The first few chapters just dragged and I couldn't make it much further. I had to DNF this one, although I know there were a ton of people out there who loved it. It just wasn't for me.

A mystery that kept me guessing. The characters were interesting, if a little one dimensional. A large portion of the story focused on the police force and investigation, which was well done. I often find cop dramas dry & boring, but not so with this one. A good debut novel. I look forward to this author’s next one!

Summary: At the start of this book, a young girl exploring in the woods finds a finger bone in a hollowed out area by a beech tree. It turns out to be part of the skeleton of Aurora Jackson, a 14 year old girl who went missing thirty years ago.

When Aurora went missing, she was camping with a group of older teenagers, one of whom was her sister. The teens were questioned at the time of the disappearance, but they all stated they didn't know anything. It was obvious that something went on in the woods that night, but with the teens all sticking to the same story and no body, the case went cold.

Although he didn't know them well, Jonah went to school with all of the campers. He has momentary thoughts of taking himself off the case, but decides there isn't any conflict of interest. However, as secrets start to emerge, Jonah finds himself hoping that some things never come to light.

Comments: I liked She Lies in Wait. I thought the main storyline was tightly plotted with a believable ending. There were enough clues dropped about Jonah's past and present life to give some options for character development in future books in the series. There were some side plot-lines that I found distracting because they weren't fully resolved and I wondered why they were even in the book, but all in all, this was a good start to a new mystery-detective series.

As a side note, I thought the author had some very astute observations about bullies and abusers.

This wasn’t one of my favorite mysteries as I found my self speed reading thru the story. I could not relate to the characters and had the mystery figured out quite early.

Thirty years ago, 6 teenagers are partying in the forest. Aurora Jackson is the youngest of the bunch and happy to be included in this group. But sometime during the night she disappears and no sign of her was ever found.

Today, 30 years after the fact, Aurora's body is found in a hideaway that only 5 of her friends knew about. Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens is a small town cop called in to investigate. Back in 1983, as a young cop in their small town, he had known the teenagers—including Aurora—personally, even before taking part in the search. Now he’s determined to finally get to the truth of what happened that night.

Although a tad slow in the beginning, this debut thriller is well written with twists and turns and surprises along the way. There are plenty of suspects for this police procedural to investigate. I look forward to read more of the detective as this is the beginning of a series.

Many thanks to the author / Random House Publishing / Netgalley for this crime fiction/thriller. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

I had a hard time with this book, figured out the mystery about a quarter of the way in and made it hard to finish. Sorry!

Thank you Random House for a copy of She Lies In Wait by Gytha Lodge in exchange for an honest review. Available now.

She Lies In Wait is told in two timelines. The camping trip twenty years ago that Aurora disappeared from and the present when her body is finally discovered near the old camping site.
I really liked the mystery and the camping trip sections. I had more trouble with the police sections. I found myself not really caring about them and not connecting with the characters which made it hard for me to concentrate on the story. I feel like the hints of their personal lives were not enough for me to really connect with them.
It was a good story and a intriguing structure but overall just did not really work for me.

Thank you to netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I really enjoyed it. Jonah Sheens is brought away from a bike ride to the news that a body has been found, once he hears it is an old body, he instantly knows who it is. Aurora Jackson, who went missing 30 years ago, when he was first on the force. The book is told between current day, with the investigation and in the past, with Aurora. Thirty years ago, seven teens went into the woods camping and in the morning one was missing. The teens were suspects and witnesses, they closed ranks and are still a close group, but someone killed her, so as they reunite to prepare for a funeral, everyone is a suspect and then a new suspect comes in to the mix. Will Jonah solve this case that has haunted him for years and just what is the secret he is holding back?
I really enjoyed the characters, and am happy to see this is a series, as I would love to read more about these characters.

She Lies in wait was my first book by this author, but I am definitely intrigued to read more. It's a clever, twisty mystery with engaging characters and an atmospheric setting. I kept guessing until the end and enjoyed the satisfying conclusion.

I am sure this will click with many readers. I just couldn't seem to connect with any of the characters. It was a good, solid mystery with plenty of red herrings and tense moments of whodunnit.

I've always been a fan of the crime shows from anything like Law & Order to Murder She Wrote and I figure myself a pretty keen judge of character and can figure out angles of mysteries fairly quickly. This novel is definitely one that kept me guessing even though the obvious fact is that the murderer had to be one of the six friends who were camping with Aurora when she had died. The fact that this was a cold case adds a whole new level of fact checking thirty years later and determining what a motive could be to murder the ethereal young beauty that Aurora was.

There are many characters to set up this mystery whose traits were revealed slowly throughout the novel which helped draw out the suspense. There were nuances of foul play between all the friends, and then add in those who knew the friends and weave in possible corruption of the police to a cover up at a higher level at the school that all sets up a captivating web of leads to follow.

I appreciated the level of attention given to all the suspects and enjoyed learning more about the detectives themselves, setting up background for another novel in the author's future featuring the group headed by Jonah Sheens (which is assumed will occur based upon the Goodreads' subtitle). The setting in Scotland adds another check mark of a cool setting to the overall effort that was very well done for a debut writer and this one even made me tear up!

Six teenagers and one younger sister go camping but during the first night the younger sister disappears. When her body is found thirty years later, the case is reexamined and ultimately solved. No spoilers here, but this was a seriously great read, which is apparently a first installment in a new series featuring DCI Jonah Sheens. Sheens is a local guy who knows the area and its population well. There wasn't too much personal information revealed about him in this book, but he is an interesting character who, I think, has the potential to make subsequent novels good reads as well. I will be on the lookout for the next one. Highly recommend.

3.5
Many years ago, seven teenage friends went camping. There was lots of drinking, sex and some drugs. By morning, the youngest member Aurora was missing. The six remaining friends swore that she was alive when they last saw her. She is never seen again.

Thirty years later, a skeleton is found near where the group camped. It's Aurora. DCI Jonas Sheens is assigned the job of leading the team that reopens the case. And so starts the cat and mouse game between the six remaining friends and the police. Add to that, Detective Sheen has his own little secret.

I enjoyed this police procedural/murder mystery. DCI Sheen struggles with the ethics of doing his job correctly and trying to hide certain facts from his past. I also liked DC Hanson, new to the team and perhaps overly enthusiastic about impressing the boss. She is the one who discover her boss's secret. Now she too must decide how to handle it.

I'm glad I got in on book #1 of this new series. It will be interesting to read future books to see what new crimes the detectives are confronted with.

My thanks to Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley.

I thought this book was slow starting. It did keep my attention through most of it but I feel like it could of been a little more fast paced. I didn't feel sucked in at any point until the end. The story alternates between the past with Aurora's story and the present with DCI Jonah investigating. Overall the writing was good and I would try another book by the author. I did receive this as an ARC to review.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the chance to read and review, "She Lies in Wait"
by Gytha Lodge. I really enjoyed the different points of view going from the current time back to the past. In my opinion, the story started off strong but quickly, I lost interest. There were a lot of people who continued to be introduced which made trying to keep track of them a hassle. This book was not for me but could be a great read for someone else.

I read thrillers all weekend! She Lies in Wait is one I have been meaning to get to and when I started it, I finished it the same weekend. It was a good one but also sad. This is one of those thriller/mystery novels that doesn’t have any real winners in the end, it was more about finding out the truth.

Six friends go camping for the weekend in 1983 and the youngest of the group, Aurora, goes missing. Thirty years later her body is discovered right by their campsite. The small town cop that is on the case went to school with the group of kids and now is investigating them all to find out which one, if any is the killer. With every chapter you are pretty sure you have it figured it out- who the killer is, but then there is another twist and you aren’t sure. Since there were so many moving characters it was hard to trust your instincts and pick out who you thought had the best motive!

I would recommend this one. It reminded me a Clare Mackintosh novel! If you like her, you will like this one! Thanks @netgalley for this one!

DNF - I love murder mysteries and you don't get many, if any, straight murder mysteries in the YA category. That is why I was so excited to get this ARC. However, I was really disappointed with the plot and how it was written. By the time I was about 30% through I felt like there was no point in continuing. It was too obvious what was happening. There wasn't any real mystery to the, well, mystery.

I hope I get another chance to read an adult mystery from Macmillan and NetGalley in the future, as I am sure this is a one-off.

This book was not as engaging as I had hoped it would be. I was a chore to finish. The characters were not likable and difficult to keep track of their connections.

It appears the intention is for this to be a series with the man character, Jonah as the investigator in each book.

If you liked this book you will like, Remember Me by Daisy White. A very similar storyline with teenagers going camping and one gets killed. Years later it is reinvestigated and solved.

I received this galley from NetGalley.

Wow, I could not put this down! The story opens with the body of a 14 year old girl being found- she has been missing for 30 years. This is told through dual timelines: present day, and 30 years ago before the girl went missing.

I really liked this mystery-the story and timeline were very easy to follow. There were quite a few characters but they were interesting and all had their own stories. I really liked the detective Jonah, and I am excited to see where his story goes as this is the first of three books featuring him.

I was really needing a good mystery series! I am so happy I found this one. This book had me guessing the whole time. I really had no clue who was responsible until the bitter end. I really love when I cannot figure it out! It makes it so much more fun. One of the best mysteries I've read in a while.

What happened to Aurora Jackson? Thirty years ago, Aurora Jackson disappeared while on a camping trip. Her case is re-opened after her bones are discovered just feet from the camp site. This book is through the narrative of a detective named Jonah, who is determined to uncover what really happened to Aurora. Between flashbacks and bits of clues, everyone seems to be a suspect and it kept me guessing who is responsible for this brutal. I really enjoyed the ending and this book and look forward to the next book in this series.