Book Review: Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham ( Cyrus Haven #3)

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books in the author’s Cyrus Haven series and I’m glad to say Lying Beside You by Michael Robotham does not disappoint!

When he was nineteen, Elias Haven, Cyrus’s older brother, murdered their twin sisters and parents, acting on the instigation of the voices in his head. Twenty years after he was incarcerated at Rampton Secure Hospital – a psychiatric facility, where he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, Elias is about to be released and Cyrus has mixed feelings about Elias’s impending return and the possible disruption to his life and is concerned about how Evie, who now twenty-one years old, is struggling to bring a sense of normalcy into her life and now lives in Cyrus’s home, would react to Elias being there. Evie is currently back in school, studying for her A Levels, and also working in a local bar but after the trauma she has endured and her ability to tell when a person is lying doesn’t make interacting with others any easier.

Cyrus, a forensic psychologist and profiler who works with local enforcement, is also involved in the investigation of the disappearance of Maya Kirk, a woman in her thirties who is suspected of having been kidnapped from her home after her father was attacked and left for dead. When another woman, who was a customer at the bar where Evie works, disappears and Evie is the last one to have seen her, Evie inevitably gets involved in the case. Are the disappearances connected? Evie is also busy trying to prove the innocence of Mitchell Coates, a convicted rapist, recently released on parole and working for Cyrus, who claims and who Evie believes to be innocent.

Needless to say, both Evie and Cyrus have a lot on their plates and plenty of complications arise as they try to find out what happened to the missing women, while also working to prove Mitch’s innocence and navigating their personal problems.

Twisty and utterly absorbing, with plenty of surprises along the way, this was a gripping thriller that kept me guessing until the very end and I loved it when all my theories were proved wrong! The narrative, presented from Cyrus and Evie’s first-person POVs, provides a well-rounded picture of the events as and when they happen. The author has done a remarkable job of depicting the shifting dynamic between Cyrus and Evie. Evie does behave immaturely for her age, at times, but her insecurities and attitude towards Cyrus are well-explained. The author injects quite a bit of dry humor in Evie’s POV to keep you entertained. The narrative features several subplots that are seamlessly woven into a cohesive narrative. At no point does the plot become convoluted or difficult to follow. I’ve rarely seen such strong character development in a thriller series and this is where the author excels. Not only are Robothem’s plots complex and layered, but in Cyrus and Evie he has created characters that the reader is invested in, striking an almost perfect balance between the character-driven and plot-driven aspects of the story.

Superb writing, complex character dynamics, and a well-crafted suspenseful plot make for a riveting read! This series just keeps getting better!

Please note that this book would not work as a standalone and I would recommend reading the books in series order.