Review: The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

The Dark Lake

by Sarah Bailey

Publisher: Hachette

Pages: 400

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Rose was lit by the sun, her beautiful face giving nothing away. Even back then, she was a mystery that I wanted to solve.

The lead homicide investigator in a rural town, Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is deeply unnerved when a high school classmate is found strangled, her body floating in a lake. And not just any classmate, but Rosalind Ryan, whose beauty and inscrutability exerted a magnetic pull on Smithson High School, first during Rosalind's student years and then again when she returned to teach drama. 

As much as Rosalind's life was a mystery to Gemma when they were students together, her death presents even more of a puzzle. What made Rosalind quit her teaching job in Sydney and return to her hometown? Why did she live in a small, run-down apartment when her father was one of the town's richest men? And despite her many admirers, did anyone in the town truly know her? 

Rosalind's enigmas frustrate and obsess Gemma, who has her own dangerous secrets—an affair with her colleague and past tragedies that may not stay in the past.


Kritters Thoughts:  Set in Australia, this murder mystery was so dark eery it was perfect for a fall weekend.  Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock is a detective in the small town where she grew up, so when a murder happens she is close to the victim as they grew up there also.  As the story progresses the reader realizes how close she really is and questions keep popping up . . . 

I love a who dun it and I love when they are a little on the creepy side!  I loved how Sarah Bailey paced the book.  I loved how she spaced out the bits of information and they were each timed perfectly just when I felt like I knew it all, she threw out more!  

The small town feel was real in this book.  Growing up in a small town, I could feel how everyone knew everyone else and how a secret can travel a mile a minute!  Sarah Bailey set a stage so well, there were moments where this story could have taken place anywhere and I liked that.  I liked the any small town feel and would encourage fans of the murder mystery genre to pick this one up and start this "fingers crossed" long series.

This book is labeled as book #1 in Goodreads, so I am hoping that this is a series and we have more from Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock.  I enjoyed following her through the investigation and would love to read more from her.  


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Ebook 2017 Challenge: 55 out of 50

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Hachette.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.