This was an excellent crime story. I was gripped all the way from the start to finish. 6 friends go camping, no only 5 return, 30 years later, Aurora’s body is found. But who done it.
The author has weaved in the present day police investigations and also from the past. I thought I knew who the killer was but the twist at the end had me shocked. Thoroughly good read and definitely recommend. I look forward to reading more from this author.

I’m not a great fan of police procedural crime thriller but the synopsis for this book drew me in. I was disappointed. One body, several suspects make for an interesting read.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest, independent review.

Six teenagers go camping in the woods...but only five come home... Thirty years later, DCI Jonah Sheens is investigating the case after a body is discovered. The story slowly unfolds as to what happened to young Aurora Jackson, but loyalties and friendships threaten the case - who is hiding something? Who is telling the truth?

This was a fantastic debut - so gripping! I've definitely found a new crime thriller series to follow! It has only been a few years since I got in to crime and psychological thrillers, having read mainly chick lit before, but this is one book I'm so glad I chose to read.

In some books, I find you're one step ahead of the detectives, knowing exactly who the culprit is and waiting for the detectives to catch up, but in this book I found I was on the same level as the invesigation team throughout, working out the clues the whole time with them.

I'm looking forward to what the next installment brings for DCI Jonah Sheens and if it's just as gripping!

There’ve been some cracking new police procedural series of late, and She Lies in Wait is an excellent addition to their ranks, even though the main copper has a weird name (Jonah Sheens). He’s not the only weirdly-monikered character - there’s also a girl with the totally appalling name of Topaz. (Hippyish parents have a lot to answer for.)

The plot concerns the discovery in woodland of the remains of a fourteen year old girl, Aurora (sister of Topaz) who disappeared on a camping trip thirty years earlier. (As the disappearance occurred in 1983 and we’re frequently told that it’s now thirty years later, I assume the story is set in around 2013 rather than 2018/19 - but I’m not sure if we’re ever explicitly told this.) Suspicion inevitably falls on the older teenagers - her sister among them - ranging from fifteen to eighteen years old, with whom the more innocent and naive Aurora was rather inadvisedly camping. It’s fair to say that they got up to some fairly hair-raising antics. The police investigation into these now forty-something adults - among them a prominent politician and a former Olympic athlete - is interspersed with an account, mainly from Aurora’s perspective, of what really happened that night.

I love a good old police investigation and this was a particularly intriguing (and tragic) case for DCI Sheens and his team. I didn’t guess the outcome at all, and there’s a particularly thrilling denouement between the killer and another character which would make a great climactic movie scene.

Incidentally, I liked - because it’s a reversal of what often happens - that Jonah is usually called Jonah in the text whereas his new constable (female), who also plays a major role, is nearly always referred to by her surname with her first name rarely mentioned. A small thing but refreshing.

Fantastic read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Wow what a great read, 30 years on the body of missing Aurora is found, what happened? 6 potential killer, definitely recommend

Brilliant book. Kept you on your toes all the way through. Thrilling loved it. Intrigue . Loathing of some of the characters

This book was a page turner and throughout I absolutely could not predict what was going to happen. Very sad story for the little girl with such a pointless way for her to die. A book that i would recommend as it kept you hooked until the end.

Cleverly written 'cold' murder that skipped between the two timelines - in the 80s when a young girl went missing, and present day when her remains were found.

The close knit group of friends and drip feed of secrets, interspersed with the events of the night in question meant that there was great pace.

I look forward to the next by this author.

She Lies in Wait is a strong mystery involving seven teenagers going camping and only six return. Thirty years later, a body is recovered bringing up a lot of questions. Flashing between the past and present day, we get to know the characters involved. Filled with plenty of twists, readers will have a hard time putting this down to even get through their basic needs. Highly recommended to readers looking for a strong mystery!

Thank you for the arc of this book. A good read, although I did find the writing a little flat. Too many characters in the book which I found confusing especially with the third person narration. Lots of twists and turns which can be confusing at times. A good read overall. Recommended.

An enjoyable detective drama / thriller about the re-opened investigation of a 30-year-old missing girl case, reignited when they find a body. The story follows the group of teenagers who accompanied the girl on her final night on a camping trip in the woods, and two police officers gradually peel back the lies and misconceptions to reveal who was responsible for the girl's death and exactly what happened that fateful night.

'She Lies in Wait' is an easy read, which keeps you guessing right up to the last few pages. It ends with a great climactic dramatic showdown which is worth the wait.

There was something about this book that makes me think I have read something very similar before, and it may come back to me eventually. However, that said it was a real page-turner, well-constructed with interesting characters who are really brought to life by the author. I have read some reviews which say that they guessed the plot early on, but I cannot agree with that. I was kept guessing until the end and the final outcome was not what I expected. I believe this is the first of a series of books featuring the same detective and I hope this is the case. The fact that he is investigating a crime he remembers well gave a different dimension to the story and the author dealt well with the difficulties this would involve. I look foraward to reading more in the series.

A brilliant read. So many red herrings as to who done it! The places mentioned I know very well, and one place was where I grew up.
Will definitely read more books by this author.

This book sounded like a good thriller but left me feeling disappointed. It failed to grip me and I felt like I had read something very similar. Perhaps the next one in the series, if there is one, will be a bit more fast paced and gripping. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC. Reviews on Goodreads and Amazon.

This book gripped me from the beginning but I feel like it lost its way in the middle, however a satisfying conclusion.

Intriguing crime thriller.

To be honest I didn’t know what to expect when I picked this up. I was curious about the concept of 6 friends going camping and someone ending up dead. This is a whodunnit with twists and turns that keep you guessing interspersed with the back story of the victim (a beautiful 14 year old girl at the flush of womanhood), and the thought /detecting process of the police. You get to learn about Aurora and mourn the loss of her innocent life cut short. You also warm to the other characters of the 6 friends, which makes it hard to believe that any of them could be the killer.

I quite liked this, it was a bit slow in the beginning as you start to get to know the characters but it starts to pick up and I found myself racing to the end. The last few pages are quite taut with tension but in a very British way if that makes any sense. Interesting debut, with a great ending. This is more of a 3.5 than a clear 4 but still a pretty good read.

Shocking and sad. This well written account of a revived investigation into the death of a young girl is fiction but feels anything but. Although I had my had my suspicions early on as to who the murderer was, there were so many plot twists that I was kept guessing until the very end.

Oh what a tangled web we weave... And you don't get much more tangled than the mystery contained within this book. 30 years ago, seven teens went camping but, by morning, there were only six of them present. Aurora Jackson was missing. Memories of the remaining friends are sketchy, mainly due to the drink they had imbibed. Well, that and the secrets they decided to keep to save them from getting into more trouble. But someone is keeping bigger secrets and these secrets have been hidden ever since. Until, that is, the day that Aurora's body is discovered. Enter one Jonah Sheen and his team to investigate. He is old enough to remember the case first hand, in fact he even went to school with the teens involved. Who better placed to cut through the noise, examine the new evidence and work out exactly what happened on that night, thirty years ago.
Oooo, this was a bit juicy. All those secrets and hidden agendas that had to be stripped away to get to the truth. As every extra tidbit of information was uncovered, more of the big picture was exposed until, eventually, the whole shocking truth was laid bare. And it was shocking! So shocking that I didn't see it coming until it was revealed, which made for a pleasant change these days.
When I started this book I didn't know that it was a series opener and, as I was reading I wondered if it would be as the author has gone the extra mile with characterisation. More than you'd expect in just a stand alone. Not that this overshadowed the story being told, not at all, just more fleshed out and hints of extra, still hidden, to discover next time around.
It's more a slow burner than fast and frenetic but that's only to be expected when dealing with a cold case, especially one decades old. The action is mostly in the past and has to be drip fed in. Revealing too much too early would ruin the suspense that bubbled up throughout. It's more character than plot driven so would suit those readers who prefer this style.
All in all, a good solid read that kept my attention nicely along the way and piqued my interest in the characters and author enough to make me keep an eye out for the next in series. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

BOOK REVIEW

What a darn good read this book was. If you want a , taut, twisty compulsive book this is for you. The author embroiders two different timelines together effortlessly throughout the book. You don't need the chapter headings to confirm which era you are in as the flow is just wonderful. I was hooked from the first page and a prisoner of the pages till its last word. If I closed my eyes while reading I was picturing Aurora just laying there waiting to be found, and that image lingered long after I read the last word. A book that the further in you fall you still have no idea where it's going to take you, but you don't care you just want to keep reading. Thrilling, powerful, descriptive, haunting it will leave you with a sense of satisfaction that you just read a noteworthy book.

STAR RATING 4

This book opens with the discovery of a body in a secluded woodland spot. It turns out to be the body of a young girl, Aurora Jackson, who had gone missing 30 years before after a party with a group of friends. The group were all questioned closely at the time, but Aurora was never found. Now, decades later, the past is dug up, old secrets are exposed, and people who have known one another their entire lives are left suspecting their closest friends.

The pace is quick, the plot moves well, and the characters are believable. A convincing portrait of friendship and the ways in which we all hide parts of the truth.