The Other Mother by Miranda Rijks
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 30th April 2023
Published: 19th April 2023
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Four-year-old Florrie is missing. Who has taken her, and what do they want?
When Jane is asked to pick up her friend’s daughter, Florrie, from school, she can’t imagine the horror that will unfold. Because someone pretending to be Jane has already collected Florrie. And now the little four-year-old is missing…
Things don’t get any easier when Jane starts receiving anonymous letters that include intimate details about her life. As a psychologist and agony aunt, she's used to getting letters asking for advice, but these are different. Are they somehow connected to the missing child?
Then, to her utter dismay, Jane finds incriminating evidence in her own home, evidence that is clearly linked to Florrie. She starts to doubt everyone around her, even her own family – could one of them be implicated in Florrie’s disappearance?
Under the unspeakable stress, her marriage crumbles, her children act out and her once-successful business falls apart. And that’s when Jane discovers a shocking secret that shatters her entire world.
In a heart-pounding race against time, Jane must find Florrie and uncover the truth. Can she save Florrie and her own family, or will she be too late to stop the unthinkable?
The Other Mother is an explosive psychological thriller that will grip readers till the very end.
MY THOUGHTS:
Four-year-old Florrie is missing...who has taken her and what do they want...?
I'm a sucker for missing child thriller tropes and I love Miranda Rijks' easy style. She just pulls you in, ramps up the tension and delivers a thrilling read every time. With a mixed bunch of characters (mostly unlikeable), there are plenty of twists to keep you guessing and entertained throughout. THE OTHER MOTHER was such a quick read that I devoured it in one sitting in bed last night.
Naomi is a physiotherapist caught up on a training course when she asks her best friend Jane to pick up her four year old daughter Florrie from school and meet her at the dentists where Florrie has an appointment. But when Jane arrives at the school she is told that the little girl has already been collected by her mother's friend Jane. But she is Jane! So who picked up Florrie? And where is she now?
Jane is frantic trying to contact Naomi, who is unreachable, and searching for the little girl all the while questioning the school as to why they didn't properly identify the woman who picked her up claiming to be Jane. They certainly wanted to see her identification so why did they not check those of whoever picked up Florrie?
A psychologist who specialises in family dynamics, Jane also masquerades as an agony aunt for a local paper doling out advice to those who seek it. But it isn't long before the "agony aunt" letters begin to take a sinister turn targeting her and including intimate details of her own life. Every time something happens in her life, she receives a letter from an anonymous source mirroring recent events. Jane begins to feel spooked. And when a client starts getting too familiar and wanting to focus on her her life rather than his own, Jane wonders if it's all somehow connected.
And then when she finds incriminating evidence in her own home that is clearly linked to Florrie, she begins to doubt everyone around her...including her own family. As her marriage crumbles, her children acting out and becoming more distant than ever and her successful practice falls apart, Jane is further rocked by a secret that threatens to shatter her entire world. Can things ever be the same again?
Time is running out. Can Jane find Florrie and uncover the truth whilst saving her own family before it's too late?
Once again, Rijks delivers a fast paced tension-filled thriller that keeps you turning the pages until you reach the end. I devoured it in under five hours as it was such an easy read. None of the characters were particularly likeable but some moreso than others. It was such an easy and entertaining read that I have come to love. I also love the multiple POVs that allow you to see different sides of the story whilst trying to figure out the mystery therein.
I don't think the ending was the "twist you won't see coming" kind of jaw-dropping shock the tagline promised, but it was still a nice touch all the same.
Overall, THE OTHER MOTHER was a thoroughly entertaining thriller that is easily devoured and completely addictive from start to finish.
I would like to thank #MirandaRijks, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #TheOtherMother in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
After a degree in Law, Miranda worked in marketing in London and Eastern Europe before setting up businesses in the horticultural, leisure and retail sectors. Along the way, she got a masters in writing and wrote the self-help book, ‘How Compatible Are You?’ and biography, ‘The Eccentric Entrepreneur’. In 2018, Miranda wrote ‘Don’t Call Me Brave’, a novel very loosely drawing upon her experiences of having a rare bone cancer.
She feels extremely lucky to be living the dream, writing psychological thrillers full time!
Miranda loves connecting with her readers, so feel free to drop her a line.
Social Media Links:
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