Excellent mystery with both psychological thriller and police-procedural elements. Gemma is a police inspector in a small Australian town. She is shocked when a high school classmate is found dead. Her relationship with Rosalind was complicated, and Rosalind's life after graduation a puzzle. Highly recommended.

This story, THE DARK LAKE, by Sarah Bailey, had me puzzled. When I first began reading it, I thought I knew right away who committed the crime, but as I delved deeper into the story, the mystery developed even more. That is what made this story so fascinating. This made me want to read further, so I delved even deeper into the story as the characters seemed to come to life with every page I read. I needed to know, was Rosalind killed because of her inheritance, or could something else be looming in the shadows? Could she have had a dark past? If so, why all the secrecy? Could it have been a crime of passion? Could revenge be the answer? Even the title made the story more mystifying.
The day Rosalind was found the story picked up speed and became more involved. Will Detective Woodstock be able to solve the crime, or become the next victim? Sounds like a sticky situation for anyone to be caught up in. An excellent read!!

I enjoyed this book. I wanted to give it 5 stars, but I keep hoping the characters would become more fleshed out, especially Roseland. I didn't feel there was enough info on her. I was left with questions. Book is slightly gritty and dark, but it's real life and makes you think about how selfish decisions can really hurt other people that you love. Story is intriguing and keeps the pages turning.

My rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)
These are the type of mysteries I love to read!

An enigmatic, young high-school teacher is found dead in a lake in a small town in Australia. The case is assigned to Detective Gemma Woodstock who attended high school with the victim and who has an entangled past with her. This is where the story begins and slowly what happened is revealed.

This psychological thriller is narrated -mainly- from the point of view of Gemma but also in smaller degrees from other characters. Gemma is a flawed human with very good detective instincts and the timeline alternates between the present and flashbacks.

The setting is well constructed, it takes place around Christmas time in the sizzling, hot Aussie summers. For those of us who live well-above the equator Christmas time is associated with cold winters and the author's descriptions kept reminding me of the different setting, I felt I was there and loved it.

The book has about 440 pages and at some points I felt it was longer than it should be, some paragraphs or chapters could have been left out, but this is my personal taste as I have a preference for shorter books.

Overall I enjoyed this thriller and recommend it to all those who love a good mystery. The author is working on the sequel to this book and I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Bailey, and the publisher Allen & Unwin for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.

The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey wasn't awful but it wasn't fantastic either. The premise was a pretty typical crime drama with moments of intrigue but overall, it just didn't grab me. There was a lot happening that seemed entirely unrelated to the main plot that didn't really enhance the story. As much as I appreciate backstory on characters, I felt like it could have been done better or different to help with the flow of the overall story instead of just a flashback.
Overall, there were some good points but it's not really one that I'd read again.

This book was all I hoped for and more. I highly recommend this book to everyone. Loved the writing, loved the characters and loved the story.

I love thrillers, but a lot of thrillers I've read lately have been pretty predictable. The Dark Lake had me completely confused until I was 90% done with the book! I had no clue who the killer was. Oh, I had vague guesses and crazy guesses, but they were just guesses. I love not knowing....having to guess....finding the clues along with the detectives.

I loved and hated the characters in this book at the same time. They are so perfectly flawed. You can't help but see yourself in at least one of them...and that might be the moment you hate them....but then you love them again because you forgive them for their flaws.

When I saw that this was the debut book of Sarah Bailey, I was even more impressed with this amazing story. It is so beautifully written with so much depth. It moves at a perfect pace and like I said, it keeps you guessing throughout. I cannot wait for another book from the author!

NetGalley provided a prepublication copy of this book for my honest review. I am grateful for the book and for the opportunity to give a review because the book contains a great mystery. The moral of the book, and perhaps life, is that all actions have consequences. This delightful debut mystery gives us example after example about dysfunctional families and dysfunctional people, chief among them is the lead character, Detective Gemma Woodstock. Woodstock has remained in her home town and now is the lead detective trying to solve the murder of her high school rival (or at least a rival in her mind). There are so many twists and turns that the reader must remain alert to know the time period and the various characters.

This is a complex mystery with many valid suspects. It flows well and there are great character descriptions. The only flaw is Gemma’s constant and continuing fixation on romance – sometimes going back a decade, then to her partner at work, then the partner at home who is the father of her young son. The author could easily pull out those parts and create a romance novel. And all of Gemma’s wandering romantic thoughts do not contribute to the mystery or its solve. Just skip them if you wish because they don’t matter.
Nonetheless, this is a great mystery read and it will keep the reader alert to hints and various clues. There are some very misleading sections which I loved – for example, near the beginning of the book who is in the morgue with the dead woman telling her all the secrets from decades ago? And then in chapter two Gemma thinks, “Somehow I always knew that something like this would happen,” So many wrong turns for the reader but well done, because this reader kept making those wrong turns. We really do not get the solve until the very end. A great debut – I look forward to more books by this author.

A gripping tale of humanity on display. The good, the bad, the sordid, the secrets. A young, beautiful, school teacher, adored by many, is murdered. Teaching in the same school she attended as a student, and now her death is being investigated by a former classmate. The investigator, in a perpetual uphill climb, a female in a man’s world and having an affair with the older investigator she is teamed up with, he married, she in a living arrangement with the father of her child. Harangued by the male detectives, hounded by the news, and battling her own demons with mental flashbacks of a former lover and the deceased teacher, the plot intensifies. Descriptions of the characters, the Australian landscape and weather leaves this reader feeling like the proverbial fly on the wall. Flitting from scene to scene, watching the story unfold. There is a deeply personal and emotional pall within the sentences that make up this story, as if it were a fact-based narrative of the author’s experience. Truly great writing and an exceptional reading experience. I give a five star plus rating and please know there is no bias, I am of no relation or have any knowledge of this author.

Some review copies are read through obligation. Others, like this, are the reason to request review copies in the first place - it sucked me right in.
Gemma Woodstock is a police detective in a small Australian town. A girl she knew at school is murdered; a girl she had admired from a distance, the girl who embodied all her teenage aspirations.
It sounds much more simple than it actually is. Sarah Bailey has crafted an intricate story here, one which really sticks out in a crowded genre.
Aside from the central mystery, Gemma has her own issues to deal with, and I found her journey just as interesting. She lost two big figures in her life early on, and the repercussions have clearly echoed until she finds herself living a life she's disconnected from.
A great debut, and I'll be looking forward to more from this author.
I received a free copy of this novel in return for an honest review

I started seeing a bunch of buzz about this on social media and some of the book blogs I follow so I became vastly curious to see if it actually lived up to the hype particularly as the author was being compared to Gillian Flynn and Paula Hawkins two of my favorite mystery writers.

Bailey has created an interesting yet flawed character in Gemma which helps as this novel is mostly from her point of view; there’s few things worse than hating the main character with an otherwise intriguing storyline wrapped around them. Gemma isn’t perfect and you may have moments when you’d like to shake her but her humanity does shine through enough you can still feel some sympathy for her. The way Bailey intersperse her backstory really helped bring the story alive and make various points seem more meaningful. The way she occasionally provides you the point of view from a different character added a cool balance but also kept you on your toes so it didn’t get too predictable.

The melancholy feel certainly adds to the suspenseful setting as you try to figure out where Bailey is leading you. I can definitely understand the comparisons to some of the best female suspense authors of our day right now and it’s one of the better debuts I’ve read so I’ll be looking out for her next one.

Absolutely loved this book. A great Australian read.

I was really getting frustrated with this book, it seem to add to the plot something new, or a side story longer I read. I was beginning to wonder what was going to happen that would tie all of the events and information together. I even felt at point her affair completely muddied the water to distraction. I really didn't like Gemma very much and I tried, honestly. So with all of the negative out of the way, I enjoyed it overall. The plot was complex enough to have me second guessing my initial suspect, but in the end I had it figured out when her son was kidnapped. Interesting, suspenseful, and a great read.

The writing of this mystery/detective story is excellent, but in some ways I think it’s a better women’s fiction novel than a mystery.

One of the lead detectives on the case is twenty-eight-year-old Gemma Woodstock. The victim went to her high school—the mysterious and beautiful Rosalind Ryan, who came back to the small town of Smithson to be a teacher. It’s not surprising that Gemma knew her—she knows most of the people in Smithson.

Author Sarah Bailey did an excellent job creating a complex character in Gem. Sometimes when I read a novel I get the idea that the author sat there and brainstormed, “How can I make my main character complex and flawed?” Gem’s layered history flows naturally over the course of the novel.

The reason I think it stumbled a bit as a mystery/detective story was that some of the clues and findings were left just dangling and I was slightly disappointed in the ending—although right up until that point, the writing and story and characters were excellent.

The first chapter grabs you like a drowning victim, pulls you in, and never lets go. This is a very impressive debut thriller from Sarah Bailey.

Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is having a bad morning, but it becomes much worse when she catches a case that involves someone she has a past personal connection with. She should probably recuse herself from the case, but Gemma feels a strong sense of obligation to the victim that she once knew, not to mention a morbid curiosity about the details of the deceased's life.

Gemma and her partner, Detective Sergeant Felix McKinnon, work well together. The sexual tension between them is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Their investigation uncovers bizarre circumstances surrounding the victim and the murder, and numerous pieces that don't seem to fit together like they should. The list of suspects grows with each new piece of information they discover. There are a few twists and roadblocks along the way that keep you guessing. Then suddenly Gemma and her family become the target and she stops at nothing to uncover what's really going on. She must navigate some dangerous waters and uncomfortable territory in her desperate search for the truth.

Character development is key in this novel, and the author does a great job with most of the characters, especially Gemma. It seems everyone in town has a past and secrets to hide. We learn much about Gemma through periodic flashbacks to her high school days. The joy and pain she has experienced in her life. The events that have shaped her thoughts and actions, and why she sometimes seems like she's one step away from a total meltdown. All unanswered questions are nicely wrapped up in the end. The conclusion will have you thinking and talking about it long after you turn the final page.

I recommend this book to fans of thrillers, suspense, and mysteries. I received this as a free ARC from Grand Central Publishing on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gemma Woodstock is detective inspector in her small British hometown. When one of her former class mates is murdered, Gemma takes on the case, even though her connection to the victim is closer than she lets on. Gemma is complicated, but sympathetic and the victim, Rosalind is mysterious and captivating. Gemma soon learns that her past with Rosalind might have played a role in her death, making Gemma both anxious to find the killer and scared of who it might turn out to be. She also realizes how much her own past is affecting her decisions in the present. Bailey does a great jobs of planting false leads to keep the reader guessing. Good, satisfying read.

The Dark Lake is the debut novel of Melbourne-based author, Sarah Bailey, and it delivered on intrigue and pathos, and the harsh realities of grief.

Local teacher, Rosalind Ryan, is found murdered, her body floating in a lake. Local Detective Sergeant, Gemma Woodstock, is assigned the case despite having attended high school with the victim, and the case is an interesting blend of personal and impersonal for her as she tries to unravel who killed Rosalind and why.

The majority of the story is told from Gemma’s perspective - with small minor character interludes that, while not strictly necessary, did provide additional insight and clues into the case - and she is an interesting woman: a dedicated - to the point of obsession - police officer, a mother, a partner, vulnerable and ambitious, and consistently stuck between decisions she doesn’t want to make and the reality of her past. There are times when she is quite unlikeable - which works perfectly for the story being told, because all of her decisions are based on her own self-interests and are very telling of who she is and where she is currently at in both her personal and professional lives.

Set in Summer, The Dark Lake has the same hot, claustrophobic feel about it, especially as the town approaches Christmas with the unsolved murder hanging over it. There’s internal and external pressures exuding forces of Gemma to solve the case to the point where it begins to take over her life and we, as readers, begin to question her objectivity.

This was a solid debut novel and a great crime book, with a victim who is so complex and mysterious that I began to question if she was actually the victim at all.

Gemma has become lead investigator of the Homicide division in her small town of Smithson through sheer grit and hard work. Being a woman detective has never been easy and earning her stripes was hard. She is determined to do the best she is capable of and she is capable of doing much. Her boss knows and trusts her with this latest assignment.

A young teacher, much liked by students and peers is found murdered and her body floats on the nearby lake. Surrounded by red roses the find is a macabre one for this town where incidents of minor robberies or a domestic violence issue is the most that the cops have to face. Is it a random killing or something more. The whole town is on edge and the Chief wants it done and dusted asap.

Nothing is what it seems like and delving into the history of the girl's family unearths a complicated background which had been hidden until now. The teacher herself though popular, is someone whom no one actually knew very well and her personal history alone is skimpy with no apparent clues as to how she lived, who her friends were and what her future plans were.

Unraveling the mystery among Gemma's own personal turmoil of partner, son and lover all clashing in the midst of an investigation was going to be an upheaval of its own. Balancing the personal with her career Gemma has to come to a decision on her personal life as well.

The story with its surprising twists and turns was told in a time line day by day which heightened the tension of the story. One knew a climax of some sort was coming which added to the interest of the story.

The setting of a small town four hours away from the nearest big city of Sydney was also descriptive and I did like how the weather in this area affected the tone of the day to day happenings in the town. That was unusual in itself.

Goodreads review up on 18/6/2017. Review on my blog up as well. Amazon is not accepting reviews as yet though customer review link is open.

Last night I started The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey and whoa! It’s dark and creepy and exactly what you want in a thriller/suspense. I’m not all that far into it but I am looking forward to sitting down with this book later and getting a little more into it.

To those writers who can craft a novel that is full of suspense, I salute you, it’s not an easy task. And to those readers who like a gritty crime novel, put this one on your To-Read list immediately!

Here’s what you need to know:

The lead homicide investigator in a rural town, Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is deeply unnerved when a high school classmate is found strangled, her body floating in a lake. And not just any classmate, but Rosalind Ryan, whose beauty and inscrutability exerted a magnetic pull on Smithson High School, first during Rosalind’s student years and then again when she returned to teach drama.

As much as Rosalind’s life was a mystery to Gemma when they were students together, her death presents even more of a puzzle. What made Rosalind quit her teaching job in Sydney and return to her hometown? Why did she live in a small, run-down apartment when her father was one of the town’s richest men? And despite her many admirers, did anyone in the town truly know her?

Rosalind’s enigmas frustrate and obsess Gemma, who has her own dangerous secrets–an affair with her colleague and past tragedies that may not stay in the past.