PENGUIN She Lies in Wait: The gripping Sunday Times bestselling Richard & Judy thriller pick

The first thing that struck me about this novel was that it uses an almost identical scenario to Jane Harper's "Force of Nature", the second in "The Dry" trilogy. Here, too we have a similar number of girls from whom one goes missing, some thirty years previously. Alongside that, both books switch between the time of the actual event and the present in which detectives struggle to find a solution to the mystery of an unexplained disappearance.Although Gytha Lodge's novel holds interest and builds up suspense after a rather sluggish opening, in no way does it rival in quality the totally gripping Jane Harper novel. That Harper's book concerns more mature women allows her to present us with much more complex characters. In general the book is more original. Both in character and in the police activity, Lodge veers close to stereotypes. Nonetheless, the book is an exciting read, even if we cannot care about the characters in the way that Harper's elicit our sympathy.

I don't normally write book reviews, nor do I normally read crime novels - they're either so blatantly obvious or trying too hard to impress with absurd details. But Gytha Lodge's debut novel gets it just right: The story ramps up quickly, building ever-more vivid pictures of this motley crew of protagonists along the way so you get drawn into a story that gets more complex and captivating page by page. And you can't stop reading. I finally clocked who the killer was just as I was reading the very satisfying story finale. I'm only sad I finished the book so quickly.

As soon as you have names like Topaz, Sofia etc you know it's going to be light weight reading. How anyone can call this a page turner is beyond me. The only thing I turned was big chunks to get to to very predictable end. I have no desire to follow this police teams journey to dullsville sorry. The most disappointing read in a long time very amateurish.

It’s hard to rate this book really. The main protagonist is a great character and I think it would be interesting to see his character develop in future novels; however, the plot is a little slow in places and I lacked enthusiasm for story.

This is a well written debut which has lots of twists and turns. Good characters that kept you guessing. In particular I really felt like I got to know Aurora and therefore really wanted to get justice for her. As it happens I didn’t work out the guilty party till right near the end about when Sheens did. I would definitely recommend and have already ordered another copy as a gift for someone.