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Writer's pictureKirsty Whitlock

The Guilty Mother by Sam Vickery. Review

Updated: May 3, 2023


Book Description:


I know something is wrong the moment the doorbell rings. The smile on my daughter’s face disappears as a police officer places handcuffs around my wrists, and my husband watches in horror as they march me out the door. I’m being arrested for murder… our neighbour is dead and I know why. Lisa and Mike Grey have the perfect family. They live on a beautiful tree-lined street, behind an impeccably-cut lawn, raising two wonderful children. They never imagined being able to afford such a picturesque house, and as soon as they moved to Dragonfly Close, they felt totally at home. But when their next-door neighbour Russell is killed, and Lisa is arrested for his murder, chaos takes over the once peaceful street. How could a doting mother, and a dedicated housewife, do something so terrible? She says she didn’t do it. But if Lisa didn’t kill Russell, why is she refusing to give her alibi to the police? Who is she trying to protect? There are lies hidden behind each closed door. And more than one person knows what happened the night Russell died, but everyone watches from the safety of their homes as the police take Lisa away. Someone on Dragonfly Close is getting away with murder… the question is who? And how far are they willing to go to keep their terrible secret safe? Fans of Liane Moriarty, Nicole Trope and Linda Green will love this completely gripping page-turner, with a twist that will make your heart stop.





BLOG TOUR REVIEW 


Review for 'The Guilty Mother' by Sam Vickery. 


Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Sam Vickery, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous 


Publication date 25th April 2023


This is the fifth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'One Last Second', 'My Only Child', 'Her Silent Husband' and 'Save My Daughter' which I highly recommend. 


I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of Liane Moriarty, Nicole Trope and Linda Green will love this completely gripping page-turner, with a twist that will make your heart stop.' I am a huge fan of all three of these amazing authors so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Sam Vickery and if this is half as good as 'One Last Second', 'My Only Child', 'Her Silent Husband' and 'Save My Daughter' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture  that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).


This novel consists of a prologue, 46 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are  medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!


This book is set in Kent, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, UK 🇬🇧. The bonus for me of books that are partly or fully based in the UK is that I live in the UK and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book which makes it easier to picture .I have actually holidayed in England several times so am intrigued to see if I recognise places based on anywhere I visited while there

 

This book is written in first perspective and the main protagonists are Lisa Grey and Victoria. The benefits of books written in first person perspective with multiple protagonists are, as long as they are well written, it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on.


'The Guilty Mother' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Sam discusses sexu@l @ss@uIt & r@p3.


Well, Well, Well, Sam Vickery you have done it again!!! Congratulations on yet another breathe taking novel!! 


This book is extremely well written and the layout with the past and present chapters are perfect. They drip feed you information of what has gone on in the past with just the right amount of information to give you an idea of what is going on but not too much so that you work it all out. The cover and blurb work perfectly with the storyline. 


Wow!! What an absolutely breathe taking and heart stopping storyline. LThis book is different to the other books I have previously read by this authour as it has more of a crime theme going on so I was intrigued to see how well Sam would do with a genre change and she did a brilliant job, which to be honest I can't say I'm surprised at as she is such a talented author!! Lisa and Victoria are neighbours and good friends so when Victoria's husband Russell is killed in a hit and run and Lisa is the police's number one suspect it is intriguing to see how Victoria as well as Lisa's family will react to this news!! The storyline was set at a perfect pace, not too fast and not too slow. It gave just the right amount of time for you to be able to take everything in as it was happening and question yourself about what you would do. It really is thought provoking. It is an absolute roller-coaster ride of emotions and filled with love, deceit, friendship, twists and turns turns, secrets, tension and trust. It was one of those books that I genuinely could not put down as I just had to know what was going to happen next!! Each and every time I told myself one more chapter and then bed that chapter ended in a way I just had to know what happened so I had to read one more and then it kept happening until I was walking around with my kindle glued to my hand and devouring the book in a few hours. I must admit I was completely shocked when certain events were revealed but please don't let this out you off as it is getting harder and harder to surprise me after reading so many crime and psychological books. However, I was shocked at the twist at the end which I absolutely loved and more than made up for what I had worked out previously. I won't say any more as I don't want to spoil it for others but needless to say another emotionally packed page turner by this fantastic author!!


Another page turning read by a very talented author!!


I would absolutely love to see this turned into a movie!!! Another congratulations to Sam Vickery. Looking forward to her next gripping, and going by all her previous work, what promises to be heart rendering. 


Just like the storyline the characters came to life with Sam's evocative writing skills and I could feel how they were feeling throughout the storyline. It is quite hard to say how I truly felt about each of the characters without giving too much away so I will try my best with what I can say. I really liked Lisa and as a mother myself my heart broke for her when she was seperate from her children not knowing when she was going too see them again but for other reasons also which I won't be going into. I absolutely admired how strong she was and how much of a good mother and loving wife. I also really liked her husband Mike who was also realistic, was sweet but also a bit drippy lol!! He is one of those men who are good looking and kind but no idea how this may make women want him. Again, I can't say much more about him. Then we have Victoria which I must admit I wasn't a fan of at all and could have (actually I did a few times 😂) shouted at her for how she was acting. However, I will admit that I did also have sympathy towards her but, yet again and I'm very sorry, I really can't go into any more details!! However, regardless of how I felt about each of the characters they each played their roles perfectly to make this an absolutely fantastic, gripping and emotional page turner!!


Overall an intriguing who dunnit page turner filled with friendship, deceit secrets and everything you could ask for in an addictive read. 


Genres covered in this novel include Women's Crime Fiction, Friendship Fiction, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Suspense, Women Writers & Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Women's Domestic Life Fiction, Sagas, Women's Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction, Crime Fiction, Mystery,  Women's Sagas, Domestic Thriller, Women's Friendship Fiction and Psychological Fiction amongst others. 


I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of  Liane Moriarty, Nicole Trope, Linda Green ,Jodi Picoult, Kelly Rimmer and Diane Chamberlain. 

 

337 pages.


This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and £8.99 in paperback via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!! 


Rated 5/5 (I loved it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook. 


Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews 



@TheGuiltyMother @SamVickery @Bookouture @BookoutureAnonymous @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86 @Goodreads @Netgalley @Amazon @AmazonKindle @Bookstagram @BookBlogger @KindleUnlimited 









Author Bio:


Sam Vickery is an English author who loves gritty, emotional stories that can make you sob. As a child, she was forever getting in trouble for being caught with her nose in a book, and these days are no different. She lives on the south coast of England with her husband, two children and a cat that thinks it's a dog. https://www.facebook.com/SamVickeryWrites/ Sign up to be the first to hear about new releases from Sam Vickery here: https://www.bookouture.com/sam-vickery




You can sign up for all the best Bookouture deals you'll love at: http://ow.ly/Fkiz30lnzdo













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