Lying Beside You is the third in the series featuring forensic psychologist Cyrus Haven and his former client and now-housemate Evie Cormac. Both Cyrus and Evie had tumultuous childhoods so there’s a bond between the pair that has been challenged as past secrets come to light, but continues to grow with each outing in this series.
One of Michael Robotham’s very popular standalone books The Secrets She Keeps, examines an unlikely friendship between two women. His latest release When You Are Mine is similarly themed, featuring a toxic friendship that shifts into obsession.
It occurs to me some of Robotham’s best work seem to be less about the solving of crimes and more about people; human nature – the best of it and the worst – and it’s this insight into our behaviour, that make his books addictive reads.
I adored teenager Evie, introduced last year along with forensic psychologist Cyrus in Michael Robotham’s Good Girl Bad Girl. (The girl they named) Evie was found almost seven years earlier, abandoned and in hiding, and has an extraordinary ability to tell when people are lying. Cyrus was cynical about this talent at first but is now convinced.
It’s interesting that both Evie and Cyrus were ‘found / rescued’ when young by police officers. Cyrus has stayed in touch with his rescuer Lenny though and she often drags him into cases.
The past and present collide here as the case Lenny’s investigating has ties to Evie’s past.
Michael Robotham is one of my favourite Aussie authors. I really enjoy his writing, his story-telling and the characters he offers. He wrapped up a nine-book series featuring clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin via The Other Wife last year.
And here Robotham introduces a forensic psychologist who apparently briefly popped up in The Secrets She Keeps and it’s a wonderful start to (what I assume to be) a new series.
I’m a huge fan of Michael Robotham, the Sydney-based Aussie author, and was surprised it’s actually been two years since his last book was released here in Australia. Close Your Eyes was the eighth in the popular Joe O’Loughlin series and the year before that Robotham won a fistful of crime fiction awards for his standalone book, Life Or Death (which I adored!).
As it happens, I’m going to hear him speak at the Maleny Book Festival (Celebration of Books) next Sunday and think the trip there (which is over twice as long as his session) will be well worth it.
I really enjoyed Michael Robotham’s 2014 stand-alone thriller, Life or Death. I admitted at the time I had been struggling with his series featuring psychologist Joe O’Loughlin, so the change gave me the respite I was looking for.
I didn’t find O’Loughlin as unlikeable as Nicci French’s Frieda Klein, but I really wasn’t really engaging with his character and couldn’t get a handle on who he was.
However Robotham’s latest (and the eighth in the Joe O’Loughlin series), Close Your Eyes sees a return to the Joe I thought I once knew.
I’ve read most of Michael Robotham’s work – and reviewed several here on my blog. His latest – Life or Death – is a stand-alone novel so doesn’t feature any of his usual protagonists. And I have to say… that pleased me as I’m not a huge fan of Joe O’Loughlin or Vincent Ruiz. As I’ve said previously, I enjoy Robotham’s work… but it’s hard to feel as engaged as one should when they don’t care if the lead characters live or die.
However – Life or Death didn’t offer me any such dilemma and – as a result – it’s a 4/5 star novel for me.
I have to admit I’m not entirely sure I like Michael Robotham’s Joe O’Loughlin. I don’t hate him, but… my reaction to him reminds me a little of my feelings for Nicci French’s Frieda KIein.
I don’t expect infallibility in my protagonists but, well… sometimes my #mehness makes it a bit harder to care about their fate. That’s not to say I want anything bad to happen to the psychologist, though thankfully I know Joe is gonna hang around for a while as I’ve already read the fourth, sixth and seventh in Robotham’s series (and possibly the 3rd!!!).
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