This book was interesting ... in a good way. There were clues and small bits throughout the plot pointing to the killer and yet, I would never have predicted it! This was an easy read, engaging and an absolute mystery / thriller combination.

A long and convoluted tale, with many twists and turns. Didn’t care for many of the characters including the police. But with time, we shall see. Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy.

This book left me wondering almost until the end what went wrong one fateful night thirty years ago. A well played mystery by Gytha Lodge, this first novel in the Jonah Sheens series left me wanting more. More mysteries, more tales to tell. While this book wrapped up one story, it sure left the door open on Jonah.

Aurora Jackson is a beautiful, flighty teenage girl who just wants acceptance from her sister and her sister’s friends. When her sister and a group of friends are heading to the woods for a night of partying and camping, Aurora is included. As the day goes into night, Aurora feels awkward and not really part of the group. Until one of them, Benners, gets Aurora drunk. Too drunk. So that Aurora gets violently ill and crawls off to sleep on her own.

The next morning when a group of teenagers wake very hungover, they realize that Aurora has disappeared. They search and search for her, but no trace is ever found. Until thirty years have passed, and a new investigation into the missing persons case is started back up. What happened to poor Aurora and why is the case reopened thirty years later? It’s a great mystery that kept me turning the pages to find out.

Gytha Lodge delivers a novel written in current and past tense. Each chapter takes us a step further in today’s investigation and what really happened on that night thirty years prior. I loved the format. It kept me wondering and guessing who did what, as each subsequent chapter led me to believe something different. I was surprised at the end, and as I said, I look forward to seeing what’s in store next for Jonah Sheens, the detective who began the investigation thirty years ago, and finished it now.

Oh wow. Put some time away for this book. It has all the ingredients for a terrific psychological thriller.

No spoilers from me. Book is great with lots of lies, deception, tragedy, and twists. Also, loved the unpredictable ending. Can't say enough great about this. Read it today!!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this fabulous book.

What could have happened to Aurora? Someone knows but isn't telling.

Uncovering bones from a thirty-year-old disappearance/murder case wasn’t something the police thought would happen after their very thorough search and investigation back then.

The remains of fourteen-year-old Aurora Jackson was a shock to the six teens that had been with her as well as the town and her parents. Everyone believed she had been kidnapped or had run away not murdered.

SHE LIES IN WAIT goes back and forth from 1983 to the present telling the story of what happened at the campsite, how the investigation was exhaustive and came up with nothing, and moves to present day with the interviewing of the now-adult teens and the re-opening of the case.

Opening the case meant bringing the six friends together at the station for a meeting. Was that a good idea or had there been collaboration beforehand? Are they all only going to try to save themselves? Will one of the friends say things that had not been said before and reveal something that could get that person arrested?

The investigation turned up some facts that had been overlooked and involved a person that was not one of the six friends.

SHE LIES IN WAIT moves smoothly from one chapter to the next and holds your interest because of all the questions about what really happened and who was lying back then and who was still lying now.

If you enjoy being a detective, you will definitely enjoy SHE LIES IN WAIT.

The story line is good and nicely carried out with some twists and of course secrets being kept. 5/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Not a bad read I did find the mystery a bit more predictable then I thought it would be but still all around kept my attention for the most part. Would definitely try this writer again!

The Goodreads description for She Lies in Wait tries to sell this as "for fans of Tana French" and I think that readers who are expecting this book to be comparable to Tana French based on that are going to be left wanting. I can see the comparison (to In the Woods, specifically) based solely on having a detective who has a personal connection to the case being investigated, but that's about it- and with how many police procedurals are available to readers these days, I feel like it's got to be tough to stand out. It's a generally fine story, but even though it's only a touch over 350 pages it felt very long. The back and forth reveals from the past and present are done well, with each giving a little hint to what's about to happen in the other. It's got a very melancholy feel to it, and there are some characters who seem interesting, but overall it just wasn't the most memorable story I've picked up lately.

I really enjoyed this book. I’m just coming off of a two month break from thrillers and this was the perfect book to dive back into the genre. I like that it went back and forth between current day and thirty years ago, but still kept me on my toes the entire time trying to figure out who the killer was. I was not expecting the ending. Highly recommend this book to any thriller fans!

I received an advanced copy in exchange of an honest review.

With a 30 year old mystery at its core, this was a well written police procedural that kept the pages turning. The story starts on the slow side and builds. With a strong cast of characters, this book was not as suspenseful as it could have been, but more of a straight forward mystery. In the end I was surprised that this was a debut novel, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of Jonah Sheens in future novels!

I received an advanced copy of She Lies in Wait via Netgalley, and although it had a ton of potential, I had a hard time finishing the book and there was just too much going on for me to keep track and enjoy the read. I felt like the book was extremely predictable, and after starting out extremely fast paced, it fizzled out and dragged on. There were a few times that I had to go back and reread parts to figure out which character was who, and how they played into the story. I was overall disappointed by this, but extremely thankful I was given the chance to read it in exchange for an honest review! She Lies in Wait is set to be published in January 2019.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for providing this title to me. While the premise sounded intriguing, ultimately it really fell flat for me. There was just nothing here to set it apart from a hundred other police procedural novels with a similar cold case premise. None of the characters spoke to me either, so my interest in reading more in the series is non-existent.

She Lies in Wait was a great story that slowly unfolded the tale of the murder of a young girl, Aurora, whose body was found after 30 years of being missing. A group of friends are being investigated and the author did an amazing job of keeping us guessing of who had committed the murder. During the investigation other crimes are uncovered that are related to what had happened to Aurora. The characters were very well developed and the story moved at a very quick pace. Very difficult to put down!
I look forwards to reading more about the cases DCI Jonah Sheen will solve along with his constables and sergeants.

Thank you NetGalley, Gytha Lodge and Random House for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

On a hot summers night, six school friends go camping in the forest and Aurora is excited to be able to tag along with the popular kids. The next morning no one can find Aurora and the police are called to investigate. Thirty years later, they find a body in the area and DCI Sheen knows it just has to be Aurora. All of the friends maintain their innocence in her disappearance, but she is found in a secret place that only those six know about.

I found myself interested in this story right from the beginning and loved the way that the novel was laid out and how there were chapters with Aurora’s point of view from before she went missing. There are a lot of characters in this novel to keep track of and remember what they were doing at the time Aurora went missing. I found after the first little while, it was easy to keep track of each character because they all have a different voice and a different personality that is entirely different from the others. I loved all the drama that happened in both the past and present between these characters because of their differences. There were so many different little twists that happen throughout the entire novel that were so enjoyable and unexpected! I also really enjoyed DCI Sheen and his team and how he was personally involved in this story and tried to keep it quiet from the rest of the team. I would definitely recommend this novel if you enjoy police procedural novels!

Out January 8th!

I recently returned from a cruise vacation and on that vacation, I wanted a good, not-put-down, book to read. Well...this was the book! The book centers on a police department in England (in the somewhat present day) and their search to discover what happened to Aurora in the summer of 1983, who was on a camping trip with her sister and five of her sister's friends when she disappeared in the night.

This book goes back in fourth in time - through flashbacks of Aurora's to that fateful day in 1983, and then back to the police department's attempts to solve the mystery. I don't want to say too much for fear of giving away anything, but I couldn't put this book down, and was getting annoyed at the constant interruptions I was facing while reading it!

One thing I would have liked to see more of in this book is the character development of the police detectives. I felt really invested in them, and like some things were left unresolved in the detectives' lives, even though the mystery of Aurora is eventually solved. I was happy to see on Amazon that this is going to be the first in a series of books about Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens (and hopefully the rest of his team).

Overall I would give this book 4/5 stars and recommend it to fans of mysteries. Please note there are some trigger warnings such as rape and parental abuse in this book.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley under the condition I would write a review of this book. I am under no obligation to write a positive review.

Gytha Lodge has written what I believe is one of the best books I've read all year. I'm stunned that this is her first novel. It is so amazing I fangirled all over her FB page to let her know I loved it. That's not usually something I do.

The story was simple, on the face of it, but then you add in donkey's years having passed and people's memories get fuzzy even if they weren't drunk or stoned when an event occurred.

I was very interested in the police involvement in this story, especially because one was hiding something. The discovery of Aurora's body certainly stirred up a lot of people and I found myself wanting to read faster so I could find out what happened, yet also not wanting the book to end.

The author layers all these characters and their stories together quite well, leaving me to wonder just what happened until the end where I was quite surprised. I hope Ms. Lodge is writing quickly because I could read another book by her tomorrow!

Thank you to the author, the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me an ARC.

Thirty years after the youngest of a group of teenagers who went camping disappears, her remains are found. The investigation is reopened, with the lead detective, DCI Jonah Sheens harboring his own secret involvement with this group.

The story is told in two different timelines, alternating between the present investigation and the past camping event. It is a solid police procedural and will be enjoyed by those who like that genre. A good start to what is supposed to become a series. I look forward to the next one.

4.5 stars!

Out January 8th!

Looking for a good detective mystery novel? Here you go!

Gytha Lodge's debut novel was a wonderful surprise. I was expecting it to just be okay, but I actually thought it was really good as far as detective novels go. This book was very much character driven and Gytha Lodge did a great job developing her characters.

The story flip flops between 1983 and present day. In 1983 fourteen-year-old Aurora goes missing while camping with 6 friends. 30 years later her body is discovered mere feet from the campsite where she was last seen. And all 6 of her friends instantly become suspects. Who had motive? Who could have wanted Aurora dead? What follows is the investigative work of DCI Jonah Sheens and his team, interviewing suspects and following old leads in the hopes of solving this cold case.

What I loved about this book was the tension. I kept trying to figure out who made the best suspect and who had motive. I constantly changed my mind, becoming suspicious of each character along the way. And honestly, I didn't figure out the ending until it was revealed which is always a win in my book.

The only negative aspect of this book was that the ending was a tad anticlimactic. Once the "killer" was revealed, the ending seemed a little bit abrupt, particularly given how long and drawn out the rest of the story was. I would have liked to have seen the ending play out a little bit differently. But, all in all I still found it satisfying and appreciated the "solution" to the crime.

I would liken this to a Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling) novel with a detective that is central to the story, and lots of character development that dominates the stories of the remaining characters. Would recommend to my detective-driven mystery novel lovers.

-I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Gytha Lodge, and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to review.-

"She lies in Wait" a thriller from beginning to end, I could not stop reading. I wanted to jump to the end of the book to see who had committed the crimes, but reading and following the investigation keep me guessing right to the end. Great book from beginning to end. There are some books that you know half way through the ending, but not this one.

A group of teenagers go camping, bringing the little sister of one of them. Following a wild night, they awake to find the sister is gone, setting off a frantic search that fails to bear fru. Thirty years later, the case is reopened when skeletal remains are discovered. Told from multiple perspectives, the story is revealed layer by layer, and the suspense builds relentlessly.

Thirty years ago, 14-year-old Aurora Jackson went on a camping trip with her older sister Topaz and several of Topaz’s friends. The next morning, Aurora was missing, and there were no strong leads on her location after the police investigation. When a body is found in the same location, DCI Jonah Sheens knows instinctively that it’s Aurora, and he and his team begin obsessively combing over old files and re-interviewing everyone even remotely connected with the case.

Having been at school with Aurora, Topaz, and the others, Jonah is driven to solve the mystery, although his personal involvement may surface during the investigation. Still, he forges ahead, and his team, unaware of his connection is also determined to find out what exactly happened to Aurora and who was responsible for her death.

This debut novel is a compelling read, keeping me involved through Jonah’s drive to learn everything about the others camping with Aurora, from the initial investigation to present day, while balancing his personal feelings about the case with his professional manner.