** spoiler alert ** Didn't really get beyond ok for me.... 
There's a lot of investigating going on,far too many coincidences,people believing the worst of each other...

Don't get me wrong,it's not bad,it just wasn't edge of my seat stuff,and nothing surprised

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Guilty Mother!

Melissa Slade is loving every mother’s worst nightmare. She is serving a life sentence for the murder of her daughter Ellie, twin to Amber. Amber passed away a few months before Ellie however Melissa was found not guilty of her death, the jury convinced she died from cot death. Jonathan and Kelly are reporters for a local newspaper tasked with writing about Melissa’s new appeal to her murder conviction. Along the way they discover secrets everyone involved in the twins’ lives are keeping, including some very close to home for them both! So for my opinion... overall a good book! The author kept me fully engaged and always wanting more however I felt towards the end I was speed reading and practically holding my breather for the big twist and... it didn’t really come! That is my only complaint. While the ending does reveal a small twist it wasn’t all that big of a shocker... a bit predictable! However, I’d still highly encourage any reader to try this book!

Wow !!!! This book has it all: murder, lies, secrets, family, mystery.

Twists and turns so many my head is spinning.

The title says its all : Guilty Mother : Who would you Believe?

You think you know but do you ?

I will remember this book for a long time to come .

I am off to get more of Diane Jeffrey's books.

Thanks to Net Galley and HQ Digital for the pleasure of reading The Guilty Mother.

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased

This had been hooked from the first to the last page - loved it !! - did not expect it to end the way it did - thrilling - no pun intended!!

A great read

The Guilty Mother had an interesting premise but I found this one was a little hard to connect with because the characters were so unlikeable. As far as psychological thrillers go, it had a good mystery and level of suspense but I felt it dragged on a bit. I also struggled with keeping track of some of the characters because of the similarities with the names, specifically Mel and Melissa. For a good portion of the first part of the book, I thought they were the same person which was confusing when trying to follow the storyline. All in all, this was okay, just not my favorite!

What a fantastic book, it had me gripped from the very first page and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Excellent characters and such a well developed story with a great ending, well done Diane I look forward to your next masterpiece.

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for giving me the opportunity to read this brilliant book.

This book is a crazy thriller read and keeps you going back and forth trying to figure out if Melissa is guilty or not. Did someone else possibly have a hand in killing the babies or was it really Melissa? Could she possibly have killed her babies?

This story is told in three different POV's. We get Melissa's, the convicted murderer that has filled for an appeal, Jonathan's, the news reporter that has been assigned by his boss to cover the story again since he covered the original story and trial, and Kelly's, Jonathan's co-worker. Even though there are three different POV's going on, I found this one easy to follow. I liked that we got Melissa's POV as well as the reporters covering the case.

Melissa is in prison for murdering one of her twin daughter's. There was no fault found with her first daughter's death and they were unable to stick the murder on Melissa. The second twin's death though they did stick on Melissa and she has been serving time for that. As Jonathan and Kelly investigate certain aspects of things that are uncovered with the new evidence coming to light, your mind goes back and forth wondering who could have done it. Your heart aches for Melissa in the process because loosing twin baby girls has to be hard on anyone.

I love how Diane Jeffrey keeps you on your toes and guessing as to who actually could have done this to the twins. In the end, you are left with jaw dropping revelations that have you asking yourself how could that have been? I thought this was a great read and I enjoyed the ride with Melissa, Jonathan and Kelly.

All opinions in this review are my own. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an advanced copy of this book.

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

This is the first book I have re ad by this author. A fantastic read - I read it i n two nights. Very easy to read and kept me interested from the Very first word to the very last.

This thriller is told from three different perspectives. From Melissa's point of view, a convicted child murder who was sentenced to jail but is now applying for an appeal, Jonathan's POV, a local new paper journalist who covered the original story and now must jump back into the case at the insistence of his boss, as well as Kelly's POV, Johnathan's coworker. I found this story very interesting and the plot really kept me on my toes. While I'm not usually a fan of books with switches in point of view's I found this one to be really well done and it didn't mess up the flow of the story at all, I think that it actually enhanced it for the reader, giving them different takes on things. Melissa's point of view talks about what happened the night that her children was murdered, while Jonathan's talks about the here and now. I found each character very interesting and I had to get to the bottom of the murder. What happened that night? Was Melissa really guilty, and if so what made her do what she did? This thriller will have you up all night just waiting to see what happens next. I was completely sucked into this story line and every question I had was followed by another that I couldn't wait to find the answer to. I found the characters in this book very likable and I really felt the pain that they were going through. The author did a great job of pulling me into the story line as if I was in the room while it happened. While this is my first book from Diane Jeffrey it won't be my last that is for sure this book skyrockets her to the top thriller authors of this decade and I can't wait to see what else she writes.

The story focuses on Melissa Slade, who is currently in prison serving time for murdering one of her children. When the chance of an appeal,presents itself, two journalists investigate the case. The premise was interesting and I enjoyed the way we got to ‘hear’ both sides of the story. The book was well written and well edited.
However the plot itself I found weak and predictable, and I guessed the twist long before the ending. This meant I lost interest half way through and skim read the second part. I also disliked most of the characters who seemed a little stereotypical, there was little new or challenging in the story.
Sorry but this book just wasn’t for me.

THE GUILTY MOTHER by Diane Jeffrey

I would like to thank @netgalley and HQ Digital for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I listen to a lot of podcasts about true crime and wrongful convictions, so when I saw this book was about a mother who was charged with murder but was appealing the ruling as a "miscarriage of justice" as they say in the book, I was hooked. As the story is told through multiple POVs, it started out a little confusing for me as they characters didn't have a distinct tone of "voice" right away. However, after a few chapters, the pace started to pick up and it was easier to tell the narrators apart.

Going into this, I had expected a "did she do it or did she not do it?" kind of story, but it was much more than that. There were a few extra mysteries, for a lack of a better word, thrown in that tied people together and added a whole lot of red herrings to make you question your original lines of thinking. The end felt a little bit rushed, and there were some questions and loose ends left hanging with no definitive answer, just speculation.

Over all, I would say this is a decent thriller/mystery and I would recommend it to people who enjoy that specific genre.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ THREE and a HALF stars

(Review to be cross posted to Instagram @homelifereads)

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for providing this ARC I exchange for an honest review.

Melissa is in jail for murdering her daughter, the second of her children to die. She has been in jail for a few years when new evidence comes to light and journalists Jon and Kelley start looking at her case.

4.5 stars. This was a good quick read. When I had to put it down, I found myself wanting to go back to it. I really wanted to know what had happened. There were a lot of coincidences, as there tend to be in these kinds of books to make the story work, and I liked that the author acknowledged that through the characters' dialogue. I also liked the characters. I almost feel like we could do with another book featuring Jon and Kelley. This is my second book from this author and I am 2 for 2, so I look forward to her next one.

WOW!!! This book was an amazing thrill ride that I couldn’t put down. Highly enjoyable from beginning to end.

4.5/5⭐

Thank you #NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange of my honest opinion.

This book is sooooo good!!

I have never read a book by this author before and now I cannot wait to pick up another one!

I loved everything about it!

I loved the story told by two characters: a journalist and the murderer in the first part. And then, the two journalists in the second part. I loved that the main journalist is a male. I loved how fast paced it was. I loved the short chapters. I loved the writing style (Easy to read, addictive, mysterious, well written). I loved the plot. Everything!!

I also liked every character (But one), which is unusual but I cared for everyone of them. I felt like another member of this story and I lived it with them in a way that actually affected me like it did to them.

I liked how the chapters pretty much always ended with an intriguing touch that made me want to read one more chapter. And that's how I read this book in 2 days.

Although we have already seen families that struggle in thrillers, I found the plot of "The Guilty Mother" unique, different and absolutely worth the read.

The end was very satisfying and I was shocked by the last plot twist! Yaaas! I loved it! And I will read more of her books 100% !!

5-years ago, Melissa Slade’s infant daughter, Amber, tragically died in her crib. The police ruled it an accidental death, but when Amber’s twin, Ellie, died in a similar manner only weeks later, the police thought murder might be at play. And Melissa Slade was then charged with the murder of both her daughters—sending her to prison for life.

Now in present day, Jonathan, a local Bristol journalist, is tasked with his colleague, Kelly, to cover Melissa Slade’s appeal. Jonathan does not want to get involved with this case again for personal reasons, but his boss is gunning for him to uncover some information that could’ve been looked over 5-years previously.

So Jonathan and Kelly start doing some investigative journalism, talking to everyone who had anything to do with Melissa Slade and the deaths of Amber and Ellie. Some people maintain Melissa’s innocence, while others are convinced she’s a cold-blooded baby killer.

Jonathan is left wondering, was Melissa’s conviction a miscarriage or justice or is she trying to get away with the perfect crime?

The Guilty Mother by Diane Jeffrey is a gripping crime thriller that had me invested from the very start. Although a little on the long side, the story kept my attention and I didn’t find myself getting bored. The story is told through 3 perspectives: Melissa, Jonathan and Kelly. Up until about the 85% mark, I had no idea whether or not Melissa was innocent. Diane Jeffrey did a great job playing both sides so I couldn’t guess the truth. I wish the big reveal had been more dramatic, adding a bigger shock value to it. But overall I’m impressed by this book and author and plan on reading more by Diane Jeffrey in the future. 4/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley, HQ and Diane Jeffrey for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great book will be reading other books by this author.
Will also recommend this book to others.
Great read! 5***** was hooked

Before I started reading The Guilty Mother, I read a few reviews from other readers. I try to never do that, but sometimes I can’t help it and take a peek. Many people said the book started off slowly and they struggled getting in to it. I strongly disagree! I instantly wanted to know what happened to Melissa’s twin babies and I was rooting for Jonathan to get to the bottom of it! I found the characters likable and the plot full of suspense. This is my first book by Diane Jeffrey and I look forward to reading more from her.

I love psychological thrillers, but this one didn't quite live up to my expectations, though it was still a good read.
I felt that some points were a bit too drawn out, and I had a hard time liking many of the characters. I do like that the story was told from multiple POVs. It was a bit confusing to have a character named Mel and one named Melissa. For some time, I thought they were the same person, but that's not the case. Some plot points were a bit unbelievable. I never really felt a connection with the story, though there were a few interesting twists. Just an average read for me overall.

Overall, an enjoyable read. Perhaps the start of a new series as I wonder if further books will be written about Jonathan. I enjoyed both the main story and the backstories of the different characters.