Many thanks to Net Galley and Little Brown Book Group UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review Cyrus’ friend Evie Cormac, who lives with him, has a troubled past but tries to help pay the bills by taking a job at a local bar. Soon, a second woman goes missing, and the witness is none other than Evie, dragging Evie into the case and the efforts to find the missing women. After having read the first two previous books in the series I was so thrilled to be given the arc of this one and omg I loved every single thing about it. Thoughtful . . . it isn’t easy to maintain a balance between two such different plot strands, but Robotham does it brilliantly.” — Sunday Times (UK), Best Crime Books of 2022

I miss my mum the most. I feel guilty about playing favorites, but nobody is around to criticize my choices, except for Elias, and he doesn’t get to choose. Ever.I enjoyed the twists and the suspense. The action seemed very real, and dealt with the difficult topic of mental health.. Lying Beside You is written with alternate chapters for the points of view of the two main characters, Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac. Each of them is as interesting and significant to the story as the other, so this works really well and keeps the suspense level high throughout the book. Sometimes it is hard not to get cross with Evie who struggles with a lot of personal demons, but Cyrus always manages to be patient and forgiving, so I was too. I had nobody to nag me after the murders. My grandparents didn’t have the heart. They were grieving too. I became the boy who was pitied and pointed at and whispered about. Befriended. Bullied. Cosseted. Counseled. The boy who did drugs and cut himself and turned up drunk at school. A hard child to love. Not a child at all, not after what I’d seen.

Evie does not want Elias to come and live with Cyrus and her. She wants to get a job and some sort of life. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. Elias continues. “I know what I did, and I know why it happened. I am a schizophrenic. What I experienced that day—what I saw and heard: the voices, the hallucinations—none of that was real. But I did unspeakable things to my family. Unforgivable things.” This is the third book in the Cyrus Haven series but my first read and read happily as a stand alone thriller. The story is told first hand from both Cyrus’s and Evie’s POV rapidly building the pace and tension. Both Cyrus and Evie are great characters. Brilliantly written this book soon had me hooked, reading late into the night. The main storyline is masterfully interwoven with an old case some 8 years earlier. Having said that I have enjoyed the Cyrus Haven books, this being the third in the series, as I have enjoyed all the authors books. His writing is that good.

The case of missing Maya is also one that goes through multiple layers and has several twists and turns as the plot heads down blind alleys, then raises your suspicion antenna which twitches in several directions but as ever the author has surprises in store. At times it's quite emotional, you feel a gut punch at the unfairness and injustice that is delivered. The pace builds and the last part is a hold your breath, tension fuelled, suspenseful and dramatic confrontation. The setting for this is brilliant as it perfectly fits and matches what unfolds and adds to the intensity. It is riveting reading. OMG if you live thrillers and puzzles this is the book for you. I haven't read any of Michael's books before but I certainly will be looking for more. With so much going on I had no idea who the suspect was or why. I did start to put some pieces together. It made the book interesting to read and I was so invested in it.

Evie is determined not to let Cyrus down... again... but she is wilful and very intelligent and does not suffer fools. She also knows when someone is lying - a blessing and a curse! She starts a new job in a bar and is there when the police start to ask about Maya. Then another young woman, one she helped out, also goes missing, drawing her into the investigation as a witness. One of my favourite authors. I enjoyed his Joe O'Loughlin series. This is the third book to feature Cyrus Haven who is a forensic psychologist living in the Nottingham area. Living with him as a friend is Evie a broken but determined young woman, who has a gift that she can tell if someone is lieing to her. There are several stories running through this book, foremost two women are missing and a man is dead. The only witness to the 2nd missing woman, who was abducted, is Evie, the troubled girl with the gift of being able to tell if you are lying. Both of the missing women have secrets that Cyrus must unravel so he can find them. Cyrus is a man with a troubled past. When he was 9 years old he witnessed his older brother kill his parents and twin sisters after hearing voices in his head. He is now a forensic psychologist and is summoned to a house where a father is found dead and the adult daughter missing.Elias Haven murdered his parents and his twin sisters two days after his nineteenth birthday. Voices told him to do it. Only two people survived the carnage - Elias, who was sent to Rampton, and his thirteen-year-old brother, Cyrus, who hid in a shed until the police found him. Twenty years later, Cyrus is a forensic psychologist and he's been told that his brother is being released. Can Cyrus forgive the sinner whilst having to live on a daily basis with the results of the crime? Can he bear to have Elias living in the same house? How will his lodger, twenty-one-year-old Evie Cormac, cope? Briefly, Cyrus is a Forensic Psychologist and the story opens with him attending a parole hearing for his brother Elias. Elias murdered their parents and sisters, as a teenager, 20 years before. He is to be released to Cyrus’s charge on day release. Cyrus lives in his parents house and has 21 year old Evie Cormac staying with him as a lodger. Evie had a very disturbing upbringing and has a gift of telling when people are lying. A man is found murdered and his daughter is missing. Cyrus is brought in on the case, even though the police have a suspect, however, neither Cyrus and Evie believe he is the killer. I’m his only family, I want to say, but that’s not quite true. He still has grandparents, aunts, uncles, and a handful of cousins, who have been remarkably silent for two decades. I doubt if being related to Elias is one of their dinner party stories. If you love Lying Beside You , don't miss Cyrus and Evie in Good Girl, Bad Girl and When She Was Good .