What a page turner!! Susan Walter books read like a fast paced thriller film, unsurprisingly as she is a screen writer. I could not get enough of Lie By The Pool, and finished in a few short hours. Clear your schedules when you pick this one up, it is one of those just one more chapter books that you end up finishing in no time.

So what is it about? Bree has found herself homeless and living in her car since losing her husband. But, she has found a house in Beverly Hills that has an owner who isn’t around much and she sneaks in to sleep in the pool house of a nighttime. That is until the owner, Sophie, finds her. She thinks she is in for it now, but Sophie feels sorry for her and invites her to a Halloween party at the house in a few nights time. She goes, has plenty of food and drink and decides to spend the night in one of the homes many bedrooms for her first proper nights sleep in months. When she wakes the next morning, she sees a body in the pool, and knows that she will be the number one suspect, so she runs.

What happens next will just blow your mind!! It is so unpredictable and grabs you right from the start. You just have to read it to believe it.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley and a thrilling Book Promotions for my advanced copy to read. Publishes on September 12th.

Bree's life took a turn - she is now homeless and alone. She no longer lives in her beautiful Beverly Hills home. She is living in her car. One night, out of sheer desperation, Bree decides to sleep in the beautiful poolside chaise chairs at her old home.

That night, Sophie and Carter, siblings, decide to check out the home for a Halloween party. Their dad has recently come into ownership. Their parents will be away, so what better time to throw a party in a. gorgeous home? Sophie runs into Bree. She invites her to the Halloween party. Bree is desperate for some food and human interaction, so she decides to go.

Bree ends up spending the night in her old bed. She wakes up to find Sophie dead in the pool. It seems Bree is the only witness and likely the prime murder suspect. Bree is worried because her husband also disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

I absolutely LOVED this book. It was exciting, full of twists and turns, and well-written. It is told from multiple POV's and timelines. The author is crafty at giving little tidbits along the way to keep the reader intrigued. There are so many intricate layers. I will definitely be reading more by Susan Walter!

Thank you Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Incredibly captivating and help me turning the page and wanting more. I hate I have to wait so long to shout this book from the rooftops and have friends buy, because everyone needs to read it.

I knew from the blurb I would like this book, but in fact I enjoyed it even more than that! The story line expands beyond what I expected and the action and tension gets turned up. I also disagree this is just ‘women’s fiction, instead is entertaining fiction for every YA and adult. Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

Lie by the Pool is a fast pace thriller that had be captivated until the end. The story grabbed my attention immediately. The twists and turns did not disappoint. The multiple POVs and short chapters kept this a fast paced read. The story moved forward well and the author dropped a lot of breadcrumbs along the way. As the story proceeds the different POVs seamlessly tie into each other and things start to make more sense as more and more is revealed. I really enjoyed this style of writing!

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for a digital ARC.

This book was a really great read! We follow a few characters and timelines, so you’ll need to pay attention. It was easy to differentiate between the POVs and the chapters were a good length. The story was well thought out, but I would’ve liked a bit more of an ending. I was left just a little bit without closure. I would still definitely recommend the read, but I had to list my reason for going with 4 stars rather than 5.

This book follows Bree (who is crashing at a house on Rodeo Drive) Sophie & Carter (whose parents own said house) and things really get interesting when Sophie finds Bree and decides to invite her to a party they’re throwing. The next morning when Bree finds Sophie’s body in the pool, she knows she needs to figure out what happened. Since her husband also died under mysterious circumstances, she doesn’t want the police to start looking at her.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC.

"A desperate woman. An irresistible invitation. An escalating nightmare of secrets, lies, and murder."

I loved this story and the unreliable characters. I felt for Bree and her situation. I definitely think it's a great "what would I do" in this situation. I love books that get you thinking like this one. Plus, dead bodies, killers and a pool!

Super twisty, and unputdownable! I loved it.

I’ve never read anything by this author before but always wanted to. I’m so glad that I finally did! There was mystery and intrigue to this book that I absolutely loved. It moved at a great pace and I never got bored. I loved the characters and felt for them. The ending was tied up nicely.

Not my usual type of book; but I really enjoyed it and found I was really invested in the characters. Bree is married Luke; but it’s clearly from the story that he has ‘“left” her in some way, deeper into the story we find out why Bree is homeless and where Luke is. The third main character in this book is Sophie; a young lady who is helping Luke with his books. Sophie uncovers something that really needs investigating which opens a spiral of events. I really enjoyed this book.

Main characters in the book to keep up with. Bree, Sophia, Charter, Luke.

Each character tells their chapter and each chapter ends in a way to want to continue to find out what's next, hard to stop.

Bree and Luke were married for 3 years and life was great! A few moths later, it shatters, leaving Bree homeless, living in her car and Luke no longer around. Though she's living in her car, working on the side to save up some money, she can't help to break into a beautiful homes backyard to sleep in the pool house.

Sophie is just chilling out in life right now, not really doing much, but she really wants to be an FBI agent. At the moment she seems to have all kinds of secrets that she keeps to herself and for temporary work, she does side jobs as a bookkeeper.

Carter, Sophie's brother, works for his dad and discovers a house, on Rodeo Drive. is in his dads name. He also discovers there is a nice full size truck and a Porsche in the garage, nice furniture in the house, food in the cabinets, pet dishes and food also and he wants to know what is going on with his dad!!!

Sophie and Carter's parents are going out of town and she wants to throw a Halloween party, but Carter doesn't think that's a good idea, what if the resident's show up, even though dad is out of town...Sophie finally changes his mind. She makes an invite list, and sends them off. The night of the party, nothing really is going right as planned only to to have a shocking morning after.

The book is full of twists and turns that kept the pages turning. However there a few eye rollers in there that are a bit over the top, because that's not happening, but I definitely enjoyed reading it and wanting to continue on to the next chapter to see what was up with the next character.

I want to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read the book for an honest review.

In the beginning I really enjoyed reading it but unfortunately it got to be too much so I didn't finish it, it might be different for others! Thanks Net Galley for allowing me to read this!

Homeless, broke, and recently widowed, Bree was heartbroken, hungry, and desperate for a place to sleep that night. Little did she know that hopping that fence to lay by the Beverly Hills Pool would completely change her life. However, nothing is what it seems. This thriller surprised me and rounded corners that I wasn’t expecting. Each part brought its own little twist, making it impossible to put the book down. Thank you Lake Union Publishing and Susan Walter for the ARC. Lie by the Pool will be released September 12, 2023.

This was good, I enjoyed all the extra twists and turns thrown in and as it slowly unweaves just who everyone is and their links to this perfect house. Super fast paced and the author clearly knows how to keep an audience hooked!

Wow, this story has me in the edge of my seat! First book I’ve read by this author and I’m a new fan! Excited to see what else she has written!

Don't worry if as you start this it feels a little like jello...

...because within a few pages it all comes together and you will not be able to put it down. I became so invested in Bree & Luke, Sophie, and Carter's stories and what led to Bree's homelessness.

I was so intrigued by how complex and well-written Sophie was and I just had to find out what happened to Luke.

Susan Walter weaves it all together seamlessly and I loved every page.

I highly recommend.

This was one of my favorite books this year. Surprising storyline. Suspenseful and well written. Look forward to more books from this author.

Summary: At the beginning of the novel we meet Bree, a young woman who is currently homeless and living out of her car. She decides to climb the fence of a vacant property in Beverly Hills and sleep in the poolhouse for the night. When the owner’s daughter Sophie discovers Bree, she offers her some help and an invitation to a party at the house. Bree attends, and the party is a success, however in the morning there is a dead body floating in the pool. Knowing she would be a suspect, Bree runs. In an effort to discover the real murderer, she teams up with Sophie’s brother Carter to investigate, but they quickly realize they might be in over their heads when bullets start flying.

Thoughts: This novel contains all the popular elements of a thriller – alternating points of view, twisty plot, surprises, quick pace, and reasonably short chapters – along with a great setting. At certain points I found the constant changing in POV to be a little jarring and disruptive to the flow of the story. It is altogether a solid thriller, but I didn’t connect with the characters. The feel and tone of the ending also struck me as odd, given the rhapsodizing that Bree does throughout the novel about her attachment to her perfect husband. A good summer thriller choice, perhaps by the pool.

I was enjoying this book up until the whole Russian mafia angle. I feel like it could’ve been written better if that was the chosen direction. It was just ok for me.

A thrilling suspense novel not to miss, coming September 12th! You’ll be hooked quickly.

The book features Bree, a homeless piano prodigy, living out of her car. She is broke and desperate, and you’ll quickly wonder how she came to be that way.

The narration switches between four characters as the story unfolds. This fast paced read comes in at under 300 pages, perfect to devour by the pool or on vacation. I highly recommend reading this book!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Susan Walter and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC.

This is a cool pool thriller

Homeless woman finds an empty pool house

rests a while. No harm right?

People start arriving for a pool party and think she is a guest so she plays along

In the morning, she's all alone again. The others have gone. Oh all apart from the dead body in the pool...