Book Review,  Mystery,  Suspense

Book Review: She Lies in Wait | Gytha Lodge

January 11, 2019 /

A decades old disappearance brings the case back into the spotlight when the body is discovered. Secrets, deception, lies, and the search for the truth made this debut mystery She Lies in Wait by Gytha Lodge a gripping mystery that I couldn’t put down! I loved this book—everything from the mystery to the setting to the characters were so engaging. I will be reading the next in this new series as soon as Lodge can write it!

About the Book

Six friends. One killer. Who do you trust?

A teen girl goes missing after a night of partying; thirty years later, the discovery of her body reopens a cold case in an absorbing novel featuring a small-town cop determined to finally get to the truth—for fans of Tana French and Kate Atkinson.

On a scorching July night in 1983, a group of teenagers goes camping in the forest. Bright and brilliant, they are destined for great things, and the youngest of the group—Aurora Jackson—is delighted to be allowed to tag along. The evening starts like any other—they drink, they dance, they fight, they kiss. Some of them slip off into the woods in pairs, others are left jealous and heartbroken. But by morning, Aurora has disappeared. Her friends claim that she was safe the last time they saw her, right before she went to sleep. An exhaustive investigation is launched, but no trace of the teenager is ever found.

Thirty years later, Aurora’s body is unearthed in a hideaway that only the six friends knew about, and Jonah Sheens is put in charge of solving the long-cold case. Back in 1983, as a young cop in their small town, he had known the teenagers—including Aurora—personally, even before taking part in the search. Now he’s determined to finally get to the truth of what happened that night. Sheens’s investigation brings the members of the camping party back to the forest, where they will be confronted once again with the events that left one of them dead, and all of them profoundly changed forever.

Reflection

This book really centers around a tangled web of secrets and lies. On the fateful night Aurora disappeared, seven entered the campsite, but only six left. As the book opens over two decades after Aurora’s disappearance, we learn that she never left. Her body is discovered at the place she was last seen, in a hideaway that was used by the other six friends.

This tragedy should have split the friends apart, but instead it solidified them as a group. With each person protecting the others, there are a lot of secrets to be revealed as Jonah Sheens investigates the case. I thought this was an interesting twist, having them remain close for those 30 years. There was genuine love among the friends, which made it almost impossible to know who had the key to what happened to Aurora.

Jonah Sheens is not only a fascinating character, but also someone with a personal connection to the case. He was in school with the seven friends when Aurora disappeared. I really enjoyed Jonah as the central narrator and detective. He isn’t perfect, but he is committed to doing the investigation right and finding Aurora’s killer.

I had a LOT of guesses along the way about what happened, but I must admit I didn’t guess correctly! I was shocked at the ending! I look forward to reading more by Gytha Lodge in the future!

Thank you to Penguin Random House for my copy of this book!

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