Lying in the Deep
By: Diana Urban
Published Year: 2023
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 384
Summary (Provided by Goodreads): After being jilted by her ex-boyfriend and best friend, Jade couldn't be more ready to embark on the adventure of a lifetime—11 countries in 4 months, all from the luxurious Campus on Board ship—and to wedge an entire globe between her and the people who broke her heart.
But when Jade discovers the backstabbing couple are also setting sail, her obsession with them grows and festers, leading to a shocking murder. And as their friends begin to drop like flies, Jade and her new crush must race to clear her name and find the killer they’re trapped at sea with….before anyone else winds up in body bags.
First Impressions
I’m pretty sure I first heard about this book on TikTok. The cover probably isn’t one that I would have randomly picked up, but I do love it for the story it is. What intrigued me was the summary. The concept of a locked room murder mystery with college students on a cruise? I am all in.
What I thought
This book was so enjoyable. I want to say fun, but also a murder mystery is not fun.
Jade is looking forward to a semester of Campus On Board (COB) after being betrayed by her boyfriend and ex-best friend. But when she is boarding, she sees that they have both decided to embark on COB as well. She tries to make friends on board as well as find out what happened with her ex-boyfriend, Silas and her ex-best friend Lainey. Until Lainey shows up murdered. Jade and her new friend Felix try to investigate what happened since Jade becomes prime suspect number 1. The cruise ship is in the middle of the ocean on its way to Gibraltar, so they try to figure out what happened before the ship docks and all suspects get off the ship.
I listened to this as an audiobook and I think that helped it to feel more cinematic. I feel like Jade is a bit immature, but also I was able to forgive her since she is in her early 20s. Her entire life has been turned upside down when her boyfriend breaks up with her via text and starts dating her best friend. It was interesting to unravel that mystery along with the murder mystery as the book went on.
I was only sort of able to figure out the murderer, so this book gets some props from me for that. The ending had a whole lot of twists that I didn’t expect. It could probably have been paired down a little bit, but I still enjoyed it.
The only storyline I didn’t quite get was Jade’s background. There is a lot of talk about her mom and how they lived in a tiny home and her dad abandoned them, yet it never ends up coming into play for anything within the story. I thought for a while her dad was going to show up somehow, but in reality it didn’t matter.
If you want a mystery that’s not too heavy, I recommend picking this one up. The fact that they’re all locked in on a cruise adds a very interesting element too. I look forward to other mysteries if Urban decides to write them. If you’re looking for a fun read for the spooky Halloween month, I recommend checking this one out.