Christina McDonald is easily one of my favourite authors. Her writing is incredibly smooth, the pacing perfection, and the suspense always keeps me on the edge of my seat. I quite simply love her books!

I really need to pay attention to series 😂 This is the second book in the series, but I wasn’t confused going into it without reading the first.

This book had me at the edge of my seat from start to finish. I loved the writing and the pacing, both were perfection. I felt like the characters were unreliable, which I love. You never knew when they were lying or when they be were being truthful.

The amount of twists in this book gave me whiplash in the best way possible. I really enjoyed it. The characters had really good development throughout the story, and I enjoyed the little bit of paranormal that slipped into this story.

I will say this book definitely makes me want to follow this series, I need more. I need to know how the next book goes. What an ending…it was a cliffhanger that could honestly give you a book hangover.

I look forward to reading more by this author!

“Closure provides us with a way to process what’s happened”

Christina McDonald writes what I think is a sub-genre called emotional thriller. It’s clever in the way it’s formed because it has all the normal elements of a thriller: quick paced, twists and turns, heart-thumping moments; but she adds an element of emotion that connect a reader to the book. In this one, book two of a mystery-murder series, it’s about motherhood and the connection to family.

Jess Lambert is recovering from her own loss and guilt of what happened in book 1 (no spoilers), but is determined to maintain her detective status. Not only is she good at it, but she wants to give the missing a voice and an end. When a bloodied backpack is found at the home of the family that went missing a year earlier, she has a pull into the case that feels… supernaturally strong.

Weaving the emotional pieces of Jess’ story and hearing the voice of Alice (the only survivor and daughter of the family), the plot tightens. I was completely entranced in finding out the connections and what really happened when Alice’s family disappeared that night. No bodies. Just blood. Where did they go?! And why is Alice still alive?

The only other thing I’ll say is that this book reminded me of Jennifer McMahon’s writing. I love her connections between life and death in a thriller… and this one is no different.

Highly recommend it. I need to find a physical now for my forever shelf. This and book 1!

Hmmmm.
This book started off awesome and then the middle seemed all over the place then it had a good twist in the end and another one. The latter wasn't believable; gave it a side eye 😒😒.

Alice wakes up after a crash to find that her whole family has disappeared, just like that poof! Gone without a trace. A year later we find her living with her uncle's family and under the cloud of what happened the night of the crash. Then her little sister's bag is discovered in the basement with her blood on it. Enter detective Jess, reeling from her own loss and recovering from her addictions to help solve the case of the missing family.

This has a little bit of supernatural elements that I didn't mind, but some parts had me thinking; "really"

Solid 4 stars!!

Thanks Publisher Thomas and Mercer for this ARC, HUMBLED AND GRATEFUL!
WHAT LIES IN DARKNESS OUT JULY 16TH!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second installment in the Jess Lambert series, Black Lake, and its fantastic! I loved the first book and this one does not disappoint!

On Christmas Eve, the Harper family’s car crashed on a desolate stretch outside Black Lake. Sixteen-year-old Alice was found injured by the side of the road all alone and the rest of her family has disappeared. A year later and Alice is still suffering from nightmares and visions of her ghost family when she and her friend's find her sister's backpack and a severed arm in the basement of an abandoned home. As Detective Jess Lambert investigates, she uncovers dark secrets that put her on a collision course with her own past.

This is such a fast paced, suspenseful thriller with erie psychological elements. Its an addictive series that I am excited to have found! Solid writing and wonderful characters! Highly recommend!!!

I wasn’t aware that this was book two of a series (as well as a prequel). But this could be read as a standalone. This book truly tugged at my heartstrings for what Alice Harper and Detective Jess Lambert were going through! This one was full of those edge-of-my-seat moments, but that final twist, I never saw that one coming!!! I will definitely be reading the first book and grabbing the prequel as well!!!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my advanced reader copy!!!

I read the first book in the Jess Lambert series, last year and I was anxiously awaiting What Lies in Darkness, the second book in the series, so I am super psyched to have received an early release. Jess is an interesting character who is first introduced in These Still Black Waters, the first book in the series and then you learn more about her in The Stranger at Black Lake, the prequel to the series. Jess is a badass detective who has suffered a personal tragedy. She's flawed both physically and emotionally. She has her own demons to deal with and her story is so much more than a side plot. She's tough and determined and she gets overly emotionally involved in her cases and that adds so much to the stories.

This book is about a family that has a car accident on Christmas Eve on the way home from spending the holiday with the mother's brother and his wife and son. The mother, father and their younger daughter Ella all mysteriously disappear after the accident and the only one to appear to have survived is the older daughter Annie. It is suspected that Pete, the father, killed his wife and daughter and then killed himself. The story is told from the perspectives of Jess, Annie and Annie's mother Laura in alternating chapters. Did I mention Jess sees and communicates with ghosts and it appears that Annie does as well?! As a reader,, you do have to suspend your disbelief to an extent which is sometimes hard to do but trust me that somehow the author makes this work and it adds a whole other wonderful layer to the story.

I had to wait a day after finishing this book to write a review because I was slightly conflicted about the ending. I got to the next to the last chapter and I was totally satisfied with the ending and then bam.....there's another chapter with a twist that I swear you won't see coming! At first, I was a little confused, so much so that I had to re-read the whole last chapter. I couldn't decide if it was brilliant or if it was just too much, but I had a day to sit on it and decided that I loved it! I'm dying to know what other readers think of that ending!

I'd love to read another Jess Lambert book but honestly, now I want to learn more about Jess's partner Shane who was the lead detective on this case. He has a missing sister which is what led him to become a detective. Jess and Shane make an excellent team and it would be great for them to work together and solve his sister's case. Here's hoping!

Thanks to NetGalley, Thomas & Mercer and Christina McDonald for providing me with the opportunity to read this ARC. The publication date for What Lies in Darkness is July 16, 2024. I highly recommend reading both These Still Black Waters and The Stranger at Black Lake first. Happy reading!

4.5 stars. One of the best thrillers I've read in awhile! Lots of twists and turns right up until the very end - and I was a fan of almost all of them. I did not realize it when I started that this is the second book in a series, and I am definitely going to go back and pick up the first (as well as read more books by McDonald). I thought that some of the characters could have been a bit more developed, but the tension and pacing really made this book a win!

I really enjoyed the characters as well as the mystery and paranormal aspects of this book. I love Christina McDonald’s writing!

I absolutely love this author Christina McDonald is an auto buy author for me. Christina could write a manual or a study guide for absolutely nothing and i would 10000% buy it and read it. I cannot get enough of her books. I found her books a year ago and devoured her backlog within a weeks' time and none of her books have every disappointed they are always a 5-star read for me.

Christina Mcdonald is at it again as we follow Jess Lambert in book 2 of the Jess Lambert series What lies in Darkness. We first met Jess Lambert in these still black waters and got a little of her backstory, then we met her again in the novella house on black lake. Jess Lambert is still as powerful and brilliant and a bad arse in this book as she was in the first book and the novella. I cannot recommend this book enough.

What Lies in Darkness follows Jess Lambert through a perplexing case when a family goes missing, leaving one girl behind. With richly drawn characters and striking imagery, this books genre is a riveting page turner in the form of a bending police procedural/paranormal mystery by Christina McDonald is eerie and evocative as it brilliantly and elegantly addresses grief, loss, longing, and healing. The secrets are combustible, the tension is palpable, and the stakes are enormous. Starting from the first page until the very last the reader can anticipate heart-stopping twists and turns you never anticipated. The conflicting points of view, McDonald's writing, and the shocking turns that persisted until the very last page had me enthralled. I read this book cover to cover. This is an ideal novel for readers who enjoy fast-paced, highly emotional thrillers.

If you have never read a Christina McDonald book I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you run out and buy this book series IMMEDIATELY. I can not rave about Jess Lambert's character enough. I really hope that there will be move books in this series, I feel like Jess takes me along for the ride and I feel all that she feels and experiences all that she feels when it comes to her storyline.

Thank you Thomas and Mercer and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased opinon about this publication.

A twisty, fast-paced thriller! Right from the beginning, I really enjoyed it. It’s easy to read and I like the author’s writing style.

Alice is with her parents and younger sister when they are in a car accident. When Alice comes to, she is the only one there. Where is her family?

Detective Jess Lambert is on the case. This time, her partner is Shane, a younger detective. Jess has her own demons she is fighting—guilt over causing the death of her young daughter, Isla.

There are so many twists and edge of your seat moments. So many chapters left me gasping.

I am very happy to be back in the world of Jess Lambert. She is an easy character to root for. I read book one first and then most recently, the novella. The novella gives us some backstory on a younger Jess—happier times with her husband, Mac. I read this book immediately after the novella.

This is told in Jess and Alice’s POV with some chapters from Laura, Alice’s mother.

Great ending! I loved it. Another shocking moment, tying the stories all together.

I definitely need more stories from Jess Lambert’s world. She is meant to help others and I look forward to it.

Thank you to @thrillerbookloversthepulse and Thomas and Mercer and the author for an advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to ThrillerBookLovers The Pulse, Thomas & Mercer, #partner, for an advanced e- copy of What Lies in Darkness in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second book in Christina McDonald’s Jess Lambert series and I am definitely a fan! I loved the first book, These Still Black Waters and was very excited to get my hands on this next installment and I’m so happy to say it exceeded my expectations! Now I just need to wait for the next book…which hopefully will be coming out soon!

Once again, Christina McDonald has managed to give us a book where it is almost impossible to talk about without delving into spoiler territory, so forgive me for being a bit vague here…but trust me when I say if you love thrillers that are incredibly addicting, fast-paced, atmospheric and have just a hint of the paranormal – this series is for you! The protagonist in this series, Detective Jess Lambert might just be one of my new favorite characters and I hope she will be around for a long time. She is a flawed character but has a fierce, determined personality that once on a case, will stop at nothing to see it resolved.

This installment had me invested and hooked from the get-go. And I just love the way Christina McDonald is able to weave different threads together that you don’t see coming. The twists and turns this book takes are nothing short of brilliant. I definitely did not see some of them coming and loved how it all played out. I loved how there were mini cliffhangers at the end of some of the chapters – this just begs you to keep reading, as if I wanted to put the book down anyway!

One of my favorite quotes from this book really sums up the cleverness of what you will find within these pages: “Some of the most poisonous things come in the most clever disguises.” I really cannot recommend this book, and this series, enough. While this book can be read as I stand-alone, I do suggest reading the series in order to really see the growth and development of my new favorite character, Jess Lambert, especially as there are only two books and a novella so far!

So I started this book last night. I’ve been feeling like I was on mystery/thriller overload, so was hesitant to read another- but I have committed to read ARC’s by the due date! All I can say is WOW!! I stayed up too late, then rushed home after volunteering to finish! I have never read anything by this author, but I will be rectifying that now!

The book opens with 16 year old Alice. She is still grieving the death of her entire family from 6 months prior. Her friend, Maya, takes her to a party in an abandoned vacation home. This leads to the discovery of Alice’s little sisters backpack that she had with her on the night of the accident. This is a significant piece of evidence because Alice’s family’s bodies have never been found.

This book jumps right in. As I was reading the beginning, I already felt anxiety. The description of Alice and her struggles with grieving and depression are written very well.

The story is told by multiple POV’s of the main characters. There is an ebb and flow between all these pieces that come together nicely to complete the whole story. The characters are relatable, and experiencing personal issues themselves. I especially loved the detective Jess. She, too, is dealing with grief, and has a connection with Alice. This develops very nicely throughout the book.

There is an element of paranormal. Not ghost or monsters, but Alice sees her father, and Jess sees and talks to her dead daughter. I rather like how the author did this.

And the twists! I did not see the very last twist coming! I had one twist figured out, but not the “why”. But that last one, whoa!!!!

I will be looking for the first in this series, as well as checking out others!!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer Publishing for this ARC. This is my honest, voluntary review.

i read this mystery is one sitting and couldn't wait to see how it all came together. I enjoyed the different narrators for different chapters, especially Alice's mom. Her point of view gave hints about what happened to Alice's missing family and some of the backstory that Alice would not have known. I had ideas about how the story might wrap up but I really enjoyed the final chapter. I did not realize that the detective, Jess, has shown up in other books and I really enjoyed her as a character. This is a great summer read in the pacing but it's winter setting will be perfect for cozy reading any time of year. Thanks to Christina McDonald, Thomas & Mercer, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am excited to share with you WHAT LIES IN THE DARKNESS by Christina McDonald. This is the second book in the Jess Lambert Series that will be published on July 16, 2024. It can be read as a standalone but you have plenty of time to read the first book THESE STILL BLACK WATERS.

The story is told in multiple POV past and present. The Harper family's car crashed on Christmas Eve on a desolate stretch of road outside Black Lake. Alice was found on the side of the road alone. Her parents and sister Ella were missing, vanished without a trace! A year later Alice and her friends find Ella's bloodstained backpack in an abandoned house.

As Detective Jess Lambert investigates, she uncovers dark secrets that put her on a collision course with her past. Jess’s only witness is haunted by her own ghosts—ghosts that might ultimately be connected to Jess.

This is a fast paced police procedural thriller that had me fully invested in these flawed characters that are dealing with their loss, grief and nightmares. The paranormal aspect in the story was well done and added to the mystery of the missing family. This story was so well written and kept me guessing as to what happened to the family and how Jess was related to the mystery. The ending was shocking and I never saw it coming. I am looking forward to the next Jess Lambert book.

Thank you @thrillerbookloversthepulse
@christinamac79 @netgalley for the #gifted ebook

4.5 riveting stars

This is my sixth book from this author, and I was excited to read this one, which features Jess Lambert, who is fast becoming one of my favorite detectives. We’re back in Black Lake for this one, and I wondered if Jess could still see ghosts and if they would help her solve the next case. Detective Lambert is real and flawed, with physical injuries and grief that she’s working through.

The family at the heart of this one has been devastated by a terrible accident, and no one knows what really happened. The parents and young daughter are missing, presumed dead, and only one family member survived a brutal car accident. Alice was sixteen then and doesn’t recall any part of what happened after her family left a Christmas party.

It’s the one-year anniversary of the accident, and a gruesome find brings the case back into the police's focus. Jess and a younger detective are assigned to the case. Jess is determined to figure out what happened that night. Alice is grappling with visions and wonders if she’s starting to remember what happened.

This one kept me on my toes, and the twists at the end really brought it all full circle. I’m rooting for another one featuring Jess Lambert and can’t wait to see what the next one brings.

Christina McDonald’s latest thriller, "What Lies in Darkness," proves that sequels can indeed surpass the original novel. I immediately thought of the famous line, “I see dead people”, but what if there is a scientific reason for these illusions? This gripping story dives deeper into the complexities of its characters and the haunting mysteries introduced in the first book of the series.

The story unfolds through dual timelines and multiple points of view, which intensifies the suspense and keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The lines between reality and illusion are blurred, inviting readers to second-guess everything and question what the truth is. This book continues to follow Jess, whose’ past continues to haunt her in unexpected ways. Threads from the previous books are skillfully woven together to enrich the storyline, creating a roller-coaster ride of suspense and emotion.

Overall, "What Lies in Darkness," is an enjoyable read with a blend of psychological suspense, emotional depth, creativity, and twists. While "What Lies in Darkness," can be enjoyed as a standalone, I recommend reading the entire series because it’s awesome and it also enhances the reader’s understanding of Jess’s journey and the intricate connections that shape her reality. 5 STARS!

Thank you to NetGalley, Christina McDonald, and Thomas & Mercer for the chance to read this amazing ARC.

What an amazing read. This is the first full length novel I’ve read from Christina and it is amazing. So many twists, turns and surprising revelations will keep you flipping the pages. Just when you think you know who did it…there’s a new clue…the end shocked me! The characters were intriguing and kept you guessing and thinking about their actions. They were truly twisted and at times made me angry. Lol I had to really pay attention because there was so much going on and to keep track of. I enjoyed the paranormal aspect of the story.

I’m looking forward to reading Christina’s other books.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the arc.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
This is the second book in the Jess Lambert series, and I will admit that I did not read the first book in the series yet, but really enjoyed this book and think that it works well as a stand alone read. I now want to go back and read the first book in the series because I am hooked. I am not a big series girly, but I really am enjoying the MC-Jess Lambert, as well as McDonald’s writing. I love a badass female detective, and that is detective Jess Lambert in a nutshell. Oh, and did I mention that Jess can see the dead as well?!😱 It was an enjoyable, fun, quick read and I loved the writing style, the characters, and the alternating chapters. Not to mention, that ending!🤯 I DID NOT see that coming! This book is full of suspense, twists, and turns that I did not see coming and. If you are looking for a creepy, dark, and atmospheric whodunit then definitely check this one out.

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦An awesomely fun whodunit
✦A fun, quick, suspenseful and twisty book
✦An ending that leaves you 🤯
✦A badass female lead detective who can see the dead


𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️4/5

I went into this book blind and didn’t realize it was part of a series. Let me tell you this was absolutely riveting and worked great as a standalone. Now I want to go back and read the first in the series. This book does a masterful job of showing the different characters voices and how they deal with trauma and grief.

Read this if you like:
-multiple POVs
-fast paced read
-hidden family secrets and lies
-multiple timelines
-highly atmospheric setting-it was eerie, creepy and unsettling especially Killer’s Grove
-the wintery Christmas season setting
-hints of the supernatural
-unreliable narrators
-exploration of trauma, grief and survivors guilt
-twists and turns
-a highly satisfying ending I didn’t see coming

My rating: 4 1/2 out of 5 (rounded up to 5)

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this eARC that will be released July 16 2024.