Lie Beside Me
A Novel
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
He’s lying next to you. He’s not breathing. . . . And the killer might have been you.
Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens is on the trail in this explosive crime novel from the acclaimed author of She Lies in Wait and Watching from the Dark.
“Secrets and self-sabotage abound in this gripping psychological thriller.”—The Guardian
Louise wakes up. Her head aches, her mouth is dry, her memory is fuzzy—but she suspects she’s done something bad.
She rolls over toward her husband, Niall. The man who, until recently, made her feel loved.
But it’s not Niall lying beside her. In fact, she’s never seen this man before.
And he’s not breathing. . . .
As Louise desperately struggles to piece her memories back together, it’s clear to Jonah Sheens and his team that she is their prime suspect—though they soon find she’s not the only one with something to hide.
Did she do it? And, if not, can they catch the real killer before they strike again?
In this gripping novel, a young woman finds that trying to make sense of her life’s bad choices might prove the most dangerous reckoning there is.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In British author Lodge's uneven third Det. Chief Insp. Jonah Sheens novel (after 2020's Watching from the Dark), alcoholic harpist Louise Reakes wakes to find a murdered stranger lying beside her. Her husband is away, and Louise can't remember most of last night, so she panics and moves the man outside before calling the Hampshire police. Jonah and his colleagues identify the victim as Alex Plaskitt, a fitness instructor whose husband says Alex went out clubbing and never came home. Security camera footage places Louise and Alex at the same venue, and the cops soon realize the true crime scene isn't Louise's garden, but her bed. They arrest her and start trying to reconstruct the evening, but the more evidence they uncover, the less clear-cut their case becomes. Lodge's glib portrayal of Louise's drinking problem undercuts the tale's emotional impact, and shoehorned subplots centering on the investigating officers' personal lives fail to compensate. Still, this twist-riddled whodunit is certain to keep readers guessing until the contrived but gratifying conclusion. Series fans will be contented.
