Lying in the Deep - Hardcover

Urban, Diana

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593527607 ISBN 13: 9780593527603

Publisher: Razorbill, 2023

Synopsis

A juicy mystery of jealousy, love, and betrayal set on a Semester at Sea-inspired cruise ship, with a diverse cast of delightfully suspicious characters who'll leave you guessing with every jaw-dropping twist.

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.
 
Perfect for readers of Natasha Preston, E. Lockhart, and Karen McManus!

About this title

About the Author

Diana Urban is an author of dark, twisty thrillers, including All Your Twisted Secrets (HarperTeen) and These Deadly Games (Wednesday Books). Her novels have been published internationally, and she’ll be featured in the Firsts and Lasts anthology (Penguin Workshop, 2023). When she’s not torturing fictional characters, she freelances in content writing and digital marketing. She lives with her husband and cat in Boston and enjoys reading, playing video games, fawning over cute animals, and looking at the beach from a safe distance.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up—Jade Miller can't wait to put an entire ocean between her and her past. She's embarking on her semester of Campus on Board, fulfilling her dreams of traveling the world while escaping two bad break-ups: one with her boyfriend, Silas, the other with her best friend and former Stanford roommate, Lainey. She and Lainey had been planning to room together aboard the Sea Voyager, but that plan came to a screeching halt over the summer, when Silas unceremoniously dumped her (via text, no less) for Lainey. So, Jade is understandably shocked when she spots Lainey and Silas together in the embarkation line. Thus, the stage is set for this clever revamp of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile. As the ship sets sail, the tension mounts, but Jade does her best to move on. She befriends her new roommates, twin sisters Navya and Divya; burgeoning influencer Miguel; and cute, brooding Felix. In the chaos of a stormy night, the first murder occurs, and everyone's a suspect. As the bodies pile up, so do Urban's trademark twists, and readers will surely be shocked by the novel's final reveal. VERDICT A fun, twisty thriller with a diverse cast and a dash of romance, this book is perfect for readers who love Urban's first two thrillers, as well as fans of Jessica Goodman and Karen M. McManus.—Dana West

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Prologue

Now
 
I didn’t realize there’d be this much blood.
Yeah, he’d said there was blood all over the room. But I thought of how my mother would always huff and say things like “Oh, Jade, you got ice cream all over yourself.” I’d glance down, expecting to be covered in chocolate goo, and there’d be this one lone dribble trailing down my shirt. Everyone always exaggerated these kinds of things.
But nope.
Not this time.
This time, there was literally blood all over the room.
A sea breeze rustled the curtains hanging from the wide--open French balcony doors, and even though I’d just been out on the top deck, I shivered, goose bumps coating my arms like a rash. I took another step into the suite to get a closer look, still gripping the cabin doorframe as though it could anchor me to a reality in which my best friend was still alive.
Well, ex–-best friend.
That ship had sailed months ago.
Red slashed the ruffled white sheets, most of the blood pooled on the left side of the bed, like that’s where it started. Like that’s where she’d been stabbed. Smears of it angled off to the right, toward the balcony—-had she been dragged?—-and there were even some maroon flecks on the ornate opaque room divider at the foot of the bed, separating the bedroom from a small living room area. One of the beige armchairs—-the one closest to the balcony—-hadn’t escaped the splatter.
Smudges streaked the balcony’s stark white doorframe, too, the door open, ominous, like a gaping void before the endless sea.
The buzzing in my ears drowned out the voices behind me in the hall—-yelling voices, frantic voices—-and I thought of the blood staining my own shirt’s hem. I tugged my jacket closed, hiding it . . . praying they wouldn’t think I did this.
After all, there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell she’d survived.
There was so much blood, too much blood, and the way the balcony rail was coated in it . . . 
But then a thought crossed my mind, a thought that made me falter back a step, that made bile rise in my throat and shame burn my cheeks.
Yet I couldn’t help but think it.
That spoiled, selfish brat got exactly what she deserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Razorbill
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0593527607
• ISBN 13: 9780593527603
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 384