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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
3.5 ⭐️ Definitely want to go back and read the first two books in the series because I jumped into it! Crime thrillers are hard to digest because if you miss one detail, it might be important later, and that definitely happened to me. The story kept me guessing the whole time, but I had lots of unanswered questions at the end. Overall a good read!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Good book bit drawn out and found it a bit hard to get into. But some good plot twist enjoyed it in the end
I did not see those twists coming!
After a night of intense drinking with her bestie April, Louise wakes up. Still wearing her dress from the previous evening. With a dead man laying next to her - a stranger, blood everywhere.
DCI Jonah Sheens and his team arrive at Louise's house to find a dead body on her front lawn. Louise seems to have her story worked out - but Sheens and his team work out the truth.
Louise lends the reader the needed background for her story - meeting her husband, her desperate need for alcohol. Her shady memories from the night before Alex's murder.
Juliette struggles with her ex, Damian, who continues to stalk and harass her. Working with Lightman, Juliette confesses he's still around. Though she struggles to tell her boyfriend, Jason - Juliette hasn't even mentioned Damian is stalking her.
I loved these characters - though I have not read the previous books, I was able to keep up with the plot and character progression.
Great writing. Real people. Realistic events.
I enjoyed it!
After a night of intense drinking with her bestie April, Louise wakes up. Still wearing her dress from the previous evening. With a dead man laying next to her - a stranger, blood everywhere.
DCI Jonah Sheens and his team arrive at Louise's house to find a dead body on her front lawn. Louise seems to have her story worked out - but Sheens and his team work out the truth.
Louise lends the reader the needed background for her story - meeting her husband, her desperate need for alcohol. Her shady memories from the night before Alex's murder.
Juliette struggles with her ex, Damian, who continues to stalk and harass her. Working with Lightman, Juliette confesses he's still around. Though she struggles to tell her boyfriend, Jason - Juliette hasn't even mentioned Damian is stalking her.
I loved these characters - though I have not read the previous books, I was able to keep up with the plot and character progression.
Great writing. Real people. Realistic events.
I enjoyed it!
Louise wakes up with a great hangover after a night out (nothing unusual) and as she looks beside her, she acknowledges a man. But who is he? Her husband is on a businesstrip in Geneva and something is very wrong with this man, he is icecold and there is blood everywhere. Of course Louise is the prime suspect in the latest case of DCI Jonah Sheens and his Southampton Crew. She has nearly no recollections about the night of the crime - only a few snippets, she tries to piece together.
„Lie Beside Me“ is a compelling, athmospheric and fast-paced page turner. The writing is impeccable and smart and pulls you straight inside the events. I’ve never read anything from Gytha Lodge before and I’ve clearly missed out, because the characters around DCI Sheens are all very complex and endearing. The author really knows how to keep you hooked and guessing until the nerve-wracking end.
Thank you NetGalley / Penguin Michael Joseph UK for providing me with this arc in return for an honest review.
„Lie Beside Me“ is a compelling, athmospheric and fast-paced page turner. The writing is impeccable and smart and pulls you straight inside the events. I’ve never read anything from Gytha Lodge before and I’ve clearly missed out, because the characters around DCI Sheens are all very complex and endearing. The author really knows how to keep you hooked and guessing until the nerve-wracking end.
Thank you NetGalley / Penguin Michael Joseph UK for providing me with this arc in return for an honest review.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the third in the Detective Jonah Sheens series, following on from ‘She Lies in Wait’ and ‘Watching From the Dark’. But it can definitely be read as a standalone, although I’m pretty sure that, like me, you’ll want to go back and read the others because this one was so good!
The story opens with a terrifying prologue and I was hooked immediately. Our protagonist is shy, anxious Louise who comes out of her shell when she makes a new best friend in April. April is a shady character and something of a party animal and as Louise falls under her influence she starts to drink more and more until she becomes ‘someone else’ almost a split personality, until the events of the night in question when Louise has to face the consequences of her actions. I loved the unpredictability to her character and the way I was never quite sure whether to trust her.
The story is structured around the police investigation into the death of Alex, interspersed with a sort of confessional letter from Louise to her husband Niall as she tries to explain her feelings towards him, and what she thinks happened on that night. The story has so many different layers and subplots that kept me questioning and guessing all the way through, and just when you think you have all the answers, another twist is thrown in, it was hugely entertaining.
One of my favourite aspects of the book was Detective Sheens and his team. I really enjoyed getting to know them, their rapport and the glimpses into their private lives and I’m really keen to read the backlist to catch up with them all.
This was a brilliant psychological thriller/crime fiction I absolutely loved it.
The story opens with a terrifying prologue and I was hooked immediately. Our protagonist is shy, anxious Louise who comes out of her shell when she makes a new best friend in April. April is a shady character and something of a party animal and as Louise falls under her influence she starts to drink more and more until she becomes ‘someone else’ almost a split personality, until the events of the night in question when Louise has to face the consequences of her actions. I loved the unpredictability to her character and the way I was never quite sure whether to trust her.
The story is structured around the police investigation into the death of Alex, interspersed with a sort of confessional letter from Louise to her husband Niall as she tries to explain her feelings towards him, and what she thinks happened on that night. The story has so many different layers and subplots that kept me questioning and guessing all the way through, and just when you think you have all the answers, another twist is thrown in, it was hugely entertaining.
One of my favourite aspects of the book was Detective Sheens and his team. I really enjoyed getting to know them, their rapport and the glimpses into their private lives and I’m really keen to read the backlist to catch up with them all.
This was a brilliant psychological thriller/crime fiction I absolutely loved it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol
Minor: Rape
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
How it's all tangled up and revealed in the end had me on the edge of my seat but it really took some time to get there. This was still a book I couldn't put down but the weakest of the series for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Gaslighting
