Feb 28, 20237 min read

'The Mother Next Door' by Leah Mercer

Book Description:

I glance over at Lou’s house as I pull onto my drive, surprised that it is still in darkness. Lou and the kids should have been home from school long ago. I should be preparing a delicious meal for my children as they tell me about their day. But Lou’s car is nowhere to be seen…

The night is drawing in and Lou has still not returned. I try not to panic, but deep down I know something is wrong. Lou is the most dependable friend. Our children are at the same school. We always help each other out, and she cares for my two like only a mother can.

As a storm rages outside and local news reports tell everyone to stay indoors, a feeling of deep dread starts to swell. Then the call comes. The police have found Lou’s car, with my children’s schoolbags still inside along with Lou’s phone. But they are nowhere to be seen.

Clutching my husband’s hands, willing our children to be found safe and sound, I try to silence the voice inside my head. I’ve not been honest. I’m being punished for what happened all those years ago.

And then I get Lou’s message and I know that if I want to see my children again, I need to tell the truth to everyone I love.

What I don’t yet know is that Lou has been keeping her own dark secret. And once the storm passes, nothing will ever be the same again.

A gripping and addictive psychological suspense about dark obsession, intense motherly love and how far we will go to protect those we love the most. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Adele Parks and Sally Hepworth.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Mother Next Door' by Leah Mercer.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Leah Mercer, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date: 27th February 2023.

This is the fourth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'A Mother's Lie', 'A Secret In The Family'and 'Why She Left' 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 this book is 'A gripping and addictive psychological suspense about dark obsession, intense motherly love and how far we will go to protect those we love the most. Perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty, Adele Parks and Sally Hepworth.' I am a HUGE fan of Liane Moriarty so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Leah and if this is half as good as 'A Mother's Lie', 'A Secret In The Family' and 'Why She Left' 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 and 39 chapters. The chapters are short to 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 based in Surrey, 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 recently visited London so will be interested to see if there are any places I visited mentioned.

This book is written in a mix of third and first person perspective and the protagonists are Fiona (Mum of twins Tabitha & Tim), Alison (Mum of Gabby who is bullied at school), Jasmine (Mum of Juniper and was a bully in school) and Tabitha (Fiona's daughter). The benefits of books written in first person perspective 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 benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.

'The Mother Next Door' 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 Leah discusses/includes bullying and child kidnapping.

WELL DONE LEAH YET AGAIN ON YET ANOTHER ABSOLUTE PAGE TURNER!!

This book is extremely well written with fantastic descriptions that really set the scene and put you in the storyline. The cover and synopsis suit the book perfectly!!

This book is absolutely addictive, I just could not put it down. The storyline isn't just one plot but has many layers that peel apart as you read it. The book just keeps getting better and better as you go on.. The storyline is filled with friendship, family, history, lies, secrets, twists, turns, red herrings, suspense, tension and everything you could want in a psychological domestic fiction including an absolutely explosive bombshell of an ending!!!. I must admit that I wasn't shocked by some of the revelations and worked a few things out very early but there was a twist at the end I wasn't expecting that absolutely mind blowing reveal at the end that Leah was building up to all along!!! Just absolutely WOW!!! That was a true jaw dropping WTF moment!!. This book was emotionally packed and the two storyline and actions of the mums and the children were placed perfectly in order for the storyline to weave together until the truth is revealed. I thought the ending was fantastic and it wrapped the storyline up perfectly. The fact that there were several protagonists leading this story ensured the reader had the whole picture, with that and Leah's fantastic writing skills and vivid descriptions the reader becomes completely absorbed in the storyline from the very beginning to the very last word. I completely forgot where I was on several occasions and got completely lost in the plot! An explosive and unexpected twist and shocking ending to a dramatic storyline. The detail Leah uses in her writing makes it very easy to visualise the people and surroundings and I felt I was beside Fiona, Alison, Jasmine and Tabitha throughout. It is a very smooth, easy and quick read. An absolutely riveting, page turning and addictive read that I would love to see turned into a movie.

This is one of the few books that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Jasmine Blackborow who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Jasmine did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Leah but also to listening to more books narrated by Jasmine!

The characters were all well written and strong. Each of the characters had completely different and complex personalities and the reader finds more and more about them and discover which one is hiding secrets and what they are the more we delve into this absolutely amazing page turner!! The only innocent ones in this I believe were the children who got stuck in the middle of this nightmare!! What happens in this book is a mothers worse nightmare and I wouldn't wish it on anyone! The deeper in this storyline I went, the more my feelings changed for each of the characters. There were times my heart went out to characters, I disliked others and hug them or other ones later on. Are any of the adults innocent? You will just have to pick up a copy today to find out!!! I won't say more now but the characters all came together to make this storyline captivating. Regardless of whether you love them or hate them each of them played their roles perfectly!

Congratulations again Leah on yet another riveting page turner!! This is exactly why you are one of my favourite authors and here's to your next success 🥂

Make sure you read to the very end of this book to read two chapters in Leah's 'A Secret In The Family' which I have read myself and would most definitely recommend to anyone who enjoyed this book or loves psychological thrillers!

Overall an addictive page turning domestic, psychological fiction that will keep you on the edge of your seat and will make your jaw drop with the explosive ending!!

Genres covered in this novel include Mystery, Literary Fiction, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Suspense, Women's Sagas, Psychological Thriller, Women's Writers & Fiction, Domestic drama, Sagas, Women's Psychological Fiction, Sisters Fiction, Mothers And Children Fiction, Women's Literary Fiction, Murder Mystery, Women's Fiction, Women's Psychological 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, Barbara O’Neal, 'The Silent Daughter', Adele Parks, Sally Hepworth. and anyone looking for an addictive, meaningful page turning psychological domestic fiction.

269 pages/8 hours and 7 minutes

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle or free on kindle unlimited and £7.99 to purchase in paperback via Amazon 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.

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Author Bio:

Leah Mercer was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. Her first ambition was to be a journalist, but after completing a Master’s in Journalism, she soon realised she preferred anything other than reporting the news. After trying her hand at public relations, teaching and recruitment in various countries around the world, she finally settled in London and returned to writing…fiction, this time. Her first two novels, Who We Were Before and The Man I Thought You Were, were shortlisted at the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association Awards. Leah loves books, running and visiting historic houses with her husband and their son.

https://www.leahmercer.com/

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