Thank you netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.

If you are looking for a book with a great plot and character development, this is it. I enjoyed the pacing of the story and never felt bored. I finished it quickly too because the way the author constructed the chapters you want to know what is going on with the characters.

The ending was perfect and wraps everything up nicely. I can’t wait to read more by the author in the future.

I'm sorry to say this book wasn't for me. I found it really implausible right from the start and they more it carried on, the more ridiculous I found it. It was almost like there was a tick list of themes to include and the author was determined to squeeze them all in somehow. The story didn't rind true for some of the characters e.g. expected to believe that Tee would go along with anything and everything, possibly because Ed had already been in prison so she believed he knew more about the system. I had many unanswered questions e.g. why did the Levinsons appear at the Carter's house the next morning. We did get a sort of answer but it seemed rushed.
More positively, I didn't give up on the book, so there was obviously enough in it to stop that, maybe because I wanted to know who would end up blackmailing who and who would eventually get the blame! Apologies to the author, I'm sure others will enjoy the book.
I would read another in the series to see if was any better, but wouldn't go out of my way to do so.

A twisty tale of two families and a deadly secret. What will mothers do to protect their children? That's the question in this one. It goes a bit over the top but I appreciated the surprises. Thanks to Netgalley for the arc. This was a standalone for me and now I know to look for Weatherley in the future.

This book is apparently the eighth book in the author’s “Detective Dan Riley” series. This is also my first book by this author, so I didn’t realize that going in, but I would say it doesn’t matter. If you have read that series, I’m sure you won’t be disappointed by this book. If you haven’t read that series, I’m sure you won’t feel left out - normally I can’t read books from a series out of order, but this is just fine as a stand-alone book.

Christine, her husband Ed, and their son Conor live a simple life. She’s a housekeeper for the Levinsons, a powerful and wealthy political family. Their son Conor is eighteen, and is primed to have a great career in football (soccer for us Americans). They lost their daughter Cora to meningitis when she was just a baby, so Conor is their world. They would do anything for him…literally.

The book starts with Christine waking up to crying. She goes downstairs and finds Conor with Paris Levinson, teenage daughter to Helen and Bryan. They are watching news footage about a man named Mathew Reynolds, who was murdered the night before, and they are both hysterical. Before Christine can ask why, she notices the teens are covered in blood. They confess that Mathew, a drug dealer with quite a criminal history, was harassing Paris. Conor punched the man, Paris joined in, and somehow in the end, Mathew was dead.

Immediately the parents get together and make a pact that they are not going to let their only children take the fall for this crime. With Bryan Levinson’s connections, there is enough influence to make this problem go away - except Detective Riley isn’t the sort to be swayed by money. As he digs deeper into the crime, he uncovers a plethora of extenuating circumstances that just don’t make sense. Why was Mathew suddenly flush with money before his death? Why does Paris seem terrified of her parents? Why does Helen seem to not be worried at all?

This page turner was very timely, with the case against Sean “Diddy” Combs happening. This touches not just on the murder, but it’s a shocking tale of prostitution, drugs, sexual deviancy and child abuse. I was going to give it 4.5 stars all along, unless I was blown away (and as a thriller reviewer, it’s hard to blow me away). Well, blown away I was - I never saw the ending coming, and it was as fantastic as the rest of the book. 4.5 stars, rounded up!

(Thank you to Bookouture, Anna-Lou Weatherley and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be published on January 8, 2025.)

This is a twisty thriller that explores to what lengths a mother would or wouldn’t go to in order to protect her child.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

What I found so interesting was how good natured the main character was. She genuinely was a kind, loving person who wanted just to look after her family and live a moral life. This made for a fascinating conflict when she’s forced to do something that she believes is wrong to hep a family member. This happens early on so we get this framing right from the start. It creates a clever context for the events that occur in the book as we always know how much stress these decisions are causing the character. I was really rooting for her and didn’t want her to be caused any pain but you know she’s in an impossible situation and having to make difficult choices.

This is the first book I’ve read in the series but it didn’t cause me any issues even though there’s been several ahead of it. This book focuses on a specific crime and investigation so my investment in the story was for that. There were references to the detectives’ family that might have benefitted from knowing their earlier history for context. But it certainly didn’t hinder my ability to follow this story.

This was an easy book to fully immerse in and read in one sitting. It’s tense, fast-paced, often taking unexpected turns (which I loved). A great thriller and I would read more from this author.

Wow! I will admit that this book was a bit of a slow start but it certainly made it worth it as the plot progressed. Plenty of twists and turns with a couple red herrings thrown in, the payoff was substantial. When I picked this up I did not realize it was a part of a series but it was very easy to read as a standalone with no perceived references to ongoing storylines. I did, however, feel compelled to read the rest of the series in the future.

Overall an excellent thriller!

What Kind of Mother
By: Anna-Lou Weatherley
Pub Date: January 8, 2025
Publisher: Bookouture

Helen Levinson is a mother living in a home which seems perfect on the outside, but we know most things seem too perfect, are usually not. Helen’s daughter Paris is keeping a secret which can destroy EVERYTHING, and it should!
Paris has become a suspect in a murder with her boyfriend Conor, who has his own troubles.
I do not want to spoil anything about this novel, but it is very twisted and I did not see the twist coming, but was BLOWN away with the things that went on with this family.

I typically enjoy reading books about families as well as psychological thrillers so the name & description of the book appealed to me. I was surprised to learn that this is Book 8 of 8 in a series and thought I'd probably read the rest of the series afterwards. I got into the story immediately. Liked the characters and their issue. But at 40% Helen got to be a bit too ridiculous. It kept getting worse & less believable. I enjoy a good thriller but this was too predictable. I tried to forge ahead but by 70% I couldn't continue. Needless to say. I now fully understand why I wasn't aware of this author or her series. I did not bond with Detective Dan Riley as I have with Eddie Flynn or Bailey Wiggins.

I wish I could rate this higher than 2 stars as the book originally has potential. But as it's said in the book, "2 things always float to the surface: RUBBISH & the truth." I'm stating the truth that this is rubbish.

WHAT KIND OF MOTHER by Anna-Lou Weatherly.
Release date set for the 8th of January 2025.
This was my first time reading this author and i didn't realise that this was book 8 out of 8 in the Detective Dan Riley series.
It was a good thing that this book could be read as a stand alone.
This book has me wanting me to go back to book 1 and see where it all began.
This book was something else.
Highly recommend.
5 stars

I didn't realise this was part of a series. The truth is that this novel works perfectly fine as a standalone book.

The characters in What Kind of Mother are absolutely despicable, but isn't that the point? An absolute rollercoaster of a novl, albeit a bit of a slow burner.

Recommended!

Although Book 8 in the series this can 100% be read as a stand alone

The crux of this story is in the title, just what kind of Mother can/would/will do as this one does….and what is her excuse for her despicable behaviour?

The Levinsons are affluent, upright citizens of their community, MP and wife, no less…yet have never lost touch with the hard working near poverty roots of most of their constituents

Sounds good doesn’t it?
And of course its totally untrue

So when their daughter Paris is under suspicion with her boyfriend Conor re a murder of a local drug dealer eyes are raised anf the Levinsons will do anything, literally anything to keep their dirty secrets secret

This is a fast paced, mega dark tale of evil, corruption, narcissism and hate with a thankfully equal measure of goodness, truth and vengeance

Probably the best book by this author have read and have loved all of her previous books but this just has the edge ( with its edginess! )

Excellent read

I’ve read all of this author’s other books, but this is definitely her best yet. The writing style is fast paced, the characters are intriguing and it’s packed with twists. It truly is a fantastic domestic thriller that I’d definitely recommend.

This is probably my least favorite book by this author. It was still really good, with a lot of suspense but just didn't settle well with me. Christine's son and his gf are crying one morning when the wakes up. They believe they murdered the guy on the tv screen. Helen and Bryan, Christine's employers, show up to get their daughter. This turns into a "friendship" to keep their kids out of prison. As time goes on, Christine and her husband realize Helen is up to something, and there are secrets all over that house. Blackmail, murder, sex parties. This book has a lot of disturbing issues to it, but still good suspense and it was good overall.

DI Dan Riley and his Team. are on the case finding the facts of a murdered child, Helen and her housekeeper have a lot in common but where does that similarity end and where does truth step in.

This is an emotive read and one where I felt for the main character.. Parenthood is hard for everyone at times and the author has told the story in such a way where the reader can identify, sympathise and when the tiwsts and turns start it just blows your mind.

At first I didn;t know where the story would finish but I did guess early one. This did not spoil my reading time.

I loved it

There's always a worry when we read a series that the characters will stale and become predictable, but that is not the case with the eighth installment of DCI Dan Riley! While copper Dan Riley is as smart, compassionate, and driven to seek justice as ever, we also get to see the growth of the character. Dan Riley is more than just a detective. He's a husband and a father. We often read the struggles of motherhood, but in this series, Anna-Lou Weatherly explores the struggles of fatherhood. Which is refreshing. Instead of the stereotypical father putting his job ahead of his family, we get to see a male character seeking to balance being good at both jobs: policing and parenthood.

In a story that requires you to ask yourself (especially if you're a parent) repeatedly, "What would I do to protect my child?"How far would I go to protect my child from a deadly mistake?" There is a risk of boredom from redundancy. Instead, the reader is drawn into becoming the parent(s), desparately hoping that just this once DCI Dan Riley will fail to solve the case. What would you do if your child died? What would you do if your child was murdered? How far would you go to protect your child's life and quality of life? What is more important: your humanity and character, or your child?

Usually, psychological thrillers don't leave me contemplating my own choices, but this book did. I highly recommend this book!

This is a slow burner but it's worth sticking with. The author creates suspense and tension well, and mananges to throw in some unsuspecting twists too. I enjoyed this novel and will look out for more from Anna-Lou.

I have read all books from this author but for me this was her best yet.

The characters were well described and I just love reading about DI Dan Riley and his Team.

I found it to be a fast paced thriller read which kept me on the edge of my seat with a great ending, just brilliant

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Detective Dan Riley, we meet again following you and Lucy on the hunt of a killer once more.

A good mother does everything in her power to protect her child even if she has to cross a line she would normally never cross. She has to choose between a rock and a hard place and she picks the only thing she believes will bring the outcome she wants and hopes for.

Not every mother is a good one though. There are the ones putting themselves first and by doing so throwing their child under the bus.

This is the story about two mothers, but what kind of mothers are they...?

Lying, cheating, blackmail are a few of the ingredients of this delicious book. Some people see these as normal things is life. Others only use them as a last resort.

I admire Dan for colouring outside of the boxes. Not because he wants to be a rebel per se, but because his gut feeling tells him he is on the right track. He does not step down, but keeps on believing his instincts.

Fantastic book. I loved it. 5 stars

Thank you

Not what I expected and it moves kind of slow. This is my third book by this author. Stick with it. It gradually picks up pace.