Thirty years ago 7 teenagers went on a camping trip in the woods and 14 year old Aurora Jackson disappeared, until her body turned up in the prologue of this book. If you read a lot of thrillers, or just look at their blurbs, you know that whenever a group of teenagers gets together someone winds up dead and the rest of the kids keep their secrets for decades. I think I read at least two books with this plot last year. This trope is not improved by repetition, and unless the author puts some creative twist on it the book just falls flat for me. Unfortunately, that was the case with this book. It wasn’t bad, but I felt like I had read it before.

I understand why authors follow this formula. It gives the police a closed loop of suspects who they can question repeatedly. The police heard a lot of revelations about sex and drugs. I gather that this book is to be the start of a new police procedural series featuring DCI Jonah Sheens. Having introduced him in this book, I hope that the next one contains less about his troubled childhood. I also don’t want to know any more about DC Juliette Hanson’s abusive ex boyfriend. It took the entire book for her to figure out that she could block his phone number, and do they not have restraining orders in England? This book was not terribly original but the writing showed enough promise that I might try the author’s next book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

We all know that I love a suspenseful read! Winter is the best time to pick up a thriller and to try to reason out who the killer is. I was a bit worried that this one might really bother me since the victim is a teen, but I was okay as it was certainly troubling/disturbing/sad but not overly graphic. (see tags for possible triggers)
A great read while cuddled up in bed!
Thank you for my review e-copy!

(full review at drbethnolan.com)

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for me.

I read some other reviews and did not think this was a rip off of Final Girls or Last Time I Lied. The only similarities I found would be: a good portion of the setting takes place in the woods, and the alternating time lines.

I loved the 1980s portion of the book with the group of friends and Aurora. I also did not guess the killer and didn’t find the story predictable. The story started slow for me, but picked up around the 30 percent mark and kept my attention until the end.

I did not enjoy the police procedural parts of the book. Which unfortunately did make up a good portion of the book which did bring my rating down to a 3.5.

Overall this was a solid read and I would recommend this book to others.

EXCELLENT CRIME MYSTERY!

WOW! I loved this book! This story captivated my attention from
page one and commanded.my attention until the last word on the final page. Now that is a feat not many books can achieve to that degree.

The book revolves around a tightly knit group of six friends from young teenagers in the year 1983 until the present thirty years later. There is another member of the group and they are the focus of this wonderful crime, mystery drama and who has their own unique story to tell and a character that I will long remember.

The story also delves deeply into the police department and detectives who are handling a possible murder, sexual promiscuity and drug activity that may have taken place in 1983. This story is so well-written that I can't wait to read another novel by Gytha Lodge!

I could not stop reading this book wanting to know.what each character was thinking and doing in the past and the present. This author had every transition from past to present flow so smoothly that I couldn't wait to fervently read each chapter which would keep going back and forth with such exquisite storytelling. I just loved this book and want to read more that are this on this level.

Well Done Gytha Lodge!

I want to thank Netgally and Random house Group Publishing for.the.opportunity.to read this ARC and.I have given my honest and unbiased opinion.

I highly recommend.this excellent book and have.given a rating of 5 Excellent 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars!!

Thirty years after going missing while on a camping trip with five other teenagers, a young girl’s body is discovered buried with a drug cache. What was a decades-old missing persons case has turned into a murder investigation in Gytha Lodge’s She Lies in Wait.

The story is told in alternating timelines, following the current investigation and revisiting the events that happened to each of the 6 teenagers during the camping trip. The problem with alternating timelines is they often disrupt continuity in narratives and it does so here. Jumping back and forth in time between so many characters made it hard for the story to gain any momentum.

Unfortunately, besides the victim in She Lies in Wait (digital galley, Random House), it was difficult to become invested in any one character and the resolution to the mystery, when it came, felt anticlimactic.

Random House and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of She Lies in Wait. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

30 years after Aurora Jackson disappeared from a camping trip with her sister and her group of friends, the case unexpectedly gets new life as evidence is uncovered. DCI Jonah Sheens is put in charge, despite having gone to school with the group. When the investigation takes a drastic turn, will the past have a way of catching up with Jonah and the ill-fated group?

She Lies in Wait is a good mystery suspense novel, with twists and turns provided by the 30 year old mystery of Aurora's disappearance and the police investigation that follows. The truth of what happened that night is parceled out in sections that are weaved throughout the book, heightening the suspense. I like how the investigation unfolds naturally, with the police uncovering new details and dismissing those that are not relevant. The biggest problem that I had with the novel was the sheer number of characters, who all had their own troubles. The other issue that bothered me was regarding DC Juliette Hanson. The inclusion of her personal story did nothing to enhance the plot and served mainly as a distraction.

Overall, She Lies in Wait was a successful debut novel with a good mystery premise and a strong investigative thread running throughout. I would recommend this novel to readers who like mystery suspense and police procedural thrillers.

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.