Published By: Michael Joseph
Pages: 400
Released On: 23/07/2026
A BEAUTIFUL RESORT
It looked like the perfect getaway. A luxury resort with endless pools, a gorgeous golden beach, and a kids’ club that is every parent’s dream.
But for Amanda, a British detective in desperate need of a break with her young son, it soon becomes clear this isn’t going to be a holiday.
A MISSING GIRL
A girl has been sending anonymous messages to a teenager at the resort. She says her real name is Lara, that she was kidnapped from the UK, and that the family she’s with are her abductors.
But the resort is full of families. The kidnappers could be any of them. If the police guess wrong, Lara could be whisked away, and never see her real family again.
When every family seems to be hiding something, can Amanda find the truth – and Lara – before it’s too late?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I have only read two of Gytha’s novels before, and I own one more, but she’s already becoming a go-to author for stunning thrillers. And yet I must admit, this was a bit touch and go for me.
It took longer to grab me than I was expecting. It’s not a bad opening, but it is quite slow. Overall, I found the pacing to be a bit off. Some bits were faster and some slower but overall I think there were elements that could have been trimmed down to make it read faster but not skimp on the story. It definitely did pick up about 40% through.
I did like the contrast between the investigation side of it and the emotional family side of it. I thought that was interesting.
There is one subplot I didn’t feel was necessary and that’s this almost lust between a young teenager and a slightly older female lifeguard. I won’t say any more for fear of spoilers, but it felt awkward to read in a kind of “can we stop talking about this” kind of thing. It felt forced into a story that didn’t need it.
I know thrillers aren’t meant to be real. They’d be too scary if they were. But this one felt a bit too out of reach to fully lose myself in. It was hard to believe in. I don’t care how implausible a pot might be, but it has to work as a whole in context and I didn’t find that this did.
I did like the inclusion of having a teenager as one of the narrators. We read books, and especially thrillers, from the POV of adults, but children think differently so to have that alongside the adult POV was clever.
I like Amanda and I like her working relationships, but I have to admit she, oh and the other policeman, were probably the only adults I really liked. The other adults annoyed me a bit too much, and most of the child characters were surplus to requirements. I felt there were too many background characters that had no real impact.
I still enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. I think it’s not possible to dislike a Gytha lodge novel. There were some good elements and she’s always so good at catching me by surprise. But I wasn’t as taken with it as I wanted. There were too many elements that didn’t gel with me. Having said that, the second half was a vast improvement and stopped this review being a poor rating. If you’re like me and aren’t sure about the start, then I do advise sticking with it because the payoff is well done.
For everything I’ve said, I did finish it in less than a day so it had to be doing something right.
I do seem to be in the minority here and that’s absolutely fine. I would rather people enjoy it than not, so it’s lovely to see that other people are really getting something from it.
Books By Your Bedside 