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A review by caomhin
Lie Beside Me by Gytha Lodge
5.0
Okay, book three in the "DCI Jonah Sheens" series! And it's not that dissimilar to the previous two really - which isn't a bad thing really given how much I liked the earlier two. We still get a curious investigation with enough twists to have your inner ear sloshing around, and we still get the faint thread of an ongoing plot to make this a series rather than just the same characters reappearing. Let's start with the mystery of this book first.
You've heard it all before, a woman wakes up in her own bed next to a dead stranger and... oh yeah, that is a bit unusual actually. Still, it'll all be obvious pretty soon right? That kind of thing can't be too tricky. Except Gytha Lodge wrote this so you'll still have questions right until the end. This one didn't have me quite as engaged as the previous books until a nice "Aha!" reassured me that there was more to come, and thankfully it did. There was even a slight twist to the twists, with some of the clues being signalled far more clearly and earlier, which in itself was a nice little act of smoke and mirrors to keep you on your toes.
Moving onto the serial nature of this book and... okay, I've said before that I don't fully buy that the anchor of these stories is Sheens, and for most of this book I swore I was right. Hanson's storyline remains far more interesting, giving a nuanced look at the issue of abusive partners. Seeing that story developing even further in this book, and Sheens' being rather flat, convinced me it was all muddled and anyone with any sense could tell the ongoing plotline that would really keep people coming back. And, as I was nearing the end of the book and starting to think about what I would write here I told myself not to take too firm a stance on that. In my mind, I thought I should follow that up with some comment about how Lodge frequently pulls surprises from nowhere and that she probably had a big a huge chart mapping out the next umpteen books and that at some point it would all fall into place and anyone doubting Sheens' star power would look a fool. Luckily for me, the humble pie I have to eat is still fresh because clearly that process has already started and I am indeed a fool for ever doubting it. Yes, she tricked me. Don't get me wrong, Hanson remains fascinating to me and I think she'll still bring so much to future books, but I will concede that Sheens' storyline actually will grow into the bigger aspect overall.
In conclusion, I'm pretty sure Gytha Lodge is a skilled puppeteer who could convince me that up was down and left was right if she wanted to. The only thing I feel I can trust about her is that she'll keep writing stunning books. Yes, you can start the series with this book but do yourself a favour and go start with the first one - they're all worth your time and you'll want to read them all anyway so do it in the correct order and you'll get even more out of it that way.
You've heard it all before, a woman wakes up in her own bed next to a dead stranger and... oh yeah, that is a bit unusual actually. Still, it'll all be obvious pretty soon right? That kind of thing can't be too tricky. Except Gytha Lodge wrote this so you'll still have questions right until the end. This one didn't have me quite as engaged as the previous books until a nice "Aha!" reassured me that there was more to come, and thankfully it did. There was even a slight twist to the twists, with some of the clues being signalled far more clearly and earlier, which in itself was a nice little act of smoke and mirrors to keep you on your toes.
Moving onto the serial nature of this book and... okay, I've said before that I don't fully buy that the anchor of these stories is Sheens, and for most of this book I swore I was right. Hanson's storyline remains far more interesting, giving a nuanced look at the issue of abusive partners. Seeing that story developing even further in this book, and Sheens' being rather flat, convinced me it was all muddled and anyone with any sense could tell the ongoing plotline that would really keep people coming back. And, as I was nearing the end of the book and starting to think about what I would write here I told myself not to take too firm a stance on that. In my mind, I thought I should follow that up with some comment about how Lodge frequently pulls surprises from nowhere and that she probably had a big a huge chart mapping out the next umpteen books and that at some point it would all fall into place and anyone doubting Sheens' star power would look a fool. Luckily for me, the humble pie I have to eat is still fresh because clearly that process has already started and I am indeed a fool for ever doubting it. Yes, she tricked me. Don't get me wrong, Hanson remains fascinating to me and I think she'll still bring so much to future books, but I will concede that Sheens' storyline actually will grow into the bigger aspect overall.
In conclusion, I'm pretty sure Gytha Lodge is a skilled puppeteer who could convince me that up was down and left was right if she wanted to. The only thing I feel I can trust about her is that she'll keep writing stunning books. Yes, you can start the series with this book but do yourself a favour and go start with the first one - they're all worth your time and you'll want to read them all anyway so do it in the correct order and you'll get even more out of it that way.