The Dark Lake - Free Preview - Prologue & First 5 Chapters

by Sarah Bailey

In a suspense thriller to rival Paula Hawkins and Tana French, a detective with secrets of her own hunts the killer of a woman who was the glamorous star of their high school

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. Brilliantly rendered, THE DARK LAKE has characters as compelling and mysteries as layered as the best thrillers from Gillian Flynn and Sophie Hannah.

400 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 30, 2017

About the author

Sarah Bailey is a Melbourne-based writer with a background in advertising and communications. She has three sons and is currently the Managing Director of the Melbourne and Sydney offices of advertising agency VML and the founder of social media brand and podcast, He Read, She Read. Her internationally award-winning Gemma Woodstock series includes The Dark Lake, published in 2017 and winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction and the Davitt Award for Best Debut, followed by Into the Night in 2018, Where the Dead Go in 2019, and Body of Lies in 2024. Sarah has also published the bestselling The Housemate and Audible original Final Act in 2021. Click is the second book featuring journalist Oli Groves.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had some major problems with this book. The main detective was unlikeable and unsympathetic. Her actions throughout the book were rather unprofessional and her final success in the book seemed more a matter of luck than skill. Also throughout the book she's having an affair with her married partner who she insists she loves while disparaging her live in boyfriend with whom she has a child but by the end we're led to believe that the affair meant nothing and her boyfriend was the important one all along. Also it was evident by about the midway point who the killer was. Also there was a surprising amount of victim blaming. The murder victim is called a sociopath even though there is no real way of knowing this. This character is only described by others and is only seen through their eyes and all of them have an agenda or an ax to grind. I read the book to the end but won't be seeking out any more in the series.

[Kastie Pavlik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The promise of this book was drowned (no pun intended) in words and scenes that dragged on without adding support or furthering the plot. I was curious enough to finish it, but I didn't really care for any of the characters the end of the book. I read this genre a lot and this was nothing groundbreaking, or anything like Gillian Flynn or Paula Hawkins as marketed.

[Barb VanderWel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this & I can't wait for more.
I will be also leaving a review on Goodreads @ Amazon.
And letting everyone know about it.
So i gave it a 5 Stars.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read, very average

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only teaser of a book

Didn't like that it just cut off so abruptly it seemed as if it was just getting into the story

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was pretty good

[Kelly Groff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was rather slow for me. I didn’t really love the characters. For a thriller it was super slow moving. But interesting twist at the end when the killer was revealed.