Although I enjoyed reading this novel, at times I felt that it lost its pace. However the ending tied it all up nicely and kept me interested.

The Australian town of Smithson is shocked when the body of local schoolteacher, Rosalind Ryan, is found floating face down in the lake, surrounded by long stemmed red roses.

It’s no secret that Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock went to school with the victim - in a small town, such connections are hard to avoid - but the history between them goes far deeper than Gemma is willing to admit to anyone.

As the investigation into Rosalind’s death progresses, long buried secrets are about to come to light...

This is an accomplished first novel from Sarah Bailey which excels on characterisation and sense of place - the atmosphere of the small town is clearly evoked and the complex and unusual character of Gemma is skilfully developed. Her relationship with the largely male, largely unreconstructed local police - though her immediate boss is supportive - can be fraught, facing the attitude that she “should take her feelings and her handbag to the nearest beauty parlour”, and her determination and resilience is admirable.

Nevertheless, she’s not necessarily an immediately likeable character - professionally ambitious and making a name for herself following a notable single-handed success, but with a personal life which feels self-destructive and chaotic, apparently settled with her partner and child but simultaneously conducting a deeply ill-advised affair with a new - and married - colleague. And quite clearly she’s not telling us everything about her past connections with Rosalind and the ghosts which continue to haunt her.

The plot is well constructed and fairly unpredictable - I didn’t foresee the ending. I did get confused at times regarding Rosalind’s family and remembering which of her three brothers was which.

An enjoyable and atmospheric read - I will definitely look out for more from Sarah Bailey.

Review will also be published on Amazon and on my blog at http://atickettoeverywhere.blogspot.co.uk.

This book was a real let down at first it started really well then went from interesting to boring.

It is down to Detective sergeant Gemma Woodstock, she is called in to solve the murder of Rosalind, an old friend of hers.

They do not seem that interested in solving the murder and the book was just boring.

I thought that once some flowers turned up for Gemma the same that were left with Rosalind's body, I hoped things would pick up. However, nothing happened, I was hoping that it would be a nice twist to restart the story.

But half way through the book I was bored and gave up.

An extremely well-written, serpentine affair that kept me guessing to the bitter end.

The action is set in Smithson, a small rural town in Australia where a woman’s body is discovered floating in a lake and covered in red roses. Her bag is missing, her clothing has been disturbed and there is the suggestion of sexual assault. Gemma Woodstock, married with one son, is a rising star in the local police with the rank of Detective Sergeant and she and her partner are sent to investigate.

Very quickly it is established that the victim is Rosalind Ryan who was a teacher at the local school who was in fact a classmate of Gemma. On the night of the murder Rose had been involved in a school production of Romeo and Juliet and many of the town’s people had been at the performance. It quickly becomes clear that there is a history between Gemma and the victim and as the police investigate they discover that the extremely beautiful Rose had some secrets. A recurrent theme through the text is the past relationship between Gemma and Rose which smacks of jealousy.

As with many detectives, Gemma is flawed. Undoubtedly she loves her son, but her relationship with her husband is flawed; not helped by her affair with Felix, her police partner, a married man with children who transferred to Australia from England.

Bailey has captured the flavour of Australia, describing the hot summer which drains energy from the community, exacerbates moods and heightens tensions. Equally the portrayal of a small town community where everyone is known to everyone else and relationships are coloured by histories and the past and as ever, the wealthy have more power and more opportunities than the less well off.

This is a really well written, well-structured plot supported by a range of characters that were believable. Although I have one caveat, at times I just couldn’t believe Gemma. ‘What are you doing? Can’t you see what is happening here?’ Perhaps she was caught up in some sort of summer malaise, a miasma that poisoned Smithson.

All in all, a truly satisfying read even if the first half of the book had me scrabbling to remember just who was who within the Ryan family. I didn’t guess who-dun-it which is always a good thing, but the plot held together well. Would I recommend it – that is a resounding yes.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

Creepy and unsettling!

Interesting characters in this book. Gemma in particular was a deliciously mixed up and strange woman/ Terrible choices and decisions but hiding a deep dark secret which came out only later in the book. The secret of course surrounds a former friend/acquaintance who she knew when younger. Gemma gives the voice to the novel’s characters and others thoughts so you never know truth from fiction. Which is good of course in a mystery novel! It would have been interesting to hear something from Rose I thought, in the flashbacks and a shorter novel would have made the whole thing even more claustrophobic!

The setting – Fictional Smithson but located not far from Paxton is just the grim, remote and desolate land that this kind of secret should unfurl on. The atmosphere is nicely evoked with a touch of chill and that really ramps up the secrets around that dark lake. Even the title gives me the chills – dark lake, dark water – uurgh!