Lying in Wait

Lydia Fitzsimons lives in an elegant Dublin mansion with her husband Andrew and teenage son Laurence. Behind their seemingly perfect façade, dark secrets threaten to surface and destroy the carefully maintained order of their lives. The story alternates between three narrators - Lydia, Laurence, and Annie Doyle - each offering their perspective on events that connect them. Their intertwined narratives reveal layers of deception, obsession and psychological manipulation spanning multiple decades. The plot centers on the consequences of one fateful night in 1980 and how it reverberates through the lives of multiple characters. What begins as a portrait of an affluent Irish family transforms into an exploration of class divisions, maternal instinct taken to extremes, and the destruction that can result from protecting dark truths. This psychological suspense novel examines themes of privilege, denial, and the sometimes devastating bond between mothers and sons. Through its confined settings and unreliable narrators, the story raises questions about how well we can truly know those closest to us.

Readers describe this as a dark psychological thriller with complex characters and unsettling twists. The story maintains tension throughout, with many noting they finished it in one or two sittings. Readers appreciated: - The shifting perspectives between three narrators - The steady reveal of information - The authentic portrayal of 1980s Dublin - The memorable opening line: "My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle..." Common criticisms: - Characters are mostly unlikeable - Some found the ending unsatisfying - Pacing slows in the middle section - Several readers felt manipulated by unreliable narrators Ratings: Goodreads: 3.9/5 (41,000+ ratings) Amazon: 4.2/5 (3,400+ ratings) Barnes & Noble: 4.1/5 (300+ ratings) Reader quote: "Like watching a slow-motion train wreck - horrifying but impossible to look away." - Goodreads reviewer "The characters are monsters but the writing makes you keep reading." - Amazon reviewer

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🔖 Author Liz Nugent wrote the first draft of "Lying in Wait" in just six weeks during a particularly intense writing period. 🏆 The novel won Crime Fiction Book of the Year at the 2016 Irish Book Awards and helped establish Nugent as one of Ireland's leading psychological thriller writers. 🎭 The book's opening line "My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it" was conceived before any other part of the story and shaped the entire narrative. 🏰 The grand house "Avalon," where much of the novel takes place, was inspired by real Georgian mansions in South Dublin that fell into disrepair during Ireland's economic struggles. 📚 Despite its dark themes, the book topped the Irish bestseller list for eight consecutive weeks and has been translated into multiple languages, including French, German, and Italian.