Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Guilty Mother by Diane Jeffrey.

To lose one baby to SIDs is tragic, but to lose two is suspicious. That's the exact place Melissa Slade is in, and now she's serving time for the murder of her babies.

Jonathan Hunt is a journalist assigned to Melissa Slade's case, despite his own personal tragedy that may create bias in his mind. But as he starts digging into the case, and the attached reports, things aren't adding up, and maybe Melissa isn't the child killer that everyone thinks she is.

It's not necessarily a fast paced thriller, but it's very human and honestly something that I could see becoming an actual Netflix documentary, in this crazy world! I liked that the story didn't just focus on the nitty gritty of the case, but also on the characters and their stories. It made for a very enjoyable read.

Fantastic thrilled fast paced I enjoyed it so much this book kept me guessing from start too finish this is worth a read

Overall a good, but at times it felt a bit slow ,and there was times I wanted to put it down but I think that was my fault and not the books, the story was good and made me questioning what I thought I knew .

Diane Jeffrey's gripping courtroom drama "The Guilty Mother" will leave readers with their hearts racing. Through Jonathan Hunt's compelling investigation into the Slade Babies case, the novel captures a roller-coaster of emotion, from intrigue to horror.

With carefully crafted characters and intense plot twists, the story takes a profound look at the fragile nature of truth and justice, as Jonathan attempts to uncover the truth about Melissa Slade's guilt or innocence. Jeffrey expertly crafts the gripping story, leading the reader towards an emotional and surprising ending that will leave you wanting more. A definite must-read for mystery and thriller fans.

Overall a good, thrilling read but I felt some parts were a little slow and predictable. I liked how my opinion of the female protagonist changed as the book went on and there were definitely a few surprises along the way, but parts just felt a little flat at times.

This was an excellent, suspenseful thriller about the death of twin girls... The mother was sent to prison for murder but was she guilty? Gripping and tense with brilliant twists - I hugely enjoyed this one.

Great read! Looking forward to reading more from this author! I highly recommend this book and author to all!

A great read, highly gripping. Fantastic twist at the end that I didn't expect given events a little bit before. Looking forward to reading more from the author.

An ex policewoman loses her twin daughters who seem to be a surprise she did not expect. Melissa has it all and suddenly everything goes downhill and she is tried for the murder of her infants. Cut to the present, Jonathan is a journalist who is covering the retrail of this supposed killer. Is she really innocent? Or is she just deceiving everyone?
.
The book is well written and really engaging. At no given point did I really get how it'll end or how it all comes together. The characters are interesting, though I wish there was a little more on some of them. Some of the characters and their actions were a bit too hastened and I feel some background on them would really have helped. However, the end was what I really did not expect and it really blew my mind! It literally gave me a sleepless night when I constantly kept checking on my little one. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and anyone who enjoys domestic thrillers are certainly going to enjoy reading this book

My Review:

Wow, wow, wow!!!!!! What an incredible read this was. This could totally be made into a movie. There were so many twists and turns. This may be my first book I read by Diane Jeffrey but it definitely won’t be my last. As long as she keeps writing them, I will keep reading them.

This book was about a mother who was accused and convicted of the unthinkable. She was convicted of killing one of her twins but not both of them. The other twin died of cot death. New evidence just came out and now there is an appeal to get the conviction dropped. Will this new evidence be enough to get her out? Did she really kill one of her twins? Or did she kill them both. You find out this and so much more by the end of the book.

I want to start off by saying how good this book was and I couldn’t put it down for the life of me. So let’s talk characters. I wasn’t a fan of the mother at all because of what she was accused of but I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Did she redeem herself in the end. No, I don’t feel she did. I did love her ex husband who was willing to do anything to try and get his ex wife out of jail. I truly believe he was still in love with her and wanted her out so they could be a family again with their son. He made me a believer that there still are good men out there. Now on to the plot. It was totally on point and the book moved along very quickly. I never felt like there was a dull moment in this book. Each chapter had something new and entertaining in it. Now to that whopper of an ending that I never saw coming. I’m going to have to keep my thoughts on this short as I don’t want to give anything away. The true twist of this book comes at the last few pages of the book. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I was shocked and I can’t say anymore otherwise I will spoil it. This book was definitely worth the time I spent reading it. Kudos to Diane Jeffrey.

Between the plot, characters and all the twists in this book it made it an easy and fast read. I would definitely recommend it and happily give it 5 Hearts❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Melissa Slade had it all: beauty, money, a successful husband and beautiful twin babies. But, in the blink of an eye, her perfect life became a nightmare – when she found herself on trial for the murder of her little girls.

Wow if those words dont make you want to read this book nothing will. what an excellent story it is. I have come to regard Diane Jeffrey as one of my favourite authors, not only can she write a really great book but she is a really nice person too.

The characters are well developed. Each chapter told from a different charact point of view, I like this it widens the story for the reader. I loved all the twists and turns and was kept guessing right until the end
So to summarise; I loved the story, the characters were believable, the twists were great and if you like a real whodunnit you really should read this!

Thank you so much Diane, Netgalley and HQ Digital for giving me the opportunity to read an early copy of this book. I am very grateful. A huge 5 stars from me.
#theguiltymother #dianejeffrey #hqdigital #netgalley#suspense

Review Contains Spoilers: No
# Tags: Famous Author, Nonlinear Timeline, Emotional, Instagram-able Cover, Family, Urban Setting, Whodunit?, Couldn't Put It Down, Multiple Narrators

A gripping thriller that keeps you hooked right up until the final twist. Very enjoyable, with great characters and engrossing plot.

This book was a slow burn, but it then put you in a trance. I thought I knew how it was going to end but really did I? What an ending. This book will keep you on your toes . It isnt your everyday thriller it really stands out from all the others.

"The Guilty Mother" is a slow burn novel that will keep you guessing. I found myself going back and forth a lot trying to decide if the mother was actually innocent or guilty. While an interesting read, for me it was just a little too slow. I almost gave up on it because I was honestly tired of the back and forth guessing! So glad I didn't though. Three solid stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

THE GUILTY MOTHER: WHO WOULD YOU BELIEVE? • Diane Jeffrey • Started & Finished July 2019 • ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Digital for my e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

My Synopsis: Melissa Slade is a stunning woman, respected police officer, happy wife, and mother to a teenage son and step-daughter. She is living the dream. When she discovers she is pregnant with twins though, everything changes. Melissa’s perfect life becomes a nightmare when just months after their birth, the twins are dead and she is sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison. Years later, Melissa is trying to appeal her case in light of new evidence. Journalist Jonathan Hunt is assigned to cover the appeal, but Jonathan doesn’t know what to believe. Is Melissa manipulating him or telling him the truth? Is she a murderer, or the victim of a miscarriage of justice? Would YOU believe her?

Pros: Each chapter is told from a different point of view. Occasionally incorporating Melissa’s perspective while leaving the Jonathan and his colleague Kelly to uncover what really happened to the twins creates a story that’ll keep you hooked! The crime itself is gut-wrenching and keeps you invested, especially because it’s unclear if there even was a crime, and if so, who committed it. While I guessed some of the twists, a few others were completely unexpected.

Cons: I felt like there were some plot holes and lackluster character development. The author incorporates personal backgrounds for Jonathan and Kelly, but this seemed to slow me down instead of enhancing the story for me. The several coincidences in the story were also too far fetched for me. Jonathan reflecting on this didn’t make it any more believable either.

My Take {CONTAINS SPOILERS}: Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was not the fast-paced thriller I expected, but it was a good crime story/murder mystery. I wish I could have connected more to the characters and not gotten so bogged down in what I perceived as the plot’s flaws (like why did no one ever suspect the au pair when she openly favored one twin, had an affair, and then fled the country!?). The epilogue really threw me for a loop though, and I never found myself bored because I was so intent on solving this crime.

I generally breeze through this style of writing but I struggled with this book. It didn't hold my attention and I had to keep putting it down and found it very hard to pick back up.

The book was an easy read if you can get through it. I just prefer a quicker pace that's a little less predictable.

A brilliant and easy to read nightmare of a book! I didn't see most of the twists coming and I loved it...must read

Fantastic book! This was about two journalists who were assigned to this lady Melissa - she murdered her two baby daughters. There was recent evidence that reflected the opposite, so they are appealing her charges. The characters were great in this book, and the plot twists were solid too!.

"Melissa Slade had it all: beauty, money, a successful husband and beautiful twin babies. But, in the blink of an eye, her perfect life became a nightmare when she found herself on trial for the murder of her little girls."

Melissa's twin daughters and sleeping in their cots when one of them dies. Three weeks later, the second baby dies. What are the chances of both babies dying of the same thing?

This book is well written. I kept going back and forth between guilt and innocence of Melissa. Any book that keeps me guessing until the end, is a book I love and I loved this book!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book for an honest opinion.

This was a very good thriller/mystery which kept me hooked right to the end! Two investigative journalist setting out to discover the truth and uncovering a whole host of hidden secrets and side stories.

The book had a slightly slow start but I soon became very invested!

I would recommend this!