Well-drawn characters and an intriguing 30-year-old disappearance case make this a really enjoyable book. The lead detective in the cold case turned active suspicious death may have conflicts of interest that he fails to disclose. All the members of his staff also have issues which improve the story. The main focus is on a group of then teenagers, now adults, who participated in a wild camping trip during which one of their group disappeared. The discovery of her body now brings everyone back home for the investigation. The writing is skillful and clear, even with the bouncing back and forth between then and now. I did not solve the murder, which makes me like the book even more. Great job!

This was quite a fun read. I needed a book that was interesting, but that I could stop and start here and there and not get lost or confused. It was perfect.

The mix of characters were eclectic and delightful. It was easy to get to know the characters, yet I felt like I got a good perspective about who they were and what they offered to the story.

This novel switches back and forth between present day and the past, slowly unraveling what exactly happened in the woods all those years ago. I kept expecting to correctly guess what exactly Aurora. I thought I had figured out how she died and who did. I was wrong and even up until the end I had no idea how the story would unfold.

This is the first in a series and I look forward to what author, Gytha Lodge has to offer in future novels.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for allowing me an eARC to read and give my honest review!

She Lies In Wait is set to be released on January , 2019 so pre-order now! A 4 star read for me!

She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge is a novel about 6 teenagers who go on an overnight camping trip on a hot July night in the 1980's. They are carefree and enjoying a night of fun and drinking and hooking up. As the night turns into early morning they discover the youngest of their party, Aurora has gone missing. Police are notified and a search ensues without any results.

Some 30years later bones are uncovered at the same camp sight. The friends are once again brought together to relive that horrible night. Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens is assigned the case. Not new to the specifics, as he was a young police officer back when the disappearance occurred, he knew the group friends including the missing Aurora,

As the group once again begins to retell their stories from years ago, secrets begin to come to light between the friends and soon it looks as if they are turning on each other. But why? And the Investigator himself has a dark hidden secret he has kept all these years.

This well written novel will keep the reader interested from the very first page, Easily readable and with fast paced dialogue it will keep you guessing until the end. I completely enjoyed Lodge's first novel and so will you.

She Lies in Wait arrives in bookstores on January 8. Thank you #NetGalley and #Random House for the advanced copy.

She Lies In Wait by Gytha Lodge was one of my most anticipating reads for December and although I enjoyed it, the story was very obvious and I figured out the killer at about 25%.

The story slowly unfolds to reveal what happened to Aurora some 30 years ago. It mostly alternates between Aurora's POV during that fateful night and the present, where DCI Jonah Sheens tries to solve the case.

I started enjoying police procedurals this year but this one didn't quite grab my attention. I sometimes found myself reading diagonally and skipping a page here and there and not much had happened.

I hate when I have to leave a bad review but this book had the potential to be so much more. I wish all the success to the author and sincerely hope other readers will be able to fully enjoy this novel. I look forward to the author's future work.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for this ARC.

I rather enjoyed this first book in a new detective series.
I thought the characters were well fleshed out and the story was highly intriguing.

The book flips between the original crime (in 1983) using flashbacks through multiple POV as well as 30 years later through the grown up teens and detectives assigned.
I liked how things were revealed slow and that the view of guilt constantly changed with each new piece of evidence and/or memory.
I will definitely be pursuing this series as more are released..

She Lies in Wait is a book of who did it.  A group of friends goes camping and one disappears, not to be found until many years later.  Who is responsible? Will she be found and if so, will she be alive?  Each person is telling a different story yet with each story, a snippet of truth is revealed. 

The premise of the book is great and I enjoyed it.  The only hesitation is that it felt slow moving.  A lot of the book was an explanation of the investigation.   It didn't include much action.

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is an amazing police procedural. All of the characters – the police, the suspects, the victim(s)-All feels so real and it is a pleasure to spend the book with them. The ending feels a bit rushed and that took it down from a 5 to a 4, but is still a worthwhile and enjoyable read. Definitely worth the buzz

In a small town, bones are discovered just a few feet from where a girl went missing 30 years before. The lead investigator, Jonah Sheens, was a new police officer when Aurora went missing but he seems to know more about the case and the players than he should.

Timelines jump from present to the last day Aurora was seen and back again giving the reader a view from each players point of view while the procedural side shows each lie and revelation, keeping the reader guessing.

The supporting characters and relationships are fleshed out nicely, highlighting the investigative team that the reader will likely be following through the next books in the series. The cast of suspects were intertwined enmeshed in each other in a twisted and yet believable way.

Overall this was a solid read.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Told in dual time lines, this is the story of how DCI Jonah Sheens finally untangles what happened to young Aurora. Aurora tagged along with her sister Topaz and her friends when they went camping in the woods. Aurora tells her story- and the story of these girls- for half the novel. You'll likely figure out who the villain is before Jonah does. He's the other half of the story. He knew this group as teens and now 30 years later, he sees the cracks in their facades. I liked him, didn't like the others (except Aurora.) Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a fast paced thriller.

I received in E-ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

30 years go by with out anyone knowing what happened to Aurora untill a young girl comes across something huge to help solve Auroras disappearance. The story bounces back and forth from the present and past following DCI Jonah Sheens and the 6 friends that last saw Aurora alive.
A page turner of a story that will have you guessing who did it, G. Lodge did a fantastic job making a lot of the characters look guilty. Definitely recommend, can't wait to read more of DCI Jonah.

Thirty years ago, fourteen-year-old Aurora went on a camping trip with her older sister's friends and vanished. Jonah Sheens was a new-minted cop scarcely older than the victim (and suspects) at the time, but it all comes slamming back when her body is finally found and he's put in charge of the investigation. She was entombed in a drug stash only those six knew about, so the focus is claustrophobically tight. Along with his able teammates (one of them still a bit raw and twitchy), he must untangle old deceptions that covered up standard youthful shenanigans from those concealing darker crimes.

A group of teens go camping, and one of them goes missing. Thirty years later, the missing girl's remains are found. The investigation looks into what happened that night in the woods.

Told with alternating timelines - the night the teens gathered in the woods to camp and the investigation thirty years later. I enjoy the alternating timelines, especially when there is such a big difference in time. Aurora is the missing girl, and the past is told from her point of view. The present is from the investigation side. This worked well. It made it more intriguing to guess who of the teens were telling the truth and who was trying to hide something.

This is a straightforward police procedural. A girl goes missing, stays missing for years, then her body is discovered. The police investigate to find who killed her and why. I enjoy these types of books, but this one did fall a little flat. I didn't really connect to the characters, so that held something back for me. It's a good read though, and one I would recommend to fans of British crime fiction.

I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love reading a good British mystery and this book by Gytha Lodge is everything I could ask for. I believe that this is her debut novel too!! I'm looking forward to reading more from her.
30 years ago 14 year old Aurora Jackson was camping with her sister Topaz and some friends when she disappeared. Eventually she became a cold case...until by accident her bones are discovered buried under a tree...the police are now investigating her murder. DC I Jonah Sheen and his team must uncover what happened that night so many years ago. What follows is a well developed and fascinating story that results in some unexpected turns that lead to a surprising conclusion. Well formed, 3 dimensional, interesting characters add to the enjoyment of this book.
Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thirty years after she went missing from a party, 14-year-old Aurora Jackson is finally found dead not far from where she was last seen. Detective Inspector Jonah Sheens takes over the murder investigation with his team, including a newly recruited detective-in-training, DC Hanson, and begins to unravel the decades-old mystery behind Aurora’s disappearance. Sheens, who went to high school with the victim and her friends, battles with his own memories from the time of her disappearance, and his team begins to think he may know more than he is letting on.

Set in England, She Lies In Wait explores teenage party culture, the extent friends will go to in order to protect one another, and how actions made during youth stay with people throughout their lives. As the six people who last saw Aurora alive are dragged into the investigation, Sheens begins to wonder if they have been hiding something for the past thirty years, and how far they will go to conceal their behaviour from three decades earlier.

She Lies In Wait is the first in what is promised to be a series of police procedural novels centering around Jonah Sheens. Gytha Lodge, a playwright and novelist, studied English at Cambridge before earning her MFA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. She is undoubtedly a skilled writer and has a knack for writing realistic dialogue. She Lies In Wait is clean, believable, and compelling enough that I got through it in only a matter of days.

For a police procedural series to work, the leading character – in this case Jonah Sheens – has to be compelling enough to keep a reader interested over the course of several novels. It’s no easy feat to create a character with such depth and such a fascinating backstory that fans will want to keep coming back. The most successful procedurals, like the Alex Cross and Harry Hole series, revolve around characters that are complex, at times problematic, and ultimately likeable in their desire to solve mysteries and catch bad guys. Both Alex Cross and Harry Hole also struggle with internal problems and complicated relationships throughout the course of their series, making them more real and relatable.

While She Lies In Wait is only the first book and there is lots of room for growth, Jonah Sheens has yet to solidify himself in my mind as a true leading character. His backstory was patchy and his actions questionable, and while he came across as intelligent and brave, he didn’t do anything bold enough to ingrain himself as a real police hero. In fact, it was Juliette Hanson, the newest detective on the team that drove the story. Her quick-thinking, personal trauma and ability to stand up to authority made her a seemingly better police officer than Sheens.

Gytha Lodge will be a writer to look out for in the future. I’m not sure I’ve been completely convinced to tune in for the next installment in the Jonah Sheens series, but her writing was strong and her plot was well thought out, so it’s likely that the next book will be better than the first.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House, and Gytha Lodge for the opportunity to read the first in what I hope will be a great series of police procedures/mysteries.

In 1983, six friends go into the woods for a night of partying and camping out but only five are left by morning. The missing, Aurora, the youngest of the group and the 14-year-old sister of one of the campers, was excited to be a part of the group, even when she knew she didn't quite fit in. It was a night of drinking, drugs, sex, friendship, and jealousy - none of which Aurora had experience with. When Aurora was discovered missing, there was a fruitless search and she was presumed dead.

Thirty years later, her body is discovered and DCI Jonah Sheens is in charge of the case. He went to school with the group and had met Aurora. Now he goes back to those group of friends to try and discover the truth of what happened that night.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - while I never got real vested into the friends' characters, I really liked Sheens and his new detective, Hanson, and enjoyed going along for the ride on their investigation. The book is told in alternating timelines - from the 80s to the present - so we get to hear Aurora's voice which was an integral part of the story.

I can't wait to read the next in this series!

Thank you #NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a ARC copy of this book

The story starts In 1983 seven teenagers go camping in the woods, only six return.

Thirty years later, the bones of the teenager that never returned from the camping trip are found in a place that only the other six knew about. The cold case is re-opened and it seems everyone is withholding information. Were one or more of the friends involved in the murder? Was there someone else in the woods that night?

This is a well written story that will keep you guessing.

Absolutely a home run !!! Be fore warned once you pick it up , you can't put it down . Best murder mystery I've read in quite some time.

3,5 out of 5 stars

Thirty years after Aurora Jackson has gone missing, her body is found at the campground she was last seen at. She had went that night with her sister Topaz and a group of her sister’s friends. We get the backstory as to what happened in Aurora’s eyes as we alternate with the investigation into her murder. This is the first in a series with Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens. I really look forward to reading more about him because he is a very interesting character. He grew up with the kids involved so he had a higher stake in it than most.

The story unfolds as each suspect is brought in for questioning and little by little, secrets are revealed. I really had no idea who the killer was. It could have been any of them. I loved Jonah’s process and his thinking as he slowly unfolded everything.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for a copy of this ARC.

7 kids go into the woods for a camping trip. Only 6 come out alive. No one knows what happened to Aurora that night. 30 years later, her body is found very close to the campsite. Now the case is reopened, lies are discovered and friends question each other and the police question everything.

What I liked: It kept me reading, I devoured this book because I wanted to know what happened next. I enjoyed the premise, having to recount things that happened 30 years ago was very interesting and not a type of crime novel I’d read before.

What I wasn’t as fond of: For me, the characters had no depth. A ton were introduced right off the bat and for a while, there wasn’t enough about them to be distinguishable so I had a hard time keeping up with who was who. Because of this, I never really rooted for anyone. Some of the backstories, especially for the members of the police, seemed irrelevant and had basically no pay off. I can sort of see what she was trying to do with them but the line between them and the main plot is a long and wavy one, and that’s if I’m really looking for it. I think this is supposed to be a series, so these things may come back later with more information, but in this book as a stand-alone, they felt very out of place.

This was one of those books that at first I felt I really liked mostly because I wanted to know what happened so bad that when I found out, that satisfied feeling masqueraded itself into “that was a good book.” But when I stepped back and thought about it, it really just wasn’t for me.
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The premise for this book sounded fascinating. Six friends go camping one night together and one goes missing. Thirty years later her bones are found in a place that only the six friends know about. Now they need to find out who the killer is among them.

I was excited for this book, but it ended up being a disappointment. It was hard to keep my attention throughout the story. What could have been an edge of your seat thrillers, was nothing close to that. I found that withing a third of the way through I already had figured out the killer and struggled to finish the story.
I didn't find myself rooting for the detective in his investigation and felt that there were details missing.
It is still a decent read and for some I'm sure that it is enjoyable. For me me it was just okay.