Enjoyable premise but slowed down and dragged during the later half. Will not be continuing the series. Writing was good, just not for me. I prefer stand alones.

Watching from the Dark started out quite intriguing and exciting, then slowed way down. This may be the second book in a series, but it isn’t necessary to read the first book to understand this one. Finishing this novel did not make me interested in the rest of the series.

I love the cover of this novel and the inside. "Watching from the Dark" is an suspenseful novel by Gytha Lodge. A page turner for sure.

Watching from the Dark (DCI Jonah Sheens #2) by Gytha Lodge, 352 pages. Random House, 2020. $27.
Language: R (91 swears, 26 “f” + British swears); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG13
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Zoe was the friend who took care of everyone else, putting her friends’ happiness above her own. So why would someone kill her? As DCI Sheens and his team take over the investigation of her murder, they discover that webs of deception are everywhere and everyone has something to hide.
I’m impressed with the skill it took for Lodge to mislead readers while still getting her characters to the correct answer. The ending was satisfying, though I felt that the story as a whole was slow moving. Both of these aspects could stem from how detailed Lodge is for every character and every scene, with the readers never knowing which parts are the important ones because every detail seems highlighted. While technically the second in a series, this book stands well alone; I only felt like I was missing a couple details about the personal lives of the investigators, and they were easy to brush over as irrelevant to the real story unfolding. The mature content rating is for alcohol use, innuendo, nudity, and mentions of sex. The violence rating is for blood, murder, and mentions of suicide.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

Solid book! Even without reading the first book in this series, I completely followed the plot. If not for his name in the title, I wouldn't placed Jonah as the primary character. Just something I found interesting. I do plan to read the next book as well.

Overall, it was a tidy little thriller that I did enjoy.

*Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for the free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I honestly didn't know this was not the first book or a standalone. That being said, I still really enjoyed it. The plot was pretty solid and the suspense kept me going. I think I will have to go back and read the first book cause I can't NOT complete series. I LOVE the cover! The colours and the peephole were equal parts beautiful and creepy.

Aidan is on Skype with his girlfriend Zoe when he hears the sounds of a struggle. He's concerned about Zoe, but his call to the police is cryptic. The police investigate and find Zoe has been killed. Their investigation leads to a unique group of people each connected to Zoe.

I do wish I had read the first book in the series before I read this one. I'm sure it can be read as a stand alone, but I like to have all the background in a series.

I really enjoyed the book nonetheless. It is a great thriller with a lot of action.

I loved the premise for this - I love when horror/thrillers interestingly use technology to enhance a mystery. I recommend it if you're looking for a quick, page-turning suspense read that is quite creepy.

Much better than the first book "She Lies in Wait". Opening chapter drew me in right away. The whole situation seemed "off" and I couldn't wait to find out more. There were so many red herrings sprinkled throughout the book and all the loose ends were tied up in the end. Thanks Netgalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.

I really liked this author and this book did not disappoint, it was an appropriately paced, page-turner that will have me hooked throughout the story.

Didn't know this was the second book in a series when I requested, which was fine and ultimately meaningless since I went back and read the first in the series and realized just how bland the detectives truly were.

A man waits for his girlfriend, Zoe, to hop on their regular Skype date. As he waits for her to get ready, he can view the room through the webcam. He sees someone enter the apartment, go out of frame, and leave again after a few minutes. Zoe never appears. He knows something is wrong.

Instead of going straight to the police, he places an anonymous call to them instead.

As the police investigate and interview her friends, family, and roommates, it becomes apparant that Zoe's recent interactions with them were far from normal.

There were a few twists and red herrings in this book. I enjoyed tagging along with Sheens as he investigated the different leads.

This was a great book and captured my attention from the beginning.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The story started strong and had an interesting premise. I really wanted to know what happened. The middle part of the story dragged for me though and I started to lose interest. The ending was worth the journey though. 3 star read.

Was excited that I received and advanced copy of this book for my honest review. It was very easy for me to figure out who the killer was early on in the book so for me there was no real shock value. I enjoyed reading this book and learning about the characters along the way. This book is easy to follow, even with all the back stories going on.


Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book.

Another day, another domestic thriller masquerading as a procedural.

I’ve been trying to get away from domestic thrillers of late (too much sensationalist ick, too many gross crimes against women that position the reader as gleeful voyeur), so I was happy to be getting back to Lodge’s series of procedurals. Though it was sad, I was eagerly anticipating the next installment of this series after a largely positive experience with She Lies in Wait.

Alas, this book veered much more into the domestic thriller category. Technically, it is still a procedural, but the vibe is much more in line with the domestic thrillers aimed at a female audience that I’ve come to dread.

Fortunately, this book doesn’t delve heavily into sex crimes, for which I was grateful, but it’s still centered around a creepy, manipulative man and the fact that his relationship with his mistress got her killed.

Lodge writes well in terms of pacing and and the solve (though disappointing to me) at least wasn’t cheap. Still, I was hoping for the standard procedural I was led to believe I was getting from Lodge, and instead encountered something very different.

This isn’t a bad book by any stretch, and if you like domestic thrillers, this is a better quality offering than many. In the end though, it’s a touch misleading about the genre it occupies and just wasn’t for me.

Watching From the Dark is the 2nd book in the DCI Jonah Sheens series - the 1st book is She Lies in Wait which I read and loved last year. This book was just as good as that first book which has me bumping this series to the top of my highly anticipating list! I love a good police procedural and I especially enjoy books like this that also take the time to develop their characters well! This book is actually told from two different viewpoints: one is the investigation into Zoe's death done by DCI Sheens and his team and the other storyline is Zoe's life and the events that led up to her murder. I really appreciated the fact that we were able to get to know Zoe's character so well with the way that the story was told. It almost made me sad though at the end because the loss of her life and her potential felt like such a waste. It's rare that an author is able to make me care so much about the murdered character but that's exactly what Lodge did with this book. I also really enjoyed the fact that we got to know DCI Sheens and his team a bit more. They all work together well and complement each other despite their differences. I'm eager to read more books in this series when they release because I really enjoy all of the characters so much. This book is a slow build which fit my reading mood perfectly. I am pretty sure that I suspected almost everyone involved at least once in Zoe's murder. The book kept me guessing until the end - and even the ending left me with a bit of surprise. This is both an author and series that has jumped to the top of my must read list!

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this book and am eagerly anticipating more books in this series! It's going to be a long wait for that 3rd book but I know that it will be entirely worth it. I'm so glad that I gave this author a try last year because I would have been missing out on this series otherwise. You definitely don't need to read the series in order as this one stands alone well - it just will add to the reading experience if you do choose to read both. I would recommend this book to fans of police procedurals, those who enjoy a good mystery, and those who enjoy suspenseful reads that keep you guessing until the end. I highly recommend!

Bottom Line: This author and series has jumped to my favorites list!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher and NetGalley. I ended up reading a copy from my local library. Honest thoughts are my own.

I didn't even realize this was part of a series until I went to write this review, the book works well as a stand alone story. This is a super creepy and suspenseful whodunit. Could you imagine seeing someone you love murdered via webcam? Intense right?! Loved this book and looking forward to the next one from Gytha Lodge.

2.5 stars rounded up. While I enjoyed parts of this book, I was overall a little disappointed. There were a few too many POVs, and the ending left me with a lot of questions and loose ends that weren’t properly tied up. Sometimes the plot felt a little unrealistic as well. I would try another book by this author though.

This book had great promise but to me fell short. I figured out who the killer was way early on and that just ruined it for me. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and just didn’t feel it like I should have. While I did finish it and thought it would have been a very good read if someone else would have been the killer that is just not what happened. It fell way short for me.

Not one of the characters seemed real to me. They all just seemed either way to weak, Angeline was way to clingy and seemed weak. I do understand that she would be upset over the loss of her friend but this was before that. When the story would go back to before Zoe was killed. Angeline depended on Zoe way to much and then seemed to be a person of interest later??? Maeve, I just didn’t like her for the same reason I didn’t like Zoe; dating a married man is just wrong. Wrong on way to many levels. None of the detectives did it for me and that was bad. I just could not seem to get into this book.

That being said, you may love it. Lots of others have. I won’t say it’s not for anyone because it just may be a great book for some readers. But in my opinion, if you like a good thriller and like figuring out who did it, this one is just not it. It was way to easy. But still, read for yourself. The author did do great with descriptions and scenery. Toward the end there was a scene with the killer and a DI that was intense and had me holding my breath. But I also knew he would be ok. Would not be killed. There was no reason for it. It would have been better if the killer would have taken their own life though. That may have made me like it better. Also taken their partner’s life too. Since it was partly the partner’s fault what happened.

For someone to not even call the cops and scream at them that they believe someone they are suppose to care about may have been hurt bad is beyond my comprehension. To do that because you might get in trouble is just cold. This person was unfeeling and to me very unlikable and a jerk. He knew someone had entered the apartment. But then again, he had things to hide didn’t he??? That part when it came out was good. There are good and bad in this book. Read it and decide for yourself.

Thank you to #NetGalley, #RandomHousePublishers, #GythaLodge for this ARC. This is my own review.

I gave it 3 stars. I didn’t really enjoy it but I do recommend you read it for yourself and decide. It could just be that I read lots of this type of book and expect more.

I loved this book!! Great story!! 1st book I have read by this author!! Might read more of her books!! Received this book from random house publishing from netgally!!