I was hesitant going into this sequel, and I should have gone with my gut. It started off strong but quickly fell off as too much came into play. Too many storylines were crossing and it many times feels farfetched. There continued to be a supernatural theme, which I could not get behind.

I want to thank Thomas & Mercer & Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this mystery/suspense! I read (but am terrible at remembering) the first book in this series, and this was equally enjoyable. Tearing open a previously-closed wound is hard for everyone involved, and reopening a cold case is the same. The teen depiction seemed realistic and based on every teen I know lol.

Perfect way to complete a series.
As much as I loved the prequel, this was a thrilling twisty page turner that I couldn't put down.
The characters were fantastic and the settings were perfectly set up.
The twists were twisting and the end was a non stop nail biter.
Can't wait to see what other gripping reads this author puts out for her fans!

Thank you to both NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC copy!

I really enjoyed this installment of the Jess Lambert series. It packed as much of a punch as the first did and I hope we get more!
I love the alternating POVs and thought the twist at the end was truly astounding!

As the follow up to These Still Black Waters, McDonald writes a fast-paced thriller about a family gone missing after a car accident - except for their teenager daughter. Alice woke up after the accident on the side of the road, van turned over, smoke coming out of the engine but her parents and little sister are nowhere to be found. Are they still alive?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to be able to read and review this book!

Actually got scared and had to put it down. So 4/5. Loved it.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of What Lies in Darkness by Christina McDonald.

This book has such a strong start when Alice wakes up from a horrific car accident to find her entire family missing. She seems to be the sole survivor of the crash, but where did everyone go? Enter Jess Lambert, the protagonist in this second installment of the series. She is also suffering a terrible loss, a person who, supernaturally still stays with her, offering up guidance when it is needed.

I was pretty hooked initially, but the story started getting too jumbled and contrived for me. I don't remember there being such a supernatural element last time, but it's not really my jam.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This is the second book in a series that follows Jess Lambert, a detective who has a traumatic past and some vices. In this book, she is following the case of a whole family that goes missing on Christmas Eve after a car accident. The teenage girl was the only one they ever found. Like other detective books, I don't think you need to read the first one before this one but it does help to build the character.

I enjoyed this book! I liked the investigation and following Jess. She is a good character and I like her. I also like how this book has a touch of supernatural in it. I won't say much more than that since it'll spoil the book but just know that this one is a bit different than other detective books.

I also enjoyed the other characters that we followed and the different POVs. It really helped to build the story and the background.

This wasn't quite a five star for me because I didn't really like the reveal. It just felt a little lack luster to me.

However, I would still recommend this book because it is a solid crime book and I enjoyed it!

First off Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer Publishing for this ARC!

This was one twisty, hold one to your seat, thriller!! Jess Lambert is not your typical detective protagonist, she’s a hot mess but has been through some sh*t. And I loved her for it!!

Loved the different POVs and the paranormal aspect was perfect and soooo creepy. The characters were very well written.

4/5 ⭐️

I did not know this was a series when I went into it, and I don’t feel like that impacted my experience at all! I absolutely loved this story. I loved the spooky aspects, twists, characters, and just everything!

An enjoyable read that had me hooked until the very end. I enjoy novels that keep me guessing and on the edge of my seat and this book did just that.

I recommend this title.

It’s a well-layered thriller that I couldn’t wait to finish. As each chapter progressed, there were more clues and more puzzle pieces that started to shape up into the shocking finale.
This was my third book by the author, and I think it was my favorite so far. The multiple twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. Plus the character development was so well done, by the end of the book I felt I knew Jess. Although this was the second Jess Lambert series, it can read well as a standalone. Her previous novel, These Still Black Waters, came out in October of last year, while What Lies in Darkness was published on July 16th 2024.
Thank you Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer, as well as Christina McDonald for my advanced reader’s copy.

Another fantastic pick by Thriller Book Lovers: The Pulse.
What Lies in Darkness is book 2 in a series, but can be read as a standalone. There is also a prequel to book 1 available.

It’s been a year since Alice was found on the side of the road after a Christmas Eve car accident, her parents and little sister missing from the scene. Living with her aunt and still working through endless questions, Alice struggles to move on. Then, she and a friend find her little sister’s bloody backpack in an abandoned home where they were partying, causing the case to be reopened.

Detective Jess Lambert was out of work dealing with her own tragedy last year, so the case is vaguely familiar to her but she’s yet to put her skills to the test in solving it herself. As she digs deeper, she deals with her own wounds that still haven’t healed and her past is reaching out to Alice to try and help her - help them both - receive a resolution.

Okay wow, what a story. It’s so so SO rare that a thriller leaves me in tears. I can count on one hand the ones that have, and that list is bigger by one now, thanks to Christina McDonald’s incredibly difficult and emotional journey.

This book is very dark, there’s little to no comedic relief, and the happy ending is still sad. So don’t go into this expecting to close it and smile at the end because you won’t, but I will recommend it for years to come because it’s just that good.

The characters are developed so well. Everyone (seriously, everyone, not a soul spared) is tortured by something in this book. I did not read the first book, which features the detective, Jess, and even though I didn’t read it I felt more than caught up to her story and understanding her character. But because I loved this one so much, I do plan to go backwards and read both the prequel and the first book.

Be forewarned, there is a little paranormal aspect to this series, however it’s done in a way that complements the story and just furthers the complexity of the characters. I do like to throw that out there though so no one is blindsided and turned off because that’s such a tricky element to include and it needs to be done right or not at all, in my opinion. And Christina does it so right.

I do hope that Christina isn’t done with Jess Lambert because I am dying for more.

I enjoyed the first book in this series and really wanted to read the second right after! It was just as twisty and dark as the first! Heading home on Christmas Eve, the Harper family's car crashes. Only sixteen-year-old Allison survives, found hurt by the road. The rest of her family, though? Gone--disappeared from the site without a trace, including her little sister, Ella. A year later, Ella's backup turns up and Detective Jess Lambert investigates.

Jess' investigation unravels a lot of dark secrets about the town, the Harpers, and even Jess' own life. With the second entry in the Jess series, I found myself liking Jess more and more. In the first book, she's a severe alcoholic, hanging on by a thread. She's still dealing with ghosts here (literally), but she's starting to get things together, and we see more of her personality shine through. The result is an excellent mystery with a human side, as Jess relates to Allison through their shared history of loss and trauma. I just love McDonald's books--they are dark and heavy, yet so well-written with nuanced characters and plots that keep you guessing until the end.

I'm not the least bit surprised, but Christina McDonald has kept me up late reading again! Many thanks to her, NetGalley, and Thomas & Mercer for my review copy!
Jess Lambert has become a favorite character to follow. The development of her through two books and a novella, has been a journey I've greatly enjoyed. The depth of writing makes me really feel like I'm a part of the Black Lake community, and I love it! This one kept me unsure throughout, and it is always such a joy to be surprised when I am an avid thriller reader.
Highly recommend!

What Lies in Darkness by Christina McDonald
Jess Lambert #2

I have mixed feelings after reading this book. I wonder if coming in on book two and not getting to KNOW Jess in book one might have made a difference in my ability to relate to and like her as a person. I believe this book is a standalone as following the plot was easy enough, I just didn’t warm to any of the characters.

I am also rather tired of the main character being an alcoholic detective with trauma and drama to deal with throughout a series and wish that more normal characters would show up in murder mysteries. That said, the book was engaging and well written with an intriguing plot filled with twists, turns, and a few surprises.

Is it required to like characters to read their story? Probably not. However, I do enjoy it more when I can relate to and perhaps see myself in or at least like one or more characters in a book and that was not true for me in this book. Well, perhaps there were a few if I really think about it…there were two ghosts, an estranged husband, and a work colleague of Jess’s that I might feel a kinship with…maybe.

I would like to think that Jess will find her way forward, end up with the husband that still seems to love her, and perhaps use her paranormal ability as she solves cases but I am on the fence as to whether or not I will read more in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC – This is my honest review.

2 Stars: my rating
4 Stars: for Netgalley – should it be printed
3 Stars as the final average

Jess Lambert is back in this hard to put down thriller with a paranormal element. I really enjoyed the first book in the series and I think this one is even better! I liked and connected with Jess in book 1 and my heart breaks for what she has been through. The mystery was well done and I look forward to more in the series.

The sequel to These Still Black Waters and it's just as good. In the first book you met Jess Lambert. Got to know her and saw the heavy loss she endured. How it tore her life apart. In this story you find out the truth. But first you have to read about a family who are all killed except for one. The oldest daughter Alice.

This story is about a family. The trauma a young girl goes through after losing her parents and younger sister. How being treated as a freak in school leads her to having problems. She is seeing ghosts and not feeling very secure in the house with her aunt and uncle. Of course her aunt and uncle are having problems also. Alice just wants some closure. She wants to know what happened and why.

Jess is on this case and also dealing with her own trauma from a year ago. When she lost her child in a horrific wreck that she totally blames herself for. She's wrecked her marriage and her life but attempting to get back on track with her job. She takes this case seriously and to heart. She wants to give Alice closure.

This book will take you to a dark place. A place of death and blame. After a whole family are wiped out, except their older teenaged daughter, people talk. They place blame. Many, including the police, blamed the dad. They think he killed his wife and daughter because the wife had an affair. Whether she had an affair remains to be seen.

I enjoyed this book very much. There were a few things I found to be unbelievable but still enjoyed it. The ending was a bit over the top for me. I can't say more or I would give something away. I won't. I hope it's addressed in a future book though. This story was heartbreaking. It was sad. But it was very good also. I didn't much like many of the characters. Like I hated Mel and Laura. I loved Alice, Jinx, and Jess. They were good and decent. Mel, the aunt, was self-centered in my opinion. Laura, the mother, was just selfish. There are things you just don't do. Not to anyone much less your brother. Even if he was stingy and having affairs on your best friend.

Thank you #NetGalley, #Thomas&Mercer, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Four stars.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for the digital copy to review.

Another fantastic book by Christina McDonald! What Lies in Darkness has us back at Black Lake where 16 yr old Alice is the only survivor when her family’s car crashed and she was found alone. One year later, she still has nightmares as her parents and sister were never found and they were all in the car together. Detective Jess Lambert investigates as Alice’s sister Ella’s backpack is found in the basement of an abandoned home and she gets a lot more than she bargained for per usual.

This was so, so good!! I have really enjoyed the paranormal element worked into this series and the way it was done in this book was just chef’s kiss. I was vested from the start of this one and flipping pages until the end, and it couldn’t have ended more perfectly. I think this series is best read in order, you could probably get by without the first book but you’d really be missing out on the best reading experience, and no one wants that. I really hope there is another book coming because I need more of this series!

An adrenaline-pumping read that I couldn’t put down! The book’s intense plot and gripping suspense kept me thoroughly engaged throughout. The author’s skillful use of twists and turns added layers of excitement and kept me guessing at every turn. It’s a fantastic thriller that excels in building tension and delivering a satisfying, high-energy experience.