Lying Beside You

Cyrus Haven and Evie Cormac return in Robotham’s latest page-turning, psychological thriller in this series.

If I could tell you one thing about my brother, it would be this. Two days after his nineteenth birthday, he killed our parents and twin sisters because he heard voices in his head. As defining events go, nothing else comes close for Elias, or for me.

As a boy, Cyrus Haven survived a family massacre and slowly pieced his life back together. Now, after almost twenty years, his brother is applying to be released from a secure psychiatric hospital—and Cyrus is expected to forgive Elias and welcome him home.

Elias is returning to a very different world. Cyrus is now a successful psychologist, working with the police, sharing his house with Evie Cormac, a damaged and gifted teenager who can tell when someone is lying. Evie has gone back to school and is working part-time at an inner-city bar, but she continues to struggle with authority and following rules.

When a man is murdered and his daughter disappears, Cyrus is called in to profile the killer and help piece together Maya Kirk’s last hours. Police believe she was drugged and driven away from the same bar where Evie is working. Soon, a second victim is taken, and Evie is the only person who glimpsed the man behind the wheel.

But there’s a problem. Only two people believe her. One is Cyrus.

The other is the killer.

Genre - Mystery Thriller

352 pages, Hardcover

First published June 23, 2022

Average Goodreads Rating - 4.31

My Verdict

This is the 3rd novel in Robotham's Cyrus Haven Series. I love both of these characters equally just as I did in the previous two books. Robotham does a great job of sharing rather than dividing the reader's loyalties so that we’re not forced to play favorites. At least that’s how it feels to me. All three books unfold from both points of view. Equally strong and demanding of our attention, both characters flawed yet captivating. Maybe it is because they are flawed that I like them so much.

This book finds Cyrus's brother being released from the psychiatric hospital that he has called home since murdering his parents and sisters. This presents an opportunity to increase the depth of Cyrus's character, and Robotham convincingly portrays the polarity of Cyrus's feelings. Of course, Cyrus is called in to help with another case and of course Evie gets involved. That is just the way these books unfold. The action keeps coming all the way to the end and without giving away too much, there are some surprises at the end. I have very much enjoyed this series and I give this one 4 stars.