Fiona trusts her neighbor Lou with her life, and more importantly, her children. When Fiona arrives home and no one is there, she's not immediately concerned. They probably got caught up doing something fun. That's just who Lou is!

But Fiona isn't the only one entrusting her kids to Lou. Other moms at the school and old frenemies of Fiona also do, unbeknownst to all of them. Still, it's just who Lou is! She could make friends with anyone.

With a storm coming and the knowledge that Lou's own children are with their father, all of the moms have to stop pretending this is innocent. She's vanished with so many neighborhood kids that she's going to have to trade her Range Rover in for a school bus.

With this knowledge, the moms finally interact with each other begrudgingly. It turns out they're far from strangers or bickering moms at the PTA meeting but what happened between them and why does it sound like Lou is teaching them a lesson?

Lou seems to fit so seamlessly into their lives but is she actually insidious?

This was a fast and fun little mystery. A bit predictable, and with more narrators than I prefer but definitely worth a read or listen.

Thanks to NetGalley for the chance to listen and review! The narration was great.

This fast paced novel begins when a good friend promises to pick up the other moms’ children from school. As hours pass and the children don’t arrive home, a frightening realization dawns. The friend never meant to bring the children home. With themes of friendship, bullying, love, and hate the author shows how actions have consequences that ripple further than one could imagine. Enjoyable read!

Not a bad listen but a common storyline I also got a bit confused with the different characters but that could be just me
Basically Lou regularly does the school run for a couple of the group of friends so when Lou goes missing with a couple of her friends children although concerned they assume must be a good reason as Lou is trustworthy and loves the kids.
Then they get a text and a whole story of revenge from emerges

The Mother Next Door will probably feel familiar to most like me that have read many thrillers.
This book follows a group of moms whose children are taken by a "friend" ...the moms share a dark past that's now come to haunt them.
this was a good book but not great - I wish it was more unique.
The plot was fast paced and a quick read.
Huge Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.
received this advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This is set to publish 2/27/23.

📚Book Review📚

The Mother Next Door
Leah Mercer

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I really enjoyed this one!
At first, I felt like it was quite a nice comfortable read and that I'd find it pretty predictable. But by the end I was shocked as one after another little twist got revealed.

We follow Lou who had recently moved to the area. She seemed like the single mum from heaven who was beautiful, always happy, always helping others, chatty, popular and perfect in every way.

Until 3 other school mums come home to collect their children from Lou's house to find them all not there.

As the story continues, we are fed little snippets of story from all pov's - how their lives are now, their relationships, friendships, family and insecurities.
We discover that although outwardly, they are all happy and stable families, behind the scenes shows a different story.

As each mum's story unfolds, we realise that secrets from the past are catching up with them and it becomes a race to rescue the children and set the record straight.

I loved the writing style. It started off presenting as a standard psychological thriller that would be a bit predictable and a cosy read.....but the pace quickly races off into so many mini facets that we can't help be sucked along with it.

There were so many 😱"what!?"😱 moments that I lost count. And every time I thought I had a theory, there was another layer added.

I think the thing that added to the shock factor in this is the totally contrasting characters. Those you're bound to love and trust and those you're encouraged to dislike. And these personalities and my view changed for each of them so many times throughout...even to the very end.

Great twisty gripping thriller. Perfectly narrated too. Definitely on the look out for more by this author.

I loved this missing children thriller. The dual timeline and dual POV were fantastic. Keeping track of all the names was a little tricky at first as it always is with audio. I thought each character was really well developed and I did not see the twist coming! About halfway through I started wondering how the past POV would be related to the missing children but I still was surprised at the end. I loved the friend/frenemy dynamic of the women - because that was SO relatable. I will be recommending this book, author, and narrator. Can’t wait to read more.

Lou has quickly made friends with everyone in her new neighborhood. She even helps with picking up her neighbors’ kids and bringing them home when she picks up her own children. But one day, she picks up the kids but doesn't bring them home. Parents begin to panic, but they are with Lou. She will bring them home, wont she?

Leah Mercer amps up the tension and anxiety right away. It's every parent’s worst fear - something happening to their children. As a storm ravages the area, Lou has picked up their children and not brought them home. Questions begin to circulate, fear intensifies, and secrets begin to surface.

Lou's car is found but she and the children are nowhere in sight. But then three of the mothers, Allison, Jasmine and Fiona, receive a text message telling them to confess. What do they need to confess?

I listened to the audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the narrator did a fantastic job. I enjoyed the various POV's and how each told part of the story. Very clever.

This was a nicely paced psychological thriller which had me searching for time to listen as I wanted to know more and to see how everything would come together. I was not disappointed. I look forward to more of Leah Mercer's books in the future.


#TheMotherNextDoor #NetGalley #Bookouture, #LeahMercer

Told from multiple POVs, this is an intriguing psychological thriller from an author who is new to me. Because of the multiple POVs I did find it a little repetitive, but and was eager to find out why the children had been kidnapped by a family friend. There are several twists and I did guess a major one about halfway through the book, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment. I'll definitely try more books by this author.

I enjoyed the narration by Jasmine Blackborow.

I think I’m reading/have read too many thrillers. I absolutely don’t want that to reflect in my review but I think it has to. It was thoroughly well plotted. Well written. Beautifully narrated but it all felt a bit samey and I had figured out at less than half way exactly what was going to happen, and I hate being right. I’m going to try to change up my genre for a while, it’s unfair to be dragging someone’s hard slog as samey. If you’re new to thrillers you’ll probably love it, it has stamina, it has great characters and a brilliant plot and what should be an epic twist. Just wasn’t great for me, but I hope I’ve explained why without taking away from the piece.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.

The children are missing. Mines yours and another neighborhood mom
Surely they are okay. They are with Lou the next door neighbor. And she's going to take good care of them
But Lou has a secret and all the moms are about to find out what it is

Thank you, Net Galley, for an audio ARC of The Mother Next Door by Leah Mercer. It is a well written novel, with punchy dialogue that rings true, and the descriptive audio narration brings the scenes to life.

3.5 stars

This is a speedy read and a satisfying thriller, and the narration in the audio version is quite compelling.

The central characters are comprised of mothers whose children have been seemingly taken by Lou, a woman whom everyone thought was their friend. Folks are confused about what is happening but more importantly WHY it is happening, and the answers are pretty disturbing in many ways.

If readers learn anything from thrillers, it's that your cis het romantic partner - especially a dude - is definitely the most likely candidate to become your killer one day and that any wrongs you've committed in your past will somehow come back to haunt you in a very real way. This book is about the latter, but it's handled in a pretty intriguing manner.

There are a fair number of narrators to manage for an audiobook, but readers who are able to do more focusing than listening while ___ will find themselves engaged in this one.

Lou is the ideal neighbor and friend. She's helpful to the other mothers and picks up the other neighborhood mother's children from school and takes them home. Except one day, a storm is brewing and Lou has not returned home yet. Later on, her car is found on the side of the road with her cell phone in it, and all of the children's belongings. Later on in the day, Lou's friends, Fiona, Alison and Jasmine all receive a text from Lou sent from one of the children's phones saying that she has the children, and will return them once they tell the truth. Just what is the truth? We all have hidden secrets deep down inside and this gets each of the women to thinking about their past indiscretions.

This gets rather complicated as it involves things that happened in each of the women's childhood. I don't have children, but I can honestly say that this is every parents worst nightmare, and it really had me feeling sorry for each of these women. There are multiple POV's coming from Fiona, Alison and Jasmine and one of Fiona's children, Tabitha. It's a very twisty book and the twist at the very end surprised me.

I felt this book could have been a lot shorter, by a couple hours, perhaps. Some of the dialogue felt so long and drawn out that I would begin to lose focus. I never heard of this author before and enjoyed this book, and I'm going to look at her other booksI never heard of this author before and enjoyed this book enough to want to check out her other books. Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Lou is that woman who’s always eager to lend a hand, need your kids picked up from school? Lou will pick your kids up when she gets her own children. Everything is great, until the day it isn’t. While a storm brews, Lou and the children have disappeared. Her vehicle has been found abandoned, the children’s belongings scattered across the back seat. Lou has an agenda, and if her neighbor doesn’t tell the truth about her past, she’ll never see her children again. Domestic thrillers are everywhere and this one stood out from the others because of the fiendishly clever Lou

This one kept me guessing the entire time! I thought one thing for most of the book and wasn’t entirely right when the big twist was revealed.

Thanks Netgalley for this ARC!

The Mother Next Door will definitely feel familiar to most. It's a story that you have heard before. Fortunately, this has great writing so you won’t mind being told the same story again.

Nothing in this book will really surprise you, even the big twist at the end. It was almost expected and not shocking, but again the writing was just so strong that it made it all work. The best way I can describe this book is for you to imagine if a bad storyteller tells you a story, then someone who knows how to tell a story tells you the same story. You will not care that you already heard it.

The Mother Next Door follows a group of moms whose kids were taken by a friend. They all share a dark moment in their past and it's back to haunt them. It is fast-paced and never hits the brakes. It’s a quick read that will have you flying to the end.

I do wish this was a little more unique but I really enjoyed the writing in this book. On that alone I would recommend this book.

Imagine your children are missing after they were picked up at school by your trusted friend and neighbor.
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A storm is brewing outside and as it gets darker you see that your friend Lou has not returned with your children.
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The police are called. Lou’s car is found with your children’s school stuff. But your children are not the only ones missing.
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A circle of friends Fiona, Alison and Jasmines children are all with Lou. Are they okay? They are all sharing a secret and when Lou contacts them blackmail seems to be the reason.
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Multiple POV’s makes this thriller gripping and unforgettable. I never expected the twist, which is always enjoyable. This was my first by this author and I will be looking for more. The narrator for this audiobook is perfect!

Thank you Bookouture and Netgalley for this riveting audiobook due out February 27, 2023.

Gripping and suspenseful thriller in which four women, whose lives are brought together by the school run, find that they each hide dark secrets which threaten to destroy everything they hold dear.

Lou is a fantastic mother, everyone's friend and often collects the other children from school. On this particular day, it transpires she is picking up the children of all the other women, but why has she told her ex to collect their children instead of bringing them herself?

On the day of one of the worst storms the area has seen, Lou and the children all disappear. Trees are being blown down and the river which looms large from their childhood is predicted to burst its banks, swollen by the torrential rain, but for some reason they seem to have ventured deep into the woods.

As the situation gradually becomes clearer, layers of secrets unfold as the mothers race against time to get their children back.

A real page turner with great narration.

Thank you, Net Galley, for an audio ARC of The Mother Next Door by Leah Mercer. This book is a unique mystery/ thriller like I've never read before. The storyline was unique. Fabulous book!