

Lie by the Pool

Pub Date:   |   Archive Date:

Member Reviews

Lie by the pool is such an exciting and engaging read! Told in alternating perspectives,
the story unfolds revealing how Bree lost her husband and became homeless. The author did a fantastic job weaving jaw dropping bits of the past into the present storyline! I don’t know how many times I gasped when a chapter ended leaving me scratching my head!

I really enjoyed this mystery thriller as it incorporated some adventure and family drama. The characters were likable and believable and definitely made you feel for them!

Was this review helpful?

I love finding new authors and she was new to me! The book was so good with cliffhanger throughout! It’s a must read! Grab the last days of summer and head to the beach!

Was this review helpful?

I was enjoying the start of this one. I liked the mystery around the pool house and the characters coming into view. It left you wondering who the mysterious woman was for a while and I liked that being held back. As the book progressed to the main event before the reveal it was going great. The plot was on track and I was an eager reader.

I liked the reveal once the timelines started to shift to her past also as it did with other characters but then it lost me. The plot started to really slow and it was cumbersome to the end. Apart from the reveal about what was really going on (which I didn’t like and felt another angle would of blended much better) there was nothing much more to enjoy.

I was skip reading chapters yet could see I was missing nothing. The ending was really a let down and I’d hoped it would really ramp up to a huge climax but sadly not. So I have mixed opinions, started of well but slid downhill after halfway. A shame as it could of had so much more psychological thriller aspects thrown in on top to make it a winner. .
3 stars from me. I would try this Author again with another book.

Was this review helpful?

This started off interesting and it lead you to think that there was something really dark going on . . . but it was very anti-climatic and I would hesitate to even call this a thriller. While it had an interesting MC, it got muddled and the ending was disappointing. I suppose if you are looking for a low stakes mystery where nothing bad really happens and there isn't much thrill, this could be for you. I also questioned some of the believability at times -- did not seem entirely accurate on police procedure. Good atmospheric parts but not very thrilling.

Lie By the Pool comes out next week on September 12, 2023 and you can purchase HERE.

We rinsed our bodies in the river, then made some oatmeal, which we topped with brown sugar and thinly sliced Honeycrisp apples. I'd snuck the French press into the "kitchen' box, and we drank our coffee black and strong just like we both liked it. Our "table" was a big, flat rock by the river, and we sat on a fallen log and let the rushing water remind us that life is ever changing. A petal falls , a shadow forms, sunlight does an improvised dance across the water. If you're not present, you'll miss it; nature never gives you the same show twice.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to @thrillerbookloverspromotions and Lake Union Publishing

This is so compulsively readable! I couldn’t put it down! I went into it blind only knowing it was a thriller and I really enjoyed it that way, so here’s what I’ll tell you. Mistakes, secrets, love and Music and some really bad guys. I really liked these characters and even the side characters we got to know well enough to care about them. They were all so different with their struggles.
4.5

Was this review helpful?

This book was just okay for me. I liked all the crime elements, but there were a couple of loose ends that did not get tied up by the end.

Was this review helpful?

Alternating POV and timelines, and lots of action – this book sucks you in from the first chapters already. Also, it is really well-written. Seriously, the writing is remarkably good!
Each of the characters has something unique about them, something that makes you want to know more about them, dig deeper, and see more. Not all are likeable, but all pull you in and make you want to know more and understand more.

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed this book from start to finish! There was a lot going on, that wove together seamlessly! I loved the red herrings, and foreshadowing throughout. The dual timelines were done well, and I enjoyed the multiple POV from our 4 main characters. Each character had their own voice and it was easy to distinguish between them. The action packed climax had me holding my breath.

This is a great book to read while sitting in the sun!

Was this review helpful?

This was a fast paced and twisty thriller and I couldn’t put this book down.

Bree is barely surviving by conducting piano classes and is homeless, living in her former home. Then the owner of the home have a Halloween party and the next day, a body was found lying in the pool, murdered.

The story is told from multiple character POV Bree, Carter, Sophie, Luke. Luke is the contractor and Brees husband and Sophie worked for Luke. This is also a page turner and the twist at the end was completely unexpected. Overall, this was actually a good thriller that will keep you hooked from the first page onwards. Worth 4.5 stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union for the ARC. the review is based on my honest opinion only.

Was this review helpful?

Fun and quick read with multiple POVs and broken into several parts. The twists were good and I like the way they were slowly unraveled.

Was this review helpful?

A zippy thriller told in two time lines by several people centered around the mysterious death of Sophie and Bree's attempt to solve the crime. This is the sort of page turner that might have you guessing the villain early on- but you'll be wrong. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Good storytelling and a propulsive plot make this a good read.

Was this review helpful?

This is a fast paced story with a great plot line. I really loved this author’s book, Good as Dead, last year. I appreciate her creativity in coming up with original storylines. This one started out with with some Drowning Woman vibes with a woman living out of her car and I was excited and intrigued to see where this one would go. However, I never really connected with the characters and there was a lot of “telling” me to beware which kind of ruined the suspense for me. I look forward to this author’s next book, but this one was kind of a miss for me. Thank you Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on September 12, 2023

Was this review helpful?

This was the book I saw out August with and WHAT a way to finish the month!!! I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book 🤩🤩

It was fast paced, it had multiple POV, and it was super TWISTY 😮😮

Bree was an incredibly likeable character and my heart went out to her ❤️❤️ But I also connected with all the narrators in this book and each had their own unique voice. There was also a little jumping of timelines which I thought was a clever way of pacing the story and keeping the twists fresh 🔥🔥

With vividly descriptive writing, it wasn’t too difficult to imagine these gorgeous houses up in Beverley Hills 🏡🏡

This was a solid domestic thriller, with fab characters, and juicy twists… HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Was this review helpful?

Thank you @susanwalterauthor @thrillerbookloverspromotions for the #gifted copy of this book!

Bree is a girl who is down on her luck. She’s homeless with no money having recently lost her husband. Living out of her car she decides one night to hop the fence to a very nice home and LIE BY THE POOL. 😉 This is not just any pool…this is a pool that also has a mansion attached to it. As she lays there, Sophie, the owners daughter comes home and spots her. On a whim instead of turning her in she does that gracious thing and invites her to her upcoming pool party. The night of the party she is happy to be living like normal and getting to sleep in a regular bed. Everyone goes home and she has the house to herself. Ahh…home sweet home.
The next morning she wakes up to a dead body in the pool and police already on the scene. Who is the dead person? How did that happen? Will she be blamed?

I was so excited to have the chance to read this book! It was told from two POV and as the book went on we find out just how Sophie and Bree are tied together. You can’t help but root for Bree, being that she’s homeless and you can tell there is more to her story! Once I found out why it made me feel for her even more. I can empathize to how people get themselves into sticky situations because I am naive and gullible. I can see how things played out the way they did. I thought this book was very engaging as it alternated between past and present keeping my attention and flipping pages quickly! This book had the perfect amount of emotion and action! I can’t wait to see what Susan comes up with next!

Was this review helpful?

I really enjoyed Lie by the Pool. It was suspenseful and kept me coming back for more. I liked how all of the characters connected together. The twists were both a little predictable and unpredictable, but they weren’t so predictable that I didn’t want to read the book.

The one thing that I didn’t particularly love was the time jumps and how many POVs the book was told in. Also the parts where they would say something and then outright say that something would happen in the future, like the inner monologue was telling us thoughts from the future from the past.

That was the only thing I really didn’t connect with though so overall I would recommend this book.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

Was this review helpful?

4.5 stars rounding up on Goodreads.

Bree is down and out on her luck! I was hooked with the multiple POV and winding thorough the maze to find out why Bree is homeless and alone. I loved this book and I could not fly through the chapters fast enough. It was a rollercoaster of a ride and the major twist left me with my jaw wide open! Susan Walter writing is so suspenseful that it will leave you reading late in the night. This was my second book that I have read by Walters and I have loved both. Definitely add this to your TBR!

****Many thanks to Susan Walter for the gifted copy in turn for an honest review and thank you to @thrillerbookloverspromotions for including me in the tour.

My review will be posted on Instagram (@thriller_book_sisters) on September 1, 2023).

Was this review helpful?

(This review is based off of an uncorrected e-galley of this novel)

I really enjoyed the pacing of this novel. There were twists and turns as well as multiple POVs and timelines, so readers have to pay attention to make sure they have all the facts. I had fun trying to work out who was and was not a reliable narrator. However, I wish that the author had left more of a cliffhanger at the end of each character's POV to make it less predictable.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an e-ARC of this novel. Review will be posted on Insta (@ellie.reads.a.lot) by or before the publish date.

Was this review helpful?

A triumph
But firstly got to say the cover is in no way representative of this amazing book and tbh can’t fathom why this has been used to show and sell such a dazzling read
And it is amazing, it has elements of thriller, crime, psychological, family, Rom Com and pretty much everything else wrapped up into one of the most surprising books, for me, this year….’lying by the pool is probably less than 1% of the book, there’s no time for that such is the action that thrashes you from page to page
There is FBI insight, wonderful descriptions of L.A. and Beverley Hills, ‘happy writing’…this for me means you can feel the authors excitement of the story and happiness at writing ( sounds a bit weird but you will see when read it ) and also ‘welcoming to the reader’ writing ( I loved the style 🤗 ) all bringing us to the conclusion that these characters we are getting to know have in different ways bitten off much much more than they can chew
Its a bit different, a bit quirky, a lot great and reminds me why reading is such a great and varied hobby
I loved it ( but please change the cover! )

Was this review helpful?

Thoughts~
I could not put this down! It felt like there was a new twist at every swipe (reading on my kindle) that was shocking. I did not see a lot of it coming! My heart hurt for Bree who was barely making ends meet while living out of her car. Her entire life crashed down in one day, and she lost it all. However not all is what it seems which makes this one you should not wait on!

Was this review helpful?

Pacy, Tension Fuelled..
A completely irresistible invitation is the catalyst which sparks a series of unimaginable events in this pacy, tension fuelled tale of suspense. At a luxurious Beverly Hills address, Bree is living the high life. Unfortunately, the address is not hers but her presence is soon to be her downfall as she becomes quickly involved in a bizarre situation leading her to become prime suspect in a murder case. A plot populated with a fast moving timeline, a cast of credible and well drawn characters and a perfect backdrop make this a compelling and engaging read.

Was this review helpful?