I love a good mystery! Especially a whodunit that has you questioning each character until the very end. The twist at the end….so unexpected!! It Happened on the Lake is a solid 4 star read!

This book will keep you reading way past bedtime! Never a dull moment and enough flashbacks to make the story come to life. Clever character development and unexpected twists and turns keep you glued to the pages.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for the egalley of this book.

The huge Victorian house on Lake Twilight belongs to Harper Reed Prescott, as does the private island on which it sits. Harper wants little to do with either. Twenty years ago, Harper’s grandmother died suspiciously while in her care, on the same night that Harper’s boyfriend disappeared. His body was never found, and no charges were filed. But the rumors haven’t faded. There have been other deaths, other accidents. All revolving around Harper and her family.

Now Harper’s marriage is over, her college-age daughter is estranged, and Harper just wants to sell the property and make a fresh start. Except returning to the lake has stirred everything up again. Whispers. Memories. And the persistent feeling that, as she gazes out at the houses across the water, she’s being watched in turn.
The whole town has always thought Harper has something to hide, and they’re right. But she might have even more to fear . . .

This is the first book I've read by this author. It was told alternating between the 1960s and the late 1980s. That being said, I found it fast paced and a quick read. LOTS of twists and unexpected occurrences. I had the majority of the twists figured out , with really only one exception. A good, solid read. 3.5 out of 5 ⭐️

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing me an advance copy of Lisa Jackson's latest #thriller, It Happened on the Lake, in exchange for an honest review.

#ItHappenedontheLake is a slow-burn, #mystery about a series of interconnected tragedies that strike the residents of a lake community in Oregon. When the infamous Harper Reed Prescott returns to claim the Victorian mansion she inherited from her grandmother, the past catches up with the present and awakens old demons supposedly laid to rest after her family left town twenty years ago.

The story alternates between the 1960s past and the 1980s present, and is narrated by several characters who were affected by the events that occurred on Lake Twilight. Although atmospheric and suspenseful at times, the novel is better categorized as general fiction or family drama, rather than a straightforward mystery thriller since it focuses more on the characters than the plot.

Oddly, it is easier for the reader to connect with every character except for the protagonist who is either underdeveloped or comes across as a blend of two separate characters. The personality switch is oftentimes jarring. Regardless, there are enough threads to maintain a compelling story, even when Harper is the one controlling the narrative.

Despite her soaring popularity, this is my first time reading a novel written by this author. Thus, while I'm unable to critique how the book compares to her previous releases, I will say that the storytelling was strong enough to prompt me to check out one of her fan favorites. I was also happily surprised that the novel wraps-up nicely (mostly--save for one character) in the epilogue, which is not always a given. Overall, 3.5 stars rounded up.

Lisa Jackson will always be a MUST READ !! An auto-buy every release! Thank you for the opportunity to read an ARC copy of it happened on the lake! MUST READ! UNPUTDOWNABLE! I lost sleep over this book, in a great way! Couldn’t stop reading I just had to keep going!

This one had lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing right up until the end! Loved the setting, the time frame, and the characters. The only thing I didn't like, was the ending. Literally the last couple of sentences. It seemed abrupt.

Thank you #netgalley and #kensington for the eARC.

Lisa writes it, I read it.

Another incredible thriller from her, just the right amount of suspense but also hints dropped throughout that you don't quite understand until the very end!

Harper Prescott returns to the Victorian mansion where she spent so much time with her grandmother. It doesn't bring back good memories because of the disappearance of her boyfriend and the death of her grandmother. And now, twenty years later, it seems that more people connected with her and the house are beginning to die.
The truth is that everything happens in that lake, murders, betrayals, conspiracies... and the mansion, on her island, is at the centre of it all.
The novel has a good story and at a slow but sure pace, it creates the perfect atmosphere for all the surprises that await our protagonist.
The characters are also interesting and with backgrounds that help to involve you in the story.
The only downside is that it has too many pages, not because I care how long the book is if it brings me something, but in this case it seems to lengthen it unnecessarily. That said, it is an enjoyable read, with a good plot that will delight fans of the genre.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington publishing for the arc of this book. This book is a suspenseful psychological thriller. The main character Harper returns to her hometown twenty years after multiple tragedies had happened. This book was longer than most thrillers I read making it a little slower pace but I enjoyed it. There are some time jumps to the past that add to the story. This book has many twists and turns and an ending that is very surprising.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of It Happened on the Lake by Lisa Jackson due to be published June 24, 2025.

Harper Reed Prescott has inherited an old Victorian home as well as an island. Twenty years ago, Harper’s grandmother, mother, and boyfriend all died mysteriously, and Harper has been under suspicion. Harper wants to make a fresh start, but someone is sabotaging her. Will she die trying to save her property?

I have read over 15 books by Lisa Jackson – she is one of my favorite authors. This one had lots of mysteries to uncover and lots of twist, turns, and “reveals”. My only complaint is was almost 600 pages and, in my opinion, could have been a little shorter. I loved the revealing of all the secrets, though, and still enjoyed it!

#NetGalley #LisaJackson #KensingtonPublishing #ItHappenedOnTheLake

Rating: 3/5

Lisa Jackson's It Happened by the Lake is a suspenseful tale with her signature blend of mystery and family drama. Set against the eerie backdrop of a lakeside town, the novel follows a cast of characters with deep secrets, slowly unraveling a chilling mystery that ties past and present together.

While the premise is intriguing and the atmosphere is effectively moody, the pacing occasionally drags, and some of the plot twists feel more convenient than compelling. The characters, though well-developed in parts, didn’t always feel fully fleshed out, making it harder to connect with their emotional journeys.

That said, Jackson’s writing is strong, and she does a good job of building tension. Fans of her work or readers who enjoy slow-burn mysteries with family secrets at the core may still find it a worthwhile read.

It wasn’t my favorite from her, but it held my interest enough to see it through.

A old mansion on a private island near a small town. A granddaughter inherits the mansion, but when she moves in, creepy things keep happening inside the house. A foreboding lake where a number of accidental deaths occurred in or near the surrounding homes. I was hooked by the tropes in this multiple points of view, dual timeline thriller, but the main character grated on my nerves. Even at the end of the book, which had multiple twists, she was more passive than I thought someone would be in her position. The pace slowed down about twenty-percent in, when we switched to a detective's point of view. Overall, this was an atmospheric mystery-thriller with a somewhat wimpy protagonist and multiple twists at the end.

This is an intense mystery thriller that keeps you guessing from the first page to the last page. Harper inherits a large home on a private island from her grandmother and returns after being away for years. Her grandmother and other family members have died under suspicious circumstances and her former boyfriend disappeared and Harper has to confront all of that as she returns. Soon mysterious events occur and Harper is in the middle. Such a great read by Lisa Jackson!

I was so graciously given an ARC of this title.

I'm a HUGE fan of psychological thrillers. Most of the thriller books I read are 300+ pages or so. This was one over 500 pages and it definitely felt like it. It's a great story! But I felt with the extra pages, the pace slowed down. It's a personal preference but I prefer fast paced books.

Still a great read!

The blurb for this book pulled me right in: "an intense, Hitchcockian, standalone spin on Rear Window." Sign me up!

So what happens in Lisa Jackson's It Happened on the Lake? In dual timelines, we follow the life of Harper Prescott and her neighbors around her grandmother's suspicious death and her boyfriend's disappearance on the same night in 1968. Now, twenty years later in 1988, Harper has moved back to the home she and her grandmother shared, where she is met with a creepy house and a bunch of mysteries including the deaths of many people close to her. Can she get to the bottom of the crime save herself?

Coming in at nearly six hundred pages, It Happened on the Lake is a definite commitment, the question is, is it one you should take on? A very enthusiastic yes! The book is interesting, filled with great characters and full of twists and turns, that keeps you guessing. 4.25 stars, don't miss this riveting read!

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Lisa Jackson and Kensington publishing for the ARC and opportunity to review this book.

Man, this was a long read! It was jam packed with storylines that at some points I was frustrated with what I should be focusing on.

It had a past and present point of view. It was clear which era you were in while reading, but again some parts seemed to drag on and on. I felt like I had been reading forever.

There are many twists and shocking turns that I didn’t see coming. It was exceptionally well written, I just feel it could have been done in a more condensed version.

Nobody can say this author doesn’t provide detailed and graphic descriptions in her books because there wasn’t a stone left unturned when everything wrapped up in the end.

4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Publishes June 24

Can you believe I have never read a Lisa Jackson book? I know this author has a lot of fans and I figured it was time I finally gave this author a shot! Plus, in the description it says, “an intense, twisty, Hitchcockian standalone spin on Rear Window.” I am a huge Hitchcock fan so I couldn’t resist a book with that in the description!

I liked the overall storyline of this book and the writing was done very well. I will be honest, for me it was a bit longer than it needed to be and that made it a bit slow. I did enjoy the book though and I really loved the mystery. The suspense was pretty good and I had an idea of things that were going on, but there was plenty of surprises as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released June, 24 2025.

Similar to romance books, I don't think thrillers should be or need to be extremely long. This was pretty long for a thriller and, unfortunately, it felt like it.

To me, it was weird that this felt so long, because things were constantly happening, so I wasn't really ever bored. Maybe it was a pacing thing or maybe because so much was going on, it felt like more time was passing because of everything? I'm not sure. But I think even too much action can be a bad thing, I almost didn't know what to focus on.

This also has a past and present timeline situation. It's made super clear what timeline you're in, so that's good!

This thriller has lots of drama, it does take place in a small town after all! There are plenty of secrets and theories going around this town.

This book was good, I just prefer slightly shorter thrillers because I feel like they're paced better and don't go into unnecessary detail. I think plenty of people will love this book, I totally would've if it was slightly shorter.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My Goodreads review is up and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

La historia se desarrolla entre el pasado y el presente, en torno a Harper Reed, una mujer marcada por tragedias que ocurrieron en su juventud. En el pasado, siendo solo una niña, presenció la muerte de su madre, su hermano y su abuela, además de la misteriosa desaparición de su novio en el Lago Twilight. Los rumores y las sospechas no tardaron en surgir, señalándola como la culpable de estos trágicos eventos.

Ahora, casi dos décadas después, Harper regresa al Lago Twilight, con la intención de vender la propiedad y dejar atrás su pasado. Sin embargo, al regresar, es testigo del intento de suicidio de su ex suegra, lo que desata una nueva serie de sospechas y preguntas sobre su implicación en los oscuros sucesos ocurridos años atrás. La policía comienza a investigar nuevamente, y el pueblo entero parece creer que Harper guarda secretos oscuros. ¿Será realmente ella la mente maestra detrás de las muertes para quedarse con el dinero?




Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest

This was a solid read. Some great characters and a Great plot. The atmosphere and background were what drew me in. There was good suspense and a fair amount of twists and turns. This lost a start for me some seriously implausible attitudes, (oh my cat is lost I will look later …repeat x 5 I would hope no real pet owner is so blasé about their missing pet)
Break ins…. Oh well I’ll sleep with a weapon and maybe report it later.
All the things that for most people would be urgent or important were brushed off until they had to be addressed and that bothered me.
But the story itself was great.