I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Before I read a book by an author I don't know, I normally read on Amazon about other readers' opinions of his work. I read that this book has a animal abuse scene in it (small dog), and unfortunately I am vehemently against that, and will not even attempt this book.
Hopefully his next book I try will be more to my taste.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Where She Lies by Michael Scanlon.

Detective Beck, a recently demoted cop with an alcohol problem, has just been sent to a small Irish town as his punishment. Doomed to a life of boredom, Beck instantly perks up with a young teen girl has been found murdered.

But nothing about this murder is cut and dry, and the more Beck digs, the more he learns that everyone has something to hide. He'll have to put his cop skills to good use, that it, if he can stay off of the sauce.

This was....fine. As someone who reads cop dramas as bedtime stories every night, this was pretty forgettable as suspense novels go. I was never super invested really, in any of it. It's an quick and easy paperback read while you're sitting in your car to pick up the kids.

This book was AMAZING and kept me guessing for so long. I love when mystery thrillers do this and I think I found a new favourite mystery/thriller author out of it.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author, Michael Scanlon, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of Where She Lies in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
Such a well written storyline. The characters were well drawn and realistic. The intensity of the story keeps your attention. Would definitely read this author again.
Worth a read.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast-paced and the action just kept coming. I've not read anything from the author before but I'll definitely look out for more as I enjoyed the writing style and the plot, both of which kept me gripped throughout.

This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start . I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.

A thrilling read which kept me turning the pages, characters you care for and just brilliantly written. Great novel!!

Where She Lies, previously entitled The Quiet Hours, is the first book in the DS Finnegan Beck series.

DS Beck has been demoted from his Supervisor position in Dublin and relocated in disgrace to a very small Irish town, where he mainly wants to drink and try to sleep without the nightmares. His supervisors have no respect for him, but Beck is the police officer in charge and when a teenage girl is found in the woods, strangled to death, it is up to him to locate the killer.

He's learning that living in a small town means that almost everyone knows the other, and they all have secrets and things to hide.

But this isn't the only body that will be discovered....

One small town. One crazed killer. One devastating secret.

This is a debut novel filled with memorable characters. Beck may be flawed, but he's a brilliant detective who is like a bull dog when it comes to finding justice for the victims. it's well written, nicely paced, with lots of action.

Many thanks to the author / Bookouture / Netgalley for the digital copy of this crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Beck is a police officer with a past. He had been demoted and forced to move stations but the reasons for this are not shared with the reader until the second half of the book. He has also ended a relationship with a married woman. He has to negotiate new relationships with his new colleagues whilst disciplinary procedures make him wonder if he should stay in the police.
A teenager is murdered and Beck is on the team investigating. Will his antagonistic relationship with his senior officer help or hinder the hunt tor the killer?
There are plenty of secrets and red herrings to keep the reader guessing throughout the book. Many of the characters are hiding something but are they involved in murder…?
I really enjoyed this book. The style of writing is easy to read and get hooked! Beck is a great lead character and I liked the way he interacted with his colleagues and friends. I can easily imagine this being made into a TV show.
I felt that the ending was a little rushed (although this could have been because I was enjoying it and didn’t want it to end!) and would have liked a greater insight into the killer’s motives. We saw some chapters written from his perspective and I think this should have been expanded. I liked the use of a newspaper report at the end to draw the case and the book to a conclusion.

This is a gripping book. This is the first book in the series
This book pulls you in from the beginning to the end.
The story flows smoothly.

Where She Lies is the first book in a new series by Michael Scanlon. Released 8th Feb 2019 by Bookouture, it's 327 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. Alternate title: The Quiet Hours .

I've been on an Irish crime kick lately. There are a number of really rewarding modern procedurals set in Ireland the last few years and this is a promising debut to join the genre. This book's not just a modern procedural murder mystery set in Ireland with a tortured male lead character who drinks and smokes too much and has entanglements with the opposite sex that leave him unfulfilled. It is all those things, yes, but where it could just have easily just devolved into whiny pathos, it is very well written with clearly defined characters who obey internal motivation and aren't two dimensional cardboard cutouts. Even the secondary and tertiary characters are meticulously drawn. The dialogue is very well written and never clunky. I was happy to see that the dialogue never devolved into the over-the-top rendering of accents and slang that a lot of regional authors fall prey to - it flows naturally and smoothly.

This is not a cozy mystery. It's a modern murder procedural and there is a fair bit of graphic violence. A couple of scenes in particular were gruesome (but not gratuitous in any way). The language is rough, but not unduly so. There is tangential dialogue concerning non-consensual sex, but not directly related to the plot action. There is drug use scattered throughout the book, and discussions of sexual encounters with underaged females (not a spoiler, the first mention is literally in the prologue).

Very well written, exciting and it moves along at a good clip. The climax and denouement were good and 'within the rules of the game'. I did not pick out the murderer within the first 25% of the book.

Four stars, I will definitely be sticking with the author and eagerly await more stories.

Oooh, another debut for me! And this one is the beginning of a new series, so that's exciting.

I think this might be the first book I've read that features the Irish police force, which really interested me. And Finnegan Beck is a fabulous character.

When we meet Beck, he's been demoted and moved from Dublin to the small, seemingly quiet, town of Cross Beg. Initially, we don't know anything about what caused the demotion, but we do know Beck's not happy about the move to Cross Beg, and determined just to keep his head down, keep under the radar, until everything is sorted out.

However, we soon discover Beck's not really one to keep his head down or even follow the rules. When the body of a teenage girl is found, Beck discovers that Cross Beg is maybe not as dull as he initially thought, and may also hold its own secrets.

Finnegan Beck is a great character with a great name! Although we don't know much about his past, we see that he's a man who is determined to discover the truth, even when it makes him unpopular. It would seem that he hasn't had a romantic relationship recently, and his tentative steps towards one here really don't go to plan. Beck also has his own demons to battle. Claire, his partner in the police force, is also brilliant, very down to earth, with a no nonsense attitude. She's a great partner for Beck - just what he needs.

The pace of the story is spot on. It hooks you in from the beginning, and keeps you turning the pages until the end. There are plenty of colourful characters and lots going on throughout. The plot builds up to a fantastic ending which I really didn't see coming.

I really enjoyed this book and found the writing style easy and entertaining, and Beck was a very engaging character, which is testament to Michael 's writing. I can't wait to see what he, and Beck, get up to next!

A new series set in a small Irish town. This was a fast read and very compelling. Everyone is a shifty liar so who to believe? This was solid!

#NetGalley #Bookouture #Where She Lies

A Irish thriller with a storyline full of twists and great characters. Looking forward to more in this series.

First in a new series featuring a policeman who has received a demotion and transfer to the scene of this story. Michael Scanlon has spent the time to build his main character into someone we can all recognize and have plenty of questions about. He uses this first story line to set us into the life of a small town police force where not everyone is trusted or even liked. Setting the back story lets us see the events as they unfold but leaves plenty of room for the characters to grow as the series progresses. It's obvious he has spent considerable time with these characters before he launched them to the readers.
A small town in Ireland, where nothing ever happens is our main character's reward for his prior bad actions. Of course, as soon as he gets to town, something happens. A young woman is murdered, then a few days alter another murder. Our disgraced policeman finds himself having to dig through everyone's secrets and dirty laundry to find the clues necessary to catch the killer. Along the way, he finds himself learning way too much about the towns people he must now interact with everyday.
The author has given us a great story and a great introduction to these characters.

The beginning of a new murder series set in Galway, Ireland. This has all the right stuff: locale, smart, but troubled detective, a little police corruption and witty dialog to boot.

Sargent Finnegan Beck has been demoted and transferred from Dublin to the quiet backwater of Cross Beg. Well, quiet until Beck arrives. That's when the Murders start.

This was a slow start for me, but picked up as I stuck with it. I really like Inspector Finnegan Beck, he's smart with a little bit of the bad boy mixed in. I see this as potentially the foundation of a fun series. I do hope however that the author will lay off the animal mutilations. Not my cup of tea and really took away from the story to my way of thinking.

This story definitely had me gripped and there were some major unexpected twists! I thought I’d sussed out who the killer was so many times throughout the book but was so wrong…..and still didn’t predict it right up to the end!

We go along with Beck on his investigation, and what an investigation it is! There are so many people with secrets that they’re trying to keep hidden, but they should all be watching their backs…..there’s a killer on the loose and he’s got a list of people that need to be sorted out!

Beck is an interesting character, with his own past. Although he can do his job well he is pretty dysfunctional and has his own issues he should be dealing with.

There are some gory parts in the this book so be warned! If you’re a fan of twisty, crime thrillers then you should definitely check this out. I’m looking forward to reading more about Beck in the future 🙂

A new crime series set in Ireland. A police procedural you can really get your teeth into. Detective Finnegan Beck has been demoted and moved out into the sticks. Beck has a new partner, Claire Somers who is not too impressed with what she has been given. The body of a young girl is found in the woods, then two days later the man who found the body is dragged from the river. So many secrets, lies, plots within plots and more twists and turns than a stick of twisty barley sugar. An excellent crime thriller, loved the main character and can't wait to read how he evolves. Think that this is going to be another must read series that is exciting and addictive. Almost five stars.
I would like to thank the author, Bookouture and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for giving an honest review.