A well written first book and an obvious series in mind with Jonah Sheens the DCI to follow. It seems a silly niggle but the character names drove me mad! It was as if a group of 12 year olds had all been given one character each to name. That said the story was solid and well paced and not lacking in twists turns and red herrings.

Overall this is a good read. It starts off slowly and then gathers momentum as it keeps going. There are some interesting characters and a plot that is full of lies and deceit. The plot was good. It was also sad. The death of Aurora is heartbreaking. I would definitely read another book by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

A 5 star book, enjoyed from the start to the end, a real page turner, very much enjoyed reading. An well written web of deceit and lies, will look forward to any future work by this author.

3.5 stars

Bit of a slow burner for me,but anything looking at a 30 year old murder is not going to be hugely fast paced.
Nice group dynamic,and interesting how each of them didn't exactly tell the truth.
Good setting up of characters,though I found the ex boyfriend storyline a bit pointless.
Tension built up nicely as the speed of investigation did,and it raced towards the reveal.
Overall an enjoyable read.

Loved this book and could not put it down. A murder case reopened and everyone involved holding on to the lies and deceit for many years. Six friends, out camping and drink and drugs involved. The twist and turns in this dark thriller keep the reader on his/her toes. A great story, wonderfully written.

Interesting from page one. I enjoyed this very much, it flowed well with good characters. A family on a camping holiday, a young girl exploring accidentally finds skeletal remains while hiding. The policeman called to lead the investigation with knowledge of what happened as he himself was involved all that time ago.
Netgally review copy.

This is a well written,gripping story which gets on with the job and does not have unnecessary padding or description. The reader may try to guess the ending but that is not easy ! There are believable characters all carefully interwoven. It would be a very good television crime series. Read it! It is a must!

I enjoyed this book and I knew right from the start I would finish it, as I had to know what happened. The story is about a possible homicide.
A young girl of 14 has gone missing over thirty years earlier, she was camping locally with her friends, when they realise on wakening, she has gone.
Aurora was not found and the friends united in their grief stay close over the years. When the body is discovered and identified, the case is re-opened and it is fascinating to see how this group have been trusting in one another. Could one of them have been responsible for Aurora's death and who knew about it?
I had to ask myself, how much would I defend or cover up for my loved ones, or even stay close especially when in doubt and I can't answer that. It's easier when you know exactly what happened.
The book had a good pace and switched back thirty years in a timely way, this seemed to keep it all in perspective. I must look for more books by this author.

She lies in wait by Cynthia Lodge.
Six friends. One killer. Who do you trust?
"A dark, deep, terrific thriller and a scorching portrait of friendship and its betrayal" Nicci French
On a hot July night in 1983, six school friends go camping in the forest. Bright and brilliant, they are destined for great things, and young Aurora Jackson is dazzled to be allowed to tag along.
Thirty years later, a body is discovered. DCI Sheens is called to the scene, but he already knows what's waiting for him: Aurora Jackson, found at long last.
But that's not all. The friends have all maintained their innocence, but the body is found in a hideaway only the six of them knew about.
It seems the killer has always lurked very close to home...
This was a slow but good read.
This was a slow starter but then it became unputdownable. I wanted to know who the killer was. I liked some of the characters. There were some I didn't like. It wasn't who I thought it was. 4*.

Started off a bit slow for me then picked up pace & I couldn’t put it down! So many twists & turns loved it!

Could. Not. Put. It. Down!!!! Gripping tale of a gang of friends who years later discover the truth about what really happened the night Aurora disappeared

The names of the individuals are really quite bizarre but beyond that this is a gripping tale that will see you turning pages well into the evening

A brilliant story that has enough clever twists in the plot to leave you dizzy. Well written with well thought out characters. This book kept me guessing right to the end. A deliciously dark thriller with lots of creepy moments and plenty of suspense. Well worth reading and highly enjoyable, I couldn't put it down

A lovely read!

The book starts a bit slow but then quickly builds up speed. The story itself is gripping and full of twists and turns!

A good read, rather slow to start but I did eventually get into it although not what I call a 'gripper'.

Overall a good debut novel and would probably read more from this author in the future.

She Lies In Wait. Gytha Lodge

The discovery of the body of a young girl, who has been missing for 30 years, leads to the investigation of a cold that was a missing person but now is a murder

A cold case that is locked room mystery in a camp site full of teenage angst and jealousy.

The close-knit group of friends who were in their teenage years were experimenting in drugs, alcohol, and sex, are now in middle age and are scattered across the country having found various degrees of success in their lives

The promiscuity of one the older girls, Topez, leads to the camp becoming fragmented, but when the group get back together the next morning they find her young sister Aurora is missing.

30 years later DCI Jonah Sheens and his team are called in when the body is found. Sheens was a young uniform cop when the girl went missing and was at school with most of the people in the camp, so her remembers the case well.

But has he got more to hide? The girls in the group had been very promiscuous at school, and there is no doubt he knows at least one of them very well. So why is he keeping it a secret from his team. And can he keep it a secret without jeopardising the case.

Can you imagine being asked questions about what you were doing on a certain night 30 years ago. I suppose if it was on the night of such a traumatic event of a young friend going missing the answer would probably be yes.

But what if you had something to hide that night and had told lies, even if it wasn’t connected to the missing girl. Could you remember the lies?

This is the pretext of the plot, and Gytha Lodge uses is beautifully to spin a real labyrinth of a story.

It is a gripping story as Sheens tries to work out who is telling half-truths to cover for something innocuous after 30 years, and who is telling full blown lies, to hide the fact they are a murderer.

This is not a blood and guts thriller of a book. It is a slow burning cerebral book that gets the reader thinking.

It is not until the very end that all is revealed and what a reveal it is.

A thoroughly entertaining read that kept me hooked from start to finish.

Pages: 368
Publisher: Random House
Publish Date: 8th January 2019

I hope this is the first in a series about DCI Jonah Sheen and his team. I enjoyed this debut police procedural very much and found the police characters in particular to be believable and likeable, especially Juliette Hanson.

In 1983, a young girl Aurora goes missing on a camping trip with her older sister and her friends. Now, thirty years later a body is found and Sheen heads up the investigation. It soon becomes apparent that there is a limited pool of suspects, i.e. those who were with Aurora that night but then someone starts pointing the finger at Aurora's English teacher.

The narrative goes between the present day and the past with the past being from Aurora's point of view. Aurora is a very nicely drawn character and you get a real sense of the terrible waste caused by her murder.

I liked this book a lot. There aren't a lot of twists and turns and I actually found this quite refreshing. Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin for the ARC.

A slick, character-driven police procedural.. It's perhaps a bit much that with six suspects the police team is overburdened with issues (a clingy mother, a stalker ex-boyfriend, a secret connection to the case) but overall this is a satisfying read.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Penguin UK - Michael Joseph for an advance copy of She Lies in Wait, a stand alone novel featuring DCI Jonah Sheens of Southampton Police.

When bones are uncovered in a local wood it is quickly established that they are the remains of 14 year old Aurora Jackson who disappeared on a camping trip with her sister's friends 30 years ago. DCI Jonah Sheens who knew the victim slightly from his schooldays and was involved in the initial search for her is put in charge of the case.

I found She Lies in Wait a bit of a mixed bag. There is a genuine mystery in it but it is long and slow as a read. The narrative alternates between the police investigation and Aurora's last night in the woods with six acquaintances whom she doesn't know well and doesn't feel close to. This is not as annoying as it often is, but I don't feel that it explains nearly as much as the time given to it. It explores the dynamic of the group and provides an interesting counterpoint to their current day recollections but beyond that it seems to me to be a literary device I don't feel I need in a crime novel.

Jonah's investigation naturally concentrates on these six individuals, reasoning that with them being so isolated there are few others with the opportunity to commit the murder they all assume has taken place, an assumption based on the fact that the body was buried rather than forensics which no longer exist after such a long time. As a result most of the investigation revolves around interviews with this group of friends who have all remained close. It is probably very realistic of such an investigation that repeated interviews and slow progress are the only way forward but it can be hard going on the reader at times.

For readers who enjoy a character based read this is a very interesting novel as the six friends and their interactions are well drawn and complex, with Jonah's vague knowledge of them adding a certain piquancy to the narrative. Personally, I'm all about the investigation so the story of self indulgent teenagers become adults and their antics didn't really hold my attention as I found most of them tiresome, Jojo being the exception. It took me much longer than usual to finish the novel.

I found the resolution excellent as it is clever, logical and unexpected and while it was a long time coming it made the journey through the rest of the novel more worthwhile. 3.5*

This is the debut novel by Gytha Lodge. ‘She Lies in Wait’ is a thoroughly entertaining read.

In 1983 seven teenagers go camping and one goes missing. A young police officer is involved in searching for Aurora Jackson during the weeks that follow. It has always left him wondering what happened.

Finally her body is uncovered some 30 years later when he is a DCI and he takes charge of the murder hunt. Everyone involved has something to hide including the DCI as the new Detective Constable on the case finds out.

The story goes from present day back to 1983 to get a perspective of the teenagers and their drug taking and alcohol drinking. I found the characters well developed and the pace great. There are enough red herrings and twists and turns to keep interest until the end. I warmed to JoJo more than the rest of the characters.

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin UK, Michael Joseph and Gytha Lodge for my ARC in return from my honest review.

Excellent read. Highly recommended.

There is a nice start to this book - old bones are found at a site of interest in an old case. The police officer in charge of the case was had just started his career in the police at the time of the original investigation. He is now a DCI and brings with him his team and a new Detective Constable. The book alternates in the main between the current time, the case and the investigation and memories from the past. Most of the old memories are from Aurora's viewpoint. She is the girl who disappeared then and whose body has now been found.

The location of the remains suggests that really only 6 people who were with Aurora on the night she died can really be involved. However is it quite a simple as that? As the story moved through a gradual reveal both in modern times and in the past some threads appear. Which of those are red herrings and which might lead to the killer? Equally was Jonah, the DCI, really as uninvolved with the group of youngsters from 30 years ago as he maintains?

The characters here gradually emerge with the story. I liked them well enough in the main though I did feel that they generally felt a underdeveloped. Jojo was the real exception to that rule - I liked her a lot - and maybe Jonah to a degree. The fact that there appear to be only 6 suspects did not mean I didn't think "Ah it must be that one" more than once! The writing was good with the pace and tempo just fine. There was enough description to understand the settings and what was going on. The level of tension increased nicely as the book went on.

For me this worked on different levels too with people growing up and the changing attitudes in society coming out of it. I don't think it is flawless - I'm fairly sure I spotted an odd glitch and as I said earlier the characters were generally ok and not much more than that. However, in the end I just plain enjoyed reading this story hence the 5 star rating. It is certainly one of the best books I've read so far this year (2018) and I would really like to read another by this author in the future