While I guessed the killer’s identity fairly early on, I was stumped as to how they’d be caught. A couple of twists along the way kept my interest up and at times found myself holding my breathe.

This one had me turning the pages, widower Andy Vaughan has been through a lot since she lost her husband three years ago and now it is time to get back on track and hopefully patch things up with her ten year old son Jeremy, a new job and things should improve.

When Andy was growing up in America she had pet snakes and has always liked them when her friends daughter gets caught in a toilet block with a deadly brown snake Andy steps in and removes the snake and this encourages her to want to work as a ranger with Parks and Wildlife but when the offer comes to be the local snake handler she jumps at the chance.

Dev Jenkins has moved from Sydney to take a job as constable with the Port Matthews police department there were reasons for this move and it is taking some time to settle in being the new cop in town and a checkered past, he meets Andy after the rescue in the park and asks lots of questions snakes are not his favourite.

When there are a couple of deaths caused by snake bite Dev is suspicious this is not a normal happening although he seems to be the only one to think it is out of the ordinary and when there is another death his suspicions that there may be a serial killer on the loose grows, he questions Andy and soon she is thinking the same as Dev.

Andy and Dev are getting closer everyday but things are also getting tenser with more snakes and danger is chasing Dev and Andy, can Dev save the woman he loves will they finally uncover the truth about the deaths and be able to move onto the future?

This really is a page turner MS Hester knows how to pull her readers in with tension and a fast paced story it has wonderful characters, there are quite a few edge of your seat moments in this one and lots of snakes. I do highly recommend this one, it is a fabulous story.

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my copy to read and review.

Lying In Wait has been another great read from Diane Hester. While I guessed the killer’s identity fairly early on, I was stumped as to how they’d be caught. While the main story thread involves the apparently unconnected deaths of several people in the South Australian seaside town of Port Matthews, there’s also a lovely romantic thread involving widow Andy, who is fascinated with snakes, and police constable Dev. I liked them both and enjoyed watching their relationship develop from initial antipathy on Andy’s part to something meaningful by the end of the book. As they grow closer to each other, the deaths continue, with one problem after another stopping Dev from finding his killer. The plot twists and ramped sense of urgency kept me hooked and left me both relieved and satisfied by the last page.

Andy Vaughn and her ten-year-old son Jeremy had been without husband and father, Greg, for the past three years and Andy still felt his loss keenly. She knew she hadn’t been there for Jeremy and was worried about how to get close to him again. The day they were with their friends at the park, and little Megan screamed as she was bailed up by a snake in the toilet block, was the day Andy’s life and career took a new turn. After successfully saving Megan from the deadly brown snake, Andy decided Port Matthews in South Australia might benefit from a snake handler within the Parks and Wildlife department. Her training over, she was called on fairly often to remove snakes from the vicinity of people’s homes.

Constable Devlin Jenkins was a new arrival to Port Matthews police department and with his partner Ian, was called out to a couple of snake bite victims. Dev’s suspicions weren’t believed by the other members of the force apart from Ian, so he investigated on his own. What he discovered was chilling. A third death had Dev’s antennae vibrating. What was going on? Who was doing the unthinkable – and who would be the next victim?

Filled with tension as well as venomous snakes, Lying in Wait by Aussie author Diane Hester would have to be her best yet! Unbelievable tension – my heart is still pounding – I can’t think of any book I’ve ever read like this one! I’d advise anyone with an aversion to snakes not to read this one at night – you’ll have nightmares! An incredible thriller, Lying in Wait is one I recommend highly.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Andy Vaughn, grieving the loss of her husband and the new remoteness of her young son, decides to change her occupation becoming a national park ranger specializing in snake handling in a remote section of Australia. Absolutely spine-tingling at times and full of information about some of the world’s most venomous snakes, Lying in Wait is a definite page-turner. I received an ARC from Net Galley and the opinions expressed are my own.

I tried to give this book a chance, but I only got about 1/5 of the way through. The formatting of the book was hard to follow and contributed to confusion of the story line. I really liked the summary and was excited to read the novel, but unfortunately, it was just very hard to follow.

3.25/5 rounded to 3/5
Thanks to the publisher through NetGalley for my copy. This is my honest review.

Sometimes, as we all do, I choose a book by a new-to-me author and it doesn't play out the way I had hoped. That's the case here, but any rating 3 and over is considered a good read to me.

I knew almost from the get-go who the assailant was and the suspense was weakened by that (I've read so many mysteries & suspense, over so many years, that I have gotten good at dissecting the unknown). The serial killer would put a sack with a brown snake near people targeted for death and let the reptiles do the dirty work. I did think this was a creative way of murdering off people, though. I don't think I've read a similar plot before, so that's a big +. I even was interested enough to google brown snakes and find out the one found in North America is non-venomous. The one found in Australia is the second most deadly land snake in the world. So that's a good bit of trivia.

Luckily for the town, an ex-pat from the U.S.-- a former science teacher-- has realized that she has snake-handling skills, so she is hired to be on the Parks and Wildlife Team as a snake handler to combat the concern of deaths by snake bites. This single parent, Andy (female), is so bothered by her teenage son pulling away from her and becoming aloof that she constantly dwells on it. Andy is worried that having a romantic relationship and taking the job as a snake handler would shut him down more. This is standard operating procedure for teens. They rebel, they pull away, they become selfish. I would have preferred less emphasis on the budding romance and son issues, and more on the main plot of the murders and why the killer feels a need to do this. I also would have loved more "local color", more about the region of Australia they lived in and what that was like. I don't feel that I read enough stories based there, and that was why I requested this.

All in all, a good way to pass a quiet evening for the right reader.