The Mersey Mothers (Reckoner's Row #3) by Sheila Riley
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas
Read: 15th April 2022
Published: 19th April 2022
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
Liverpool 1953
January sees the dawn of the Queen Elizabeth’s Coronation year as the mothers of Reckoners Row unite in preparation for the celebration of the new Queen.
Meanwhile Evie Kilgaren is dreaming of her summer wedding to Danny Harris, but trouble looms for Skinner & Sons with a new rival trying to put them out of business, but no-one knows why....
Ada Harris is summoned to the bedside of her estranged husband, who, in his dying moment confesses to a deadly secret - he knows who really murdered Evie’s mam Rene all those years ago and the consequences are far reaching.
Has an innocent man been jailed and is there still a murderer walking carefree?
Will Evie get the happy-ever-after she so longs for with Danny? And will The Mersey Mothers unite and still be friends?
MY REVIEW:
I am so thrilled to be revisiting Reckoner's Row once again in this third installment of this delightful series. THE MERSEY MOTHERS picks up three years after the previous "The Mersey Girls" left off. And while each book can be read as a standalone, all three tie in together with the ongoing backstory that unfolds throughout them all.
In THE MERSEY MOTHERS, not only do we revisit the residents of Reckoner's Row, but the original story in which Evie Kilgaren's mother Rene had disappeared during the coldest winter of 1947, her body later uncovered when the canal thawed. In the first book "The Mersey Orphan" (originally titled "The Orphan's Daughter"), after Rene's body was discovered, Evie's father Frank had been arrested for her murder and later imprisoned in a Mental Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
The story begins with a Prologue detailing the lead-up and thus Rene Kilgaren's demise from a rather different perspective before moving forward to 1953 where the story picks up with the excitement of the upcoming coronation of the new Queen. Life in Reckoner's Row has moved on although it was deeply affected by WW2 with rationing and shortages still rife some eight years later.
After buying the haulage yard from his step-father, Danny Harris (Skinner) is now struggling to keep the yard running with the opening of a new more competitive rival on the dock road, Lenard's Haulage. Evie Kilgaren works hard at keeping the books but with the business beginning to fail, she secretly advertises for more account keeping work to keep their head above water. Evie doesn't know how Lenard's knows who their customers are or how they are undercutting them but if they continue, Skinner's & Son will not survive.
The woman Danny had known as his mother growing up, Ada Harris, takes centre stage in much of this story as word reaches her that her good-for-nothing husband she kicked out three years ago after it was discovered he had been blackmailing Danny's step-father, Henry Skinner, is nearing death's door. Ada doesn't believe it for one minute and takes her time in knocking on his boarding house's door. But the Bert Harris she knew was a shadow of the man he used to be; shrivelled up skin and bone laying on his bug-ridden bed. He directed Ada to a cupboard and a box that was hidden there but expired before he could confess much more. All he had told her was that he knew who really killed Rene Kilgaren. Ada was scared that the box would contain proof that Bert had done the deed so therefore was too frightened to open it herself and hid it away upon arriving home.
Meanwhile, there is plenty going on in the Row with the upcoming coronation as the community prepares while trying to get by as they do best. Evie and her 16 year old sister are worried for their brother Jack who was in Korea under the National Service and had been for two years, though it had been some time since they had heard from him. Lucy was no an apprentice at Madame Barbery's Coiffure and was taking part in the Apprentice of the Year Awards at the exclusive Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool.
While in the shadows, nefarious activities continue to play out behind the scenes with the blackmarket and a murder case to solve. And as always, there are some dubious characters which will make your skin crawl as you hope they get their comeuppance. Susie Blackthorn, a regular thorn (pun intended) in both Danny and Evie's side, is back with a vengeance. But will she finally win out?
There are several stories interwoven throughout this wonderful family saga and it seems almost fitting that everything appears to come full circle by the end. It would certainly make an appropriate end to the series but I would love to see more of the Reckoner's Row residents whom I have grown fond of. I love this style of fiction as it mixes historical with a bit of mystery, that probably isn't all that mysterious in fact, but makes for entertaining and compelling reading. THE MERSEY MOTHERS is indeed an addictive read I couldn't put down and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
While it can be read as a standalone, as there is enough backstory supplied so that the reader doesn't miss out, THE MERSEY MOTHERS is fully appreciated best in conjunction with the first two books in the series. I love Sheila Riley's style and I loved that she dropped a mention of Ruby's Emporium (from her other Docklands series) a couple of times into the story.
Another wonderfully addictive historical fiction saga, THE MERSEY MOTHERS is perfect for fans of feel-good family sagas such as Rosie Clarke and Nadine Dorries.
I would like to thank #SheilaRiley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheMerseyMothers in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Married to her knight in rusty armour, Tony, she has three grown-up children, five adored grandchildren, a majestic German Shepherd called Max and an insatiably energetic Siberian Husky called Louis and an ancient cat called Missy.
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