I can't get enough of books that jump between time periods to slowly give a reader little bits of information to piece together. She Lies in Wait fits right into that niche of suspense novels that I love. I'm looking forward to more in this series.

Summary from Goodreads:

"On a scorching July night in 1983, a group of teenagers goes camping in the forest. Bright and brilliant, they are destined for great things, and the youngest of the group—Aurora Jackson—is delighted to be allowed to tag along. The evening starts like any other—they drink, they dance, they fight, they kiss. Some of them slip off into the woods in pairs, others are left jealous and heartbroken. But by morning, Aurora has disappeared. Her friends claim that she was safe the last time they saw her, right before she went to sleep. An exhaustive investigation is launched, but no trace of the teenager is ever found.

Thirty years later, Aurora’s body is unearthed in a hideaway that only the six friends knew about, and Jonah Sheens is put in charge of solving the long-cold case. Back in 1983, as a young cop in their small town, he had known the teenagers—including Aurora—personally, even before taking part in the search. Now he’s determined to finally get to the truth of what happened that night. Sheens’s investigation brings the members of the camping party back to the forest, where they will be confronted once again with the events that left one of them dead, and all of them profoundly changed forever."

My Thoughts:

She Lies in Wait was one of my most anticipated mysteries of 2019! I read that summary and just knew that I had to get my hands on this book as soon as possible. There is just something that I can't get enough of about books that feature unsolved mysteries and investigations in the present. There are one of my readerly catnips I guess you could say (I'm well aware that's not really a thing but it fits). And because of all of this, I just immersed myself within the pages of this book. I think I said this on Instagram when I was talking about this book but it is a book where the tension and suspense slowly build page by page. The author did a really great job of keeping me guessing throughout the book. There were times that I thought I had it figured out only to realize a couple of chapters later that I was no longer sure. And this takes some talent in my opinion because there are a limited number of suspects considering the setup of the book which has Aurora disappearing after going camping with her sister and five of her sister's friends. I honestly just let the author take me on a ride with this book and enjoyed every minute of it! I also really enjoyed that in this book there are two separate storylines that the book flips between. One is the present investigation which is being conducted by Jonah Sheen and his team of officers. The second storyline is pieces of what actually happened the night Aurora went missing. The author ties these two storylines together beautifully and in a way that left me eager to read more! I'm so excited that this is the beginning of a new mystery series because I can't wait to read more books featuring Jonah Sheen!

Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book immensely and can't say enough good things about it! It's an atmospheric read that kept me guessing the entire time. It's one that I didn't rush through but just enjoyed throughout. I will be looking forward to the next book in this series for sure! If you are a mystery lover like I am, then I can recommend this one without hesitation. I did see a review somewhere that complained that it was a bit on the slower side - but I would disagree there. I think if you are expecting a thriller then sure, I could see that. But this is a mystery and I felt like the author did a beautiful job with the pacing. She wrapped me up in both storylines with ease until I just had to see how it would all end. Highly recommended on my side of things!

Bottom Line: A suspenseful mystery that kept me guessing and turning the pages!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.

She Lies in Wait is an interesting read that surrounds six friends who went camping one night and made the decision to include Topaz's sister Aurora, even though she was younger than the rest of the group. After a night of dancing, drinking, and drugs, the group wakes up to find Aurora missing. She is never found, and no one knows the truth of what happened to her. Or do they? Thirty years later, Aurora's body is found inside a crevice along with a can full of drugs. It takes a group of four police officers to finally get answers and figure out what truly happened. I really enjoyed this! It kept me on the edge of my seat and I kept questioning who I thought had done it. It was also interesting to read the way dynamics in a group friendship can change, and those who are willing to cover for others in the name of that friendship.

Unfortunately, this was a fairly formulaic procedural, and it didn't really hold my interest. The writing is pleasant to read, so this is likely a good bet for fans of British police procedurals—simply a matter of preference.

I'm middle of the road on this one. Detective series-type stories aren't usually my bag, and I didn't realize this was going to be that kind of story until after I started reading this. The writing was good, the story was interesting, but it was fairly predictable. This book isn't one I'd necessarily recommend to hardcore readers unless they are big in the mystery genre.

Ok, so, I'm going to begin by saying: ALL THE TRIGGER WARNINGS. If things like missing women, drugs, murder, rape etc. are something that you are sensitive to reading about, this is probably not the book for you as those are the main themes of this book.

Overall this book was pretty good. It held my interest immediately from page one. I really enjoyed the alternating 30 year view points. The back and forth in the time line really helped keep me engaged.

Aurora tags along with her older sister on a camping trip with her sister's friends. Her death will take 30 years to solve.
Although I really enjoyed this book, I found it difficult to follow at times. There were many characters, who were referred to by different names at times, which I found confusing. For instance, the newbie detective - Hanson - is referred to as such for the first quarter of the book. Suddenly she’s referred to as Juliette, which made me think “who in the heck is Juliette?” Same thing with a few of the others, one is referred to by his nickname “Benners” for a large part of the book, then its suddenly Daniel or Benham. Very confusing, especially since there were so many characters, and this was done with most of them.
There is also a subplot with the newbie detective and her abusive stalker ex-boyfriend, there doesn't seem to be a point to it. This part of the story goes nowhere, so I’m not really sure why it was even included, unless it’s a starting point for the next book in the series.
All in all, good mystery that did keep me guessing, just sometimes I was guessing about which character was being referred to!

A decades old disappearance brings the case back into the spotlight when the body is discovered. Secrets, deception, lies, and the search for the truth made this debut mystery by Gytha Lodge a gripping mystery that I couldn’t put down! I really enjoyed this book - the premise was great! I loved the differing timelines from 1983 to present time - it really made for a great way for the story to unfold!

An absolute page turner! Fantastic Mystery book. I highly recommend this book. Looking forward to seeing more from this author.

I enjoyed this novel but I did find it to be a little predictable. I am a fan of multiple viewpoints/timeframes, however, and liked that aspect of the book! I like when past and present meet up and it just ‘clicks’! I would definitely call this an ‘easy’ mystery read,l.

3.5 Stars.

This book is a slow burn. Told with alternating timelines, this book unfolds past to present and back again. The present specifically is a straightforward police procedural, similar to books by Tana French. It's a well done story, though at times, falls a little flat in the pacing and character development. Despite these "flaws" (if you can call them flaws), I think this series will ultimately be an engaging one.

She Lies In Wait is the first novel in a (probable) British based series featuring DCI Jonah Sheens and his squad. Though the writing is more than a bit choppy at times when switching perspectives, and the mystery, centered around the reopening of a cold case invoving the death of a teenage girl, doesn't offer anything new in the terms of plot, Jonah and his team, especially newcomer DS Hanson, are given just enough backstory to hint at more story lines for them in future installments.

The case that She Lies in Wait focuses on is this: In 1983, six teens went camping but one disappeared, fourteen year old Aurora, naive, beautiful and smart (of course) who came on the trip with her older sister Topaz (who didn't want her there (of course), and Topaz's friends Jojo, Connor, Coralie, and golden boy Brett. Aurora's death was investigated, but her body was never found. When it is, the case is reopened as a homicide.

Which of the remaining five killed Aurora? Or was it someone else? And what connections does Jonah have to the case other than that it was one of the first he worked on?

Aurora narrates the sections around the time of her death, and the remainder move back and forth between the now grown teens, Jonah, and his team. As I mentioned, there's some choppiness--there are multiple narrator changes, and some of them seem to exist just to give various members of Jonah's team a bit of context, or to put out depth/emotion/etc. that buckles under the weight of trying to make the reader care and/or move the plot along.

Fewer narrative viewpoints, a fresher plot, an stronger writing would have made She Lies in Wait a more engaging read. Still, there was enough to keep me reading until the end, but I wouldn't return to the series until the writing is better and the cases more interesting.

As a standalone, this doesn't work at all which means it's really only for die hard fans of British based procedurals who are interested in starting a new series.

This’s a very exciting, fast paced thriller! It is based in England and I love reading books with British slang words. I have never read this author but I’m certainly going to be reading another book they write! Great job!

She Lies in Wait was one of the best murder mystery novels I have read in a really long time. The plot kept twisting tighter and tighter and tighter until finally a thread broke, and it all unraveled at the end. What an exciting ride! There were clues all along that pointed to the outcome but of course I didn't see them until the very end. This makes for a great story because it gives the reader a surprise ending and keeps one in suspense the while reading. I absolutely loved this book and would happily read another by this author.

First thing I did when I woke up this morning was reach for this book. Not that I need a new series to dive in, but this one sounded too good to pass up. My favorite police procedurals are the cold case ones and this involved a thirty year old disappearance of a teenage girl and the suspects in her murder were all teens themselves. But when Aurora Jackson's remains are discovered by a family on a camping weekend, DCI Jonah Sheens and his team soon learn that there might be someone in the group that needs to start talking.

Despite the desire for a bit of a darker more sinister investigation and a little less obvious killer, I read this book in one sitting and I am now looking forward to where our characters might be headed next.

This book was heartbreaking, but also so thrilling! The police procedurals were a little hard to sift through, but I found myself so invested in each character. So many twists and turns, and it is a book that I will be thinking about for a long time!

I will start off by saying this book is LONG. Some aspects of it seemed forced, and I was left with a few unanswered questions. I do see that this will be a series so maybe it might go back to some of it. That all being said I did enjoy this, especially the last quarter of it. I could not put it down! I was left guessing right until the end. As soon as you thought you had it figured out they would send you in a different direction. Very well done for a debut!

Good one! I thought I had it figured out pretty early on, but there were enough red herrings to keep me guessing. I liked the detectives and would definitely read more in this series to find out what is going on with their lives. Would recommend. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Great thriller that keeps readers guessing as to what happened. A decades old crime gets reopened when the body of a missing girl is found. Highly recommend!

See - THIS is why I don't go camping. Terrible things always happen! First in the series, so a solid start, albeit a bit predictable. I'll try another in the series.