The Dark Lake cover art

The Dark Lake

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Dark Lake

By: Sarah Bailey
Narrated by: Kate Hosking
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $42.99

Buy Now for $42.99

About this listen

A brilliant debut with twists to rival the best of the genre.

When Gemma Woodstock, homicide investigator in the large rural town of Smithson, views the body of her old school friend Rosalind splayed open on the autopsy table, she suffers the same feeling of inscrutability that has coloured her relationship with Rose for so long.

Gemma, however, is hiding her own secrets. She has a four-year-old son, Ben, and has recently moved in with the boy's father, Scott. But the relationship is troubled, and she is having an affair with a colleague that she works closely with, Felix, who is married with two teenage daughters. She knows that Rosalind recently moved back to Smithson to teach drama at their old school, but Gemma had not made contact, and now she wonders why the incendiary Rose really came back to this country town. Rose lived alone in a small run-down apartment, even though her father is one of the town's richest men....

©2017 Sarah Bailey (P)2017 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd
Crime Thrillers Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Mystery Police Procedural Suspense Thriller Thriller & Suspense Crime Exciting
All stars
Most relevant  
Didn’t like the main character, too flakey for her police role. A strange mix of Sex in the (police) City and blogs from Mammamia. Somewhere there’s a story but buried in dross, in my opinion.

Too slow and dragged out for an audiobook

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

great story , really enjoyed kate reading the story , kate has an easy interesting voice great work

well read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

So many people are putting down the main character because she is greatly flawed. I LOVED that!!
I loathe listening to characters who are one dimensional, perfect, cliche, bland and/or predicable. Or just drink because they are damaged and that's their one flaw.
I did not get that here!!
It has been a few months since I have listened to this book... and I don't remember clearly what the big reveal was, but the characters have stuck with me.

Finally, characters with flaws

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I’d guessed the ending about halfway through, but I so wanted to see where Gemma’s private life was headed and it made me stick to the story until the end. I enjoyed the story and was impressed by the performance of the reader. I’m about to start the next book in the series

I’d guessed the ending but...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

thought narrator a bit funny until i realised thats how Australians speak. ok after that

a slow start finished well. will read book 2.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Good aussie book Thank you Sarah Bailey for writing this book and thank you Kate Hosking for reading to me 💜💜💜💜💜💜

The Dark Lake by Sarah Bailey

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Good to be involved in an Australian story. That said, the lead character was rather self-indulgent and annoying. The narrator could have been good if the text didn’t constantly refer to the English accent of one character - apparently something the narrator was completely incapable of approximating even remotely. That dissonance (& a rather strange pronunciation of ‘posthumously’) were a little off-putting.

Mildly entertaining

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Kate Hosking is a skilled narrator, which made me perservere with this story. So much unnecessary conversation and drawn out scenes about nothing... I like descriptive writing however this was almost a bit over the top.. eyes sparkling like marbles.. very long story with not much happening... I wanted to like this story... I sort of did..

narrator saves this one

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

this is the first book by Sarah Bailey that I have read and it was incredible. this is also the first book if heard narrated by Kate Hosking and she is captivating, and made listening even more enjoyable

thrilling

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This tale had me strung along the whole way...great ending ....EXCELLENT VOICE ACTOR! Great winter listening

Good Aussie Drama

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.