Lying In Wait

Title: Lying In Wait

Author:Liz Nugent

Genre: Thriller/suspense/mystery
Source: Hardback, goodreads win
Rating: 3 out of 5 paws


Lydia's life seemed perfect.  Doting husband, beloved son, beautiful home.  Everything a woman can ask for, except...a dirty secret hidden within the garden.  Lydia and her husband murder a young woman who intends to blackmail Andrew.  They then bury her in the backyard and act as if they know nothing.  Their son Laurence knows something is up, and months later discover their dark secrets.  Its not long before the truth comes out.  The truth always comes out one way or another.  Be careful what you try to bury away in the garden.

I wanted to like this book so much.  The cover is beautiful and I won it in a goodreads giveaway, I hardly ever win those.  The first half of the book was good and interesting, but then it trickled down and got boring.  The first line is probably the best line and it's what drew me into the book.


"My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it."


I had hoped there would be more like this, more of a backstory leading up to it.  More of an investigation, but it all just stops after a certain event.  I didn't feel the WOW factor that was I was hoping to feel.  It's not very memorable and when I was telling co-workers about the recent book I was reading, I couldn't more beyond a judge kills a girls for blackmailing him.  That's it.  I almost didn't finish it but wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt to finish what I started.  Though I admit I skipped a bunch of stuff because it felt...irrelevant and awful.


The ending was very abrupt like she just didn't feel like writing a better ending or got bored with the story as I did.  It didn't feel original or unique.  How many other books are there about a couple who end up getting blackmailed because they chose the one girl for one thing or another.  Then bury her in the backyard.  What is with burying people in the backyard in a garden??  It is full of conveniences like Karen's modeling agent being the mother of one of the detectives on the case, Laurance's girlfriend becoming a model at same agency.  Laurance and Karen falling in love etc. 


I have seen people say it was hard to put down.  I found it every easy to put down, it was hard to pick back up again.  I don't think I would be recommending this one.

In A Dark Dark Wood By Ruth Ware

In A Dark Dark Wood is a mystery thriller story that takes place in you guessed it some woods.  Nora gets an invitation to the bachelorette (hen) party for a woman she hasn't spoken with in 10 years or so.  When she arrives she meets with a mixmatch group of people.  The maid of honor has a creepy "Single White Female" vibe going and Nora notices small things that concern her throughout the novel.  The first night there, Nora finds out Clara is marrying her former boyfriend, one Nora is still in love with.  In a crazy series of events, the party ends with murder and Nora is considered a suspect.  How will she be able to prove her innocence when she is in a hospital room and cannot remember any of the events leading up and including the murder?  Will she be able to remember what happened and convinced the authorities she had nothing to be with the murder?



Ruth Ware creates a story that simply clings to the minds of her readers.  She builds the tensions and suspense throughout the novel that readers can hardly contain themselves as they anticipate what will happen next.  She builds a lot of back-story making readers think they know what will happen or who the killer really is, but then Ware throws in a twist that no one expects.  She develops the characters in a way that makes them come off in a certain light, but then reveals them as something completely different.  Through this she shows that things are a matter of perspective, how we perceive people and things. 

This was another book that I finished within the day/night, simply could not put it down.  When I finally finished it, it was about 2 in the morning.  Crazy I know, but this book is that good.  I could see this being made into a really great movie that has people on the edge of their seats.  I admit I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, and I was blown away.  The cover of the book suggests something eerie and dark, but the tone and atmosphere of the novel are anything but eerie.  The setting of the novel, a cabin isolated in the woods amplifies the story as there is limited cell phone service, limited lighting, landline phone is shortly cut down, and so much more adds to the mysterious tension of the novel . 

 In A Dark Dark Wood is an exciting debut novel for Ruth Ware, and I cannot wait for more books from her in the future.  She has compelling, deep characters with loads of reliability, the plot is so captivating it has readers on the edge of their seats. I found the novel highly entertaining, even if some things seemed a little out there like the issue over tea and how Flo was acting.  But overall I will give this novel a 4 out of 5 rating.