Nya

I’m an avid reader, a hobbyist writer, a professional designer, and I blog for fun!

I love mystery & thrillers, speculative fiction, non-fiction (business & design), and my guilty pleasure is chick-lit. I’ve created this blog to contradict my workaholic tendencies and talk about a non-work related passion of mine.

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DCI Jonah Sheens is back with “Watching From The Dark” by Gytha Lodge

I blame “She Lies In Wait” for setting high expectations. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so invested in “Watching From The Dark”. 2 stars.

Disclaimer: I’ve received an advanced reader copy via NetGalley, this doesn’t influence my opinion or review. Thank you to the author and the publisher for providing me with a reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Personal Experience:

Quote:

“Every move of his has been characterized by weakness. Even his strongest one.“

Who should read it? DCI Sheens fans.

Would I recommend it? It wasn’t my cup of tea.

I was really excited to read this book, mainly because I’ve read the previous one in the series but also because the premise was interesting.

Here’s what I liked about this book:

The premise. A young woman is murdered during a video chat. Intriguing.
The beginning. I like that it actually starts with the video chat scene and from the witness’ perspective. It’s unclear at this point how reliable the narrator is, which makes it even more interesting.
The focus on the characters’ personal lives. It makes you wonder what else might they be hiding?

Now what I didn’t like as much:

The pace. Somehow the pace dragged which completely ruined the suspense and mystery for me. The premise and the initial hook aren’t enough to keep me invested.
Pretty much all characters were unlikeable.
Unlike the last book in the series, I didn’t care as much for the detectives’ personal lives.
The end. It was unexpected because it would’ve been so obvious otherwise. So it kind of disappointed me.

Overall, “Watching From The Dark” was a fun thriller read that just didn’t manage to keep me hooked.

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Watching from the Dark (DCI Jonah Sheens #2)
by Gytha Lodge
Publication date: February 2020
Genre: Thriller, Mystery

When a vibrant young woman is murdered while on a video chat, a small-town detective wades into a circle of friends and lovers with dangerous secrets—in the new novel from the acclaimed author of the “enjoyably chilling”* She Lies in Wait.

*The New York Times Book Review

Aidan Poole logs on to his laptop late at night to Skype his girlfriend, Zoe. To his horror, he realizes that there is someone else in her flat. Aidan can only listen to the sounds of a violent struggle taking place in the bathroom—and then the sound of silence. He is desperate to find out if Zoe is okay. But then why is he so hesitant to call the police?

When Aidan’s cryptic messages finally reach them, Detective Chief Inspector Jonah Sheens and his team take the case—and discover the body. They soon find that no one has a bad word to say about Zoe, a big hearted young artist at the center of a curious web of waifs and strays, each relying on her for support, each hiding dark secrets and buried resentments. Has one of her so-called “friends” been driven to murder? Or does Aidan have the biggest secret of them all?