Loved everything about this book and look forward to more from Detective Jess Lambert. From start to finish the story kept me guessing about what happened to the Harpers and why was the 16 year old daughter left at the wreck site injured.
While trying to find answer Jess must face some of her own past.
Thrilling from start to finish ~ highly recommend

4.5 stars! I loved this book and I pray that there is more of Detective Jess Lambert to come! Christina McDonald’s writing was fantastic. I’m not typically a fan of super natural things, which this series has some of, but MvDonald does it so well and it just works. Love how it tied back to things in the first book (definitely should read the first one before this). Really enjoyed it! Definitely recommend!

Thanks to Thomas & Mercer & NetGalley for the ARC!

What Lies in Darkness is the second installment of McDonald's Jess Lambert series, and it continues the story of a dedicated detective searching for a way back from unspeakable tragedy. Her young daughter died in a car accident while she was behind the wheel, and she's literally haunted by the incident, plagued with guilt that has destroyed her marriage and her personal life. Jess throws herself into her career, this time to solve a case that has everyone stumped. An entire family went missing after a bad car accident the year before, and only Alice, their teenage daughter, survived. When evidence surfaces a year later, Jess is determined to solve the case and bring closure to young Alice. This is a slow burn thriller that ramps up to a breakneck pace towards the end, with reveal after reveal peeling back the layers of this complex and nuanced story. The setting is immersive, and it's the kind of story that stays with you. Highly recommended.

Being the second book in the Jess Lambert series, this book hooks you with action from the very beginning. The story starts off with a car accident with Alice and her family. When Alice wakes, her family is no longer missing and she doesn’t know whether they are alive or dead. As the story goes on, we follow the points of view of Alice, who is trying to stay afloat and deal with the trauma of being the only one of her family left, Jess the detective who is also battling her own grief while trying to solve this case, Laura, Alice’s mother, who’s POV is told in the past and helps to piece the puzzle together, and finally Mel, Alice’s aunt. This fast-paced story was full of so many twists that had my jaw on the floor and kept me on the edge of my seat. You’re definitely gonna want to get your hands on this thriller when it releases this summer.

𝔾𝕠𝕠𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕂𝕟𝕠𝕨
► Part of a Series
► Paranormal Elements
► Unreliable Narrator
► Multiple POV
► Dual Timelines

𝗠𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4 ½⭐️✨
WHAT LIES IN DARKNESS
🤍𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: thriller/mystery
📖 346 pages
𝗘𝗺𝗼𝗷𝗶𝘀: ❄️🚗🕵🏻‍♀️🎵💊📷🎄🔦👻🩸🎒🔑💵
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 7/16/2024

💛𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲💛

Thank you @thomas&mercer @christinamac79 for the #gifted copy! @thrillerbookloversthepulse is raving about this for a reason!

𝘔𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦.

WHAT LIES IN DARKNESS was absolutely amazing! I couldn’t put it down, & the phrase “the plot thickens” echoed in my mind countless times as I devoured it. Told from multiple POVs with past chapters leading up to the fateful night in question, I was completely enthralled & couldn't figure it out. The ending had me gasping in shock more than once!

The descriptive writing vividly brought the creepy scenes to life, & the intricate web of characters & motives kept me eagerly turning pages. Full of mysterious phone calls, threatening texts, hallucinations, & an unreliable narrator, it kept me on the edge of my seat.

Although this is the second book in a series, it can definitely be read as a standalone—I hadn’t read the first one & thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't wait to read more by this author & highly recommend this book!

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
◽️ multiple POV
◽️ dual timeline
◽️ mysterious phone calls & texts
◽️ endless suspense

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁: Late Christmas Eve, the Harper family's car crashed near Black Lake, leaving sixteen-year-old Alice injured & alone. Her parents & younger sister, Ella, had mysteriously disappeared. A year later, Alice & her friends find Ella’s bloodstained backpack in an abandoned house. Detective Jess Lambert's investigation uncovers dark secrets linked to her past. Determined to find the truth, Jess faces resistance from both the living & the dead.

With Detective Jess Lambert back again in What Lies in Darkness, I knew this was going to be another captivating read and I was right. This was another addictive mystery where we follow Jess trying to find out what happened to a family who went missing after a car crash except for one daughter. Short chapters, lots of twists and turns, multiple POVs and interesting characters all made this a thriller that was incredibly hard to put down.

This book is the second in a series, but I had not read the first when I read this, so I believe it can be read as a standalone. I love a good ghost story, but it has to be executed right. Christina McDonald does a superb job in this genre of mystery/ghost story. I loved Jess Lambert's character and now I can't wait to go back and dig into the 1st in the series!

Alice Harper lost her entire family on Christmas Eve, last year in a horrific car crash. She "lost' them in more ways than one, they were presumed dead AND they disappeared into thin air! It was a snowy night, the car slid on some black ice, flipped over and Alice awoke from the crash, hurt, bloody and with the loss of her family. A year later, some evidence of her family pops up at a teen party. Enter Jess Lambert to search for the missing Haper family members. Jess has a special set of skills. But she has her own family trauma she's recovering from.

The book is told in alternating chapters, which I enjoy. The story unfolds and is read easily with twists and turns as slippery as the ice that the Harper family slid into. It's a great story and I can't wait to get more of McDonald's easy writing style!
3.5 stars rounded up.

I was so excited to read this one and it did not disappoint! And there is so much more we learn about Jess and what really happened in her past. Love this series so much! Detective Jess Lambert is pulled into a cold case when new evidence and a body is found in an empty house. Christmas Eve a car accident happens, a teenage girl is found confused and injured on the side of the road meanwhile the parents and sister are missing from the wreck. What happened to cause this wreck and how do three people just disappear after an accident scene like this one? As Jess works off of old notes from the original investigation and works on questioning the remaining teenager, things just seem odd. She knows she is missing pieces and someone knows something but as she starts to gather the various pieces she realizes just how close to this case she may personally be. She has been warned about her detective work and now everything is on the line to solve this before the FBI steps in to take over. I could not turn the pages fast enough! This series is a new favorite of mine. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the complementary ebook. Thriller Book Lovers the Pulse is excited to be reading, posting and talking about this series. This is one you don't want to miss out on!

I love the Jess series. Christina McDonald is a must read. You won’t want to put her books down.
She is a master storyteller who will have you believing one thing and shock you with the truth of the story.
Love this author!!!

Another great installment of the Jess Lambert series! Lots of suspense and twists to get lost in. Love the character of Jess, a flawed detective trying to redeem herself while solving a tough disappearance. It's hard to put down and I finished it all in one sitting! Can't wait for the next!

What Lies in Darkness continues the intriguing Jess Lambert series, a police procedural thriller series with a spin............. a sprinkle of the paranormal.

Book one for me was just meh, book two though was what got my interest peaked - especially with that ending..!

I like Jess's character a lot, she's just worn down enough with her past to give her character the motive to why she acts the way she does. Then of course the mystery itself is one big puzzle, connecting back to book one so read that first for sure.

I am glad I enjoyed this one a LOT more than book 1. I loved this ending, that twist at the very end was shocking. I also liked how I was used to the paranormal aspect with this one, so it worked for me. This is worth the read for sure!

A crash in Killers Grove on Christmas Eve left Alice Harper injured on the side of the road. Alice's family is missing. Laura, Pete and Ella are nowhere to be found. They are presumed to be dead, but no one has recovered their bodies.

One year later, Alice is attempting to find all clues that lead to the discovery of her parents and sister's whereabouts. She's dealing with the trauma of the car accident day by day, and she starts to remember small bits and pieces randomly. Alice is also experiencing hallucinations. she sees a blonde girl, as well as hallucinations of her dad. Randomly she smells the lotion her mother wore daily. But what does all this mean?

Alice and her friend, Maya, find Ella's backpack in the basement of a house in Killers Grove. Once the cops are notified, Alice meets Detective Jess Lambert. Jess also sees similar hallucinations to what Alice is experiencing. Her therapist says this is related to a grieving response. Jess develops a rapport with Alice. Jess is determined to help Alice get closure and help find her missing family.

This is a page turner for sure. This is the second book in the series of Detective Jessica Lambert. This book was easy to read as a standalone, but this does make me excited to read the first book in the series. This was fast paced with lots of cliff hangers throughout the chapters. I would definitely recommend picking this book up when it's released!! Thank you to Christina McDonald, NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for the opportunity to read this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Well now........

Me thinks that Detective Jess Lambert has tied on her big girl kickass boots in this second book in the Jess Lambert Series. And this time, she's making some deep tracks embedded in a creative storyline that sizzles so much more than These Black Waters (2023). Christina McDonald, you've chiseled out some mighty fine characters to carry these buckets of intrigue and mystery.

Rarely do you find a central character who aches with the pain of this much loss. Alice was but sixteen years old when her entire family was taken from her on that frigid Christmas Eve. Peter and Laura bundled their two daughters into their minivan to make the quick journey home. It was after midnight when they came upon a detour sign. In a matter of seconds, something jumped out in front of the van and Peter swerved into a giant tree. Alice was later found stumbling in the dark with no memory of what had happened. Beyond belief, the bodies of Peter, Laura, and Ella were never found.

Alice is now living with her aunt and uncle, Jack and Mel. She's trying to stabilize her mind and her emotions from that fateful night. Christine McDonald does an amazing job of portraying the character of teenage Alice as she stumbles through the staggering reality of loss. Alice doesn't seem to be able to find a niche where she truly belongs anymore. She's lost all sense of direction and identity.

Detective Jess Lambert can almost taste Alice's despair. She was driving when her own young daughter, Isla, died. Jess carries that weight of guilt non-stop. She even turned to the bottle to kill the pain after a severe injury to her leg in the accident. Jess sees random images of Isla wherever she goes. And this will be a thread with some vibrant voltage in this storyline.

While I enjoyed These Black Waters (2023), What Lies in Darkness is a more fine-tuned and well developed offering this time. McDonald has her finger on the pulse of these characters. As readers, the veil slips to the side and we become privy to some really uncanny backstories. The set-up is masterfully formed in the hands of McDonald. The good guys may not always be good guys and the bad guys may not always be the bad guys. Peel that back and get a gander on the bones that reveal some real fleshy moments.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to Christina McDonald for the opportunity.

First of all, thanks fot this great opportunity NetGalley!

3.8 stars, because at some point, i got bored? Or, maybe i'm not in a good vibe when i read this book.

But at first, i love the first chapter. It's grabbed me, makes me want to read the rest of the.story. Yeah, it's really good. Actually i read it for fivr days, and that was awesome ride though.

I love the paranormal things, that keeping up, besides how mystery handled very well.

p.s sorry for my english, but i enjoyed this book very much. Even some sentences noted on my little quotes book

What a great follow up to These Still Black Waters, the first book in the Jessica Lambert series! Jess Lambert is a detective in the small town of Black Lake who is newly sober after a year of battling alcohol addiction following the tragic death of her only child. The book opens with another family’s tragedy: last Christmas Eve, there was a car accident that left only one survivor, their teenage daughter, Alice. However, the bodies of Alice’s mother, father, and sister, missing from the scene, were never found.

Told from multiple POVs in the past and present, this book grabbed my attention from the first chapter, and kept me up well past my bedtime finishing it. Det. Jess Lambert is a complex, flawed character, and her story intertwines with Alice’s in surprising ways. Christina McDonald expertly layers the twists until the very last page.

In addition to book one, there is a novella, The Stranger at Black Lake, that gives some of Jess’s backstory, but it isn’t crucial to understanding the books. I highly recommend you read the first book before you read this one.

I’m looking forward to reading the next Jess Lambert book McDonald is hopefully writing! Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for then opportunity to read and review a digital ARC. This book will be published on July 16, 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. The second in a series and it did not disappoint. Great mystery, well written, unforgettable characters that will grab you and make you want to continue with the next in the series.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
What Lies in Darkness releases July 16, 2024

On Christmas Eve when Alice was 16-years-old, her family of four suffered a fatal car accident. Her parents and younger sister died in the crash, or so everyone thinks, because the bodies all vanished. What happened between the moments from just before the crash and when Alice came to?

A year later, body parts and evidence from the car accident are found in a vacant home that Alice’s best friend’s mother cleans.
Will the town of Black Lake finally get the answers they’re looking for?

This was night and day compared to the rest of the books in the series. I found it gripping and unputdownable, with a plotline that was cohesive, intricate, and actually made sense in relation to the series lead, Jess.
The way the Harper family was connected to the detective was so clever and really rounded out the character arcs.
I’m really glad I decided to read this despite not loving any of the other books in the series, and I appreciated that while the supernatural element was still present, it was toned down a lot.

I'm not usually a series reader, but I'm totally hooked on Christina McDonald's Jess Lambert thrillers. In WHAT LIES IN DARKNESS, she takes an irresistible premise and propels it with memorable, complicated characters grappling with unanswered questions and unimaginable loss. Haunting, suspenseful, and expertly woven, WHAT LIES IN DARKNESS hooked me on the first page and never let go.

Christina MacDonald is becoming a new favorite author of mine! I read These Silent Black Waters (Jess Lambert 1) a few months ago and it was so good! This one was even better! It is the second in a series. You do not need to read the books in order but you there is some connecting information. Here’s a quick summary.

Alice is a 16 year old girl whose family went missing about a year ago, as the anniversary approaches, she is thinking more and more about the family she lost. Her mom, dad and sister all went missing on their way home from a Christmas Eve Party. Alice and her friends are partying in a house and find Alice’s little sisters backpack. As the investigation heats up, so does the danger! Jess Lambert is investigating the missing family and the connection to her present and past are undeniable. There is an air of ghosts in this story, Jess sees and speaks to her deceased daughter and others throughout the book. It’s done in such a great way that it adds to the story!

I highly recommend reading them both if you are looking for a fast paced, twisty thriller. I love Jess Lambert’s character and can’t wait to read more about her!

I enjoyed this book and it kept me interested. I look forward to going back and reading the first book in the series