I liked this book from the beginning. Staring off with a murder really got me hooked. I did not particularly like any of the characters, but that seems to be the new writing style. The story had a lot of twists and turns which keep me guessing, but I didn't care for the ending.

Twisted, like a train wreck you cannot look away from. Wickedly good read. Recommended for psychological suspense lovers. Will be watching this author.

#liznugent #lyinginwait #netgalley "...would have loved to have explained...that his father was not just a common murderer, that he had merely made a mistake under pressure and that the girl was of no consequence."

Wow. What a terrific read. I was repelled and couldn't stop reading at the same time. Clever, pathological...Nugent does an amazing job of fleshing out her characters, her sense of time and place is impeccable. Poor Laurence, Andrew...anyone who enters Lydia's orbit is doomed, unless they bend to her will. What a villain. "It seemed so dishonest and cruel, but Mum was neither of those things."

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the ARC.

This novel started with one of the best first lines ever; “My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.” Andrew, Lydia, and their son Laurence live in a crumbling mansion, Avalon. Due to gambling debts, they cannot fix their home. Lydia and Andrew lure Annie into their lives, and it ends tragically for her. The novel weaves many other characters into Lydia and Lar’s lives. It is a thrilling and suspenseful novel, and the ending is one of the best ever. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.

My first thought after finishing this book was "Holy s**t!" The mother in this book was truly crazy. One wild, unforgettable ride! You won't believe the ending!!

(Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc.)

I love it when a character is manipulative, if that's done well--and it is here. Delightfully horrifying.

And wowza... that ending.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this read.

I loved Nugent's debut novel, Unraveling Oliver, but her second book just did not live up to my expectations, mostly due to the ending. It is definitely a page turner and easy to read, and the first line is a doozy! "My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it." The story is told through two voices, wife/mother Lydia who hides a murder, and her son Laurence, who attempts to live a normal life from within a seriously messed up family. Lydia, who is just out and out batsh*t crazy, has some fairly wicked skeletons in her closet, never wants to go too far from her huge family estate, and pretty much destroys everything she touches. Poor weak, overweight, pathetic Laurence tries real hard to escape her clutches, but alas, for naught. I never really felt for either of these characters: wholly unlikable, thinly drawn, and just not that bright. The ending fell flat as well, so this book was a bit of a miss for me. Thanks to Net Galley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book definitely starts off with a bang - "My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it." The story is told from 3 different points of view - Lydia (the wife and mom), Laurence (Lydia's son), and Karen (Annie Doyle's sister). The alternating points of view were great to have as you were able to see how different people interpreted what was going on... I felt like I (as the reader) had all the information, but with so many secrets being kept by everyone, nothing was really as it seemed.

This story explores some crazy dynamics of Lydia and Laurence's relationship. It is a story of obsession and trying to please the ones we love. Every character had qualities that were completely despicable and unlikeable. However, it was so cleverly written that I kept reading just to find out what would happen next. There were definitely twists I didn't expect.

A great opening sentence that totally intrigues the reader. Multiple, well written characters that tell the story of manipulation and deception from their various points of view. A mentally disturbed mother/son relationship and a criminal act that leads to an unexpected, disturbing ending. As another reviewer put it, this is definitely a well written “why done it” rather than a “who done it.”

This book was difficult - slow, not really interested in picking it back up, so I read half and then read the last half. The premise is decent, I don't know if it got weighted down in details or what.

Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Not a heart pounding thriller, but an entertaining amusing read. The reader will fly through the novel, although one must suspend belief and just enjoy the ride. Lydia Fitzsimons is cast as the evil mother, the son Laurence as the dutiful smothered mama's boy, the husband as the anxious judge..and then comes Annie, the heroin addicted prostitute who upends their life. In addition, the magnificent mansion they live in carries deep secrets which affect all the characters. The story is told by different characters in each chapter which amply fleshes out the story . A fun romp will be had by all.

If there were ever a book to capture dark, comedic noir, this would be the one for 2018. This book is incredibly twisted, and yet there was levity and humor despite the darkness of the book. I felt “WTF?!” in the best way when reading this! Liz Nugent really has a talent for writing. I loved how this book was told like the characters repeating a story from some point in time after the events had happened, rather than experiencing it live. That may not sound appealing, but I believe it was that distance from the events happening that allowed for the lightness when recounting incredibly dark stories.

Lydia Fitzsimmons has the perfect life…

Her husband is a successful judge, they live in her beautiful family home, Avalon, and her son Laurence adores her. Avalon isn’t just any home, it is a gorgeous old-money mansion with sprawling grounds and a pile of family secrets. Lydia can’t imagine ever leaving Avalon. She is essentially a recluse, preferring to stay at Avalon as a wife, mother, and homemaker, while her husband flourishes in his career. But one night everything changes.

My husband didn’t mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.

Lydia is forced to do the unthinkable—help her husband cover up a murder. She buries this secret the same way she has buried all of the others—in the safety and security of their family home, Avalon. Lydia and Andrew may be able to hide their secret from outsiders, but what will they do when someone inside the home—someone much closer to it—discovers the truth?

Reflection

There is something so matter-of-fact in the way these characters tell their story. The Fitzsimmons family is one that is easily able to separate emotion from action, with the exception of Andrew. I found Lydia and Laurence to be completely fascinating characters. The way they react to everything from shock, to hurt, to anger, is incredible to behold. They don’t process their emotions the way many of us do. For that reason, Andrew stands in such stark contrast to them. He is someone completely overwhelmed by his emotions, and unable to keep them in check.

We see this same theme play out with other characters—Helen, Dessie, Bridget, Karen, Annie. All of them tend to either be ruled by their emotions, or be surprisingly good at separating them from their actions. This is not to say that those actions aren’t driven by their reaction to the events around them. To the contrary, the characters that seem the least motivated by their emotions are probably the most irrational of the group.

There is a scene early on (that I won’t spoil because it is so wonderful) with Laurence that honestly made me laugh out loud when I read it. Another awesome reviewer, Carrie, said she wasn’t sure at times with this book if she should laugh, cry, or cringe. That is the perfect description of this book! I dare readers to find a dull character among the lot.

The ending of this book is the icing on the “WTF?!” cake for this read! It was crazy, but sort of perfect for the story and the characters. I was so delighted by this book! It was my first by Liz Nugent, but it will certainly not be my last. I’m looking forward to sharing this book with other readers!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books, and to Liz Nugent for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Initially reminded of Jodi Picoult style, I was more deeply fascinated with the depth of each character. The relationship between Laurence and every other character kept me guessing as to what would end up changing between the dynamics. And lydia definitely kept me guessing

I did not see that ending coming. Wow. I knew the mom was crazy and figured her true colors would eventually be brought to light just not how I pictured it. Great read. I was hesitant to put it down after the second major plot twist. I have a slight book hangover after reading this and was sad it was over. All I can say is "Poor Laurence."

My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.

On the surface, Lydia Fitzsimons has the perfect life—wife of a respected, successful judge, mother to a beloved son, mistress of a beautiful house in Dublin. That beautiful house, however, holds a secret. And when Lydia’s son, Laurence, discovers its secret, wheels are set in motion that lead to an increasingly claustrophobic and devastatingly dark climax.



My Thoughts: Lying in Wait has been described as “seductively sinister,” and from the very first page, we become aware of the strangely dark voice of Lydia Fitzsimons, wife to the judge and mother to her only son Laurence. Lydia is one of those narcissistic women who is primarily focused on herself and her needs, and her apparent overwhelming love for son Laurence is really more about what she needs from him. When her darkness turns pathological, she becomes an interesting study in mental illness.

Her husband Andrew didn’t stand a chance. His poor choices were all about serving her needs, too, and those would come back to haunt him.

The intersecting lives of Andrew, Lydia, and Laurence with Annie Doyle, her sister Karen, and her parents have their twisted origins in one dreadful night when everything went out of control.

But then we learn that way back in the past, Lydia’s true colors showed themselves at a tragic event when she was nine years old.

Would Laurence be able to extricate himself from the grasping control of his mother? Could he continue to bury the secret that was lying in wait to come out? Or would his mother’s twisted needs turn everything upside down?

Set in Dublin in the 1980s, the story immediately hooked me, with the dark and disturbing characters and their secrets; I couldn’t stop turning the pages, loving every minute with them all, curiously wondering how it would all end. 5 stars.***My e-ARC came from the publishers via NetGalley.

You know those books where you read the whole book in 2 sittings, and then when you read the last chapter you start talking to yourself, because you realize the twist that is coming, and your brain screams "NO!!!!". Yup, this is one of those books! It is a canny look at just how malicious family dysfunction cane be, and how secrets that lie festering can erupt when least expected. Lydia is both a sympathetic and hated character, a victim and the personification of evil incarnate. But is she really? Where does the responsibility lie? Will Laurence be able to break free of the web of lies he has grown up with? If you love a twisted English mystery, with a healthy dose of family drama, then THIS is your Summer read!

Earlier this year, in the span of 24 hours, I saw two of my favorite writers, Denise Mina and Rupert Thomson, both Tweet about the Irish writer Liz Nugent. One for her upcoming UK title, Skin Deep, the other for her upcoming American release, Lying in Wait.



This is clearly a sign to pay attention and meant that I had to get ahold of these books right away. Which I sort of did. The library had Nugent's first novel Unraveling Oliver but I had to wait a while until I got an advance copy of Lying in Wait. (Technically, I can't get my hands on Skin Deep until it is published in the US, whenever that is. Next year I'm guessing.)



While I was prepared for the hype, I was not prepared for the first lines in these books.

Unraveling Oliver: "I expected more of a reaction the first time I hit her."

Lying in Wait: "My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it."

Skin Deep: "I wondered when rigor mortis would set in, or if it already had."

Who isn't going to keep reading after opening lines like those?



In Lying in Wait, an Irish judge and his wife open the book by murdering a woman named Annie Doyle. Why this has happened is not immediately clear. It's complicated. But once you murder someone, you've got a lot of work to do to get away with it, especially if you are not the murdering kind. The story of why a judge and his wife would be in this situation and how it unfolds is told in alternating points of view from the wife, Lydia, her son, Laurence, and the victim's sister, Karen.



I too easily resort to calling things Hitchcockian (which is short-hand for a lot of tension and suspense, or anticipated fear, especially waiting to see if people are going to get caught). But this is one of the greatest Hitchcockian things I've read in a long time. Who will get caught? Will they find the body? What else are these people capable of? What is Laurence thinking?



One of the other admirable qualities of this novel is that Nugent is very good at exploring the long lasting effects of trauma on people. We learn about the mother's childhood and how it shapes her adult life. We see how the murdering of Annie Doyle affects Laurence's childhood and early adulthood. One gets a good understanding of why things have gone off the rails for these people - yet the suspense never lets up. Not for a second. And sometimes, when you least expect it, Nugent drops another surprise on the reader. Endings are hard to do but the ending here is spellbinding.

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent certainly starts off with a bang (and on my birthday no less) that gets one’s attention, a husband and wife are out late one night and the husband strangles a young women with the wife coming in to finish her off. WHAT?? A murder duo? At that point the book definitely grabbed my interest.

You see, Lydia Fitzsimons and her husband got a little carried away covering up their secrets. The young woman was a drug addicted prostitute so who would possibly miss her? Lydia tells her husband to simply bury the body and they can go about their rich, comfortable lives with no one the wiser.

The story is told from multiples points of view along the way from the various characters involved. From Lydia the murderer to her son the alibi to the worried sister of the victim. All of these characters end up woven into a web so sticky and tangled that it will be hard for one to imagine the outcome.

When finished with this book it was one of those WTH did I just read moments. I will admit the middle of this one got a little slow to me thus only the four stars but boy oh boy was the ending worth the wait. No exactly what I’d ever expected to happen as the years ticked by in the book after that opening death scene. If dark and disturbing personalities and actions intrigue you I’d suggest picking up a copy of Lying in Wait.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

5plus stars! Gripping and disturbing, but unputdownable. Grabbed me on page one and didn't let go until the end. I had to know what was going to happen and what exactly had taken place! Highly recommend! Will be reviewing in Chapter Chatter Pub closer to release date!

It is, without doubt, a ballsy move to craft any sort of mystery (or psychological thriller) wherein the big question of “whodunit?” is revealed in the first few pages… yet that’s precisely the tack Liz Nugent takes in her wickedly-twisty (and twisted) new page turner, Lying in Wait.

As you may have guessed, though, there’s a brilliant method to her madness, because the pages which follow concern a far-more intriguing question: the “whydunit”, if you will.

To wit, any idea why a respected, middle-aged judge would kill a wrong-side-of-the-tracks young woman—with his to-the-manor-born wife’s assistance, no less—then drive the body to their own home and proceed to bury it in the back garden on their posh estate?

Of course, there’s more to murder than just the act—especially for seemingly “normal” folks, like you or me. There’s the memory of it (and trying to live with same). There’s guilt (for the murderers here are anything but your typical cold, hardened killers). There’s a lifetime of lying that must follow (especially when you have a teenage child in the house, who mustn’t ever find out what you did). And, above all, there’s keeping every bit of it a secret, forever.

Fortunately for us, Nugent didn’t content herself with looking at things from the couple’s point of view; we’re also privy to everything from a viewpoint of 180—the family of the “missing girl”, in other words (for without a body, anyone who vanishes without a trace must needs be considered “missing”, unless/until evidence to the contrary surfaces). And things are very, VERY different from the other side…

Perhaps the greatest brilliance in Lying in Wait, though—the real shocker—is the element of Hatfields-&-McCoys, or even Romeo-&-Juliet, in a sense, once the paths of the two families cross again, down the road… and everyone involved discover that memories, like hidden bodies, are always just lying in wait.

I absolutely loved Lying in Wait. It’s awful and horrible (some of the characters, not the writing), but entirely believable—full of hope, despair, and pathos, by turns. In the end, it delivers an emotional punch which refuses to go unfelt. This one demands your attention, your patience, and your heart… so just give them up.
~GlamKitty