The Dark Lake

Starred review from August 7, 2017
Police work comes easily to Det. Sgt. Gemma Woodstock, the narrator of Australian author Bailey’s stellar first novel and a rising star in her rural hometown of Smithson. It’s the rest of Gemma’s life that’s problematic, and about to become precarious, with the discovery of Rose Ryan floating, Ophelialike, amid blood-red roses in the lake behind the high school where she taught English and drama. Though it has been a decade since Gemma and Rose graduated from that same institution, weeks after the suicide of Jacob, the boy they both wanted, the case opens the floodgates to secrets Gemma has struggled to repress. But as she and detective partner Felix—with whom she’s pursuing an affair that could torpedo both his marriage and her live-in relationship with her son’s father—discover, beautiful, brainy Rose had skeletons of her own. Bailey interweaves her sympathetic protagonist’s past and present with uncommon assurance—including letting readers in on a crucial
revelation Gemma doesn’t share—creating a page-turner that’s both tense and thought provoking. Agent: Lyn Tranter, Australian Literary Management (Australia).

August 1, 2017
Police detective Gemma Woodstock works to solve the murder of a former classmate in Bailey's debut mystery.When Rosalind Ryan's body is discovered at the edge of a lake surrounded by red roses, detective Gemma Woodstock and her partner, Felix McKinnon, begin investigating the most complex case of their careers. Rosalind and Gemma attended high school together in the small town of Smithson, so Gemma's memories of Rosalind, who was devastatingly beautiful but also aloof and mysterious, color her exploration of the dead woman's more recent past. Everyone claims to have loved and admired Rosalind: the principal of the school where she taught English and drama; the many students whose lives she touched; her wealthy father and her three brothers. But someone is lying. Gemma becomes obsessed by and exhausted from not only the case, but the memories it stirs up of a high school boyfriend's suicide. She has her own secrets and life complexities, after all; she has a child with a man who wants to marry her, but she's having an affair with Felix, who is also married, and to top it all off, Christmas is coming. There are echoes of Tana French in the novel, but Bailey's characters lack the nuance of French's damaged, brilliant detectives, and her writing falls short of French's lyricism. Still, she smoothly incorporates Gemma's past into the novel to flesh out her character, and Rosalind, while ultimately oversimplified, drives much of the novel's sense of mystery. As all the loose ends of Gemma's life are tied up in tandem with solving the mystery, there seems to be little suggestion of a sequel. Which is probably a good thing, as Gemma and Felix aren't quite gripping enough to warrant a second outing. A satisfying mystery novel with a relatable heroine, if not a revelatory one.

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September 1, 2017

When Rosalind Ryan's body is found floating in a lake surrounded by roses, Det. Gemma Woodstock must face a past she'd hoped would remain buried. The beautiful Rosalind, whom Gemma envied in high school, was a teacher and writer/director of a successful school play, murdered on the production's opening night. The locals believe that to be violated so brutally, strangled, and dumped, she must have been involved in something sinister. It is up to Gemma to untangle the list of suspects, including Rosalind's strange-acting older brothers, the overly emotional school principal, and maybe even a student with ties to Gemma. The detective insists that the case isn't personal, but threats to her family and secrets surfacing from the past prove otherwise. Australian author Bailey's first novel weaves a tale of deception, family secrets, and flawed but relatable characters. VERDICT While the ultimate plotline is fairly predictable, several smaller mysteries and background characters make this a worthwhile read for fans of fellow detective-focused authors Tana French and Lisa Gardner.--Natalie Browning, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community Coll. Lib., Richmond, VA

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2017

In this big-news debut from Down Under, Det. Sgt. Gemma Woodstock is tasked with figuring out who murdered Rosalind Ryan, once the shining star of their high school and recently--and mysteriously--returned to town. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 30, 2017
Police detective Gemma Woodstock has lived in the regional Australian town of Smithson for her whole life, stuck there by a compounding trail of grief, love, comfort and childbirth. An affair with her partner seems to be all that’s keeping her afloat until she is drawn into the investigation of the murder of young schoolteacher and Gemma’s former schoolmate Rosalind Ryan. The case becomes muddied by Gemma’s inability to separate the deceased Rosalind from the mysterious figure she knew in high school. Gemma’s life becomes increasingly fractured in the destructive wake of Rosalind’s death, putting herself and her family at risk. Debut author Sarah Bailey depicts both the landscape and Gemma’s state of mind vividly, bringing into focus the intensity of Gemma’s physical and emotional pain and her increasing discontent. Shifts into outside perspectives sometimes pull away from the narrative, but also show that Gemma cannot hide her secrets. The Dark Lake is a solid police procedural. It adds to the trend of haunting, rural Australian crime fiction, and provides a welcome addition to the genre for those left bereft after finishing Jane Harper’s The Dry. Fiona Hardy is a bookseller at Readings Carlton