The USA Today bestseller! ‘Stayed up late finishing this, just had to know what happened, brilliant final twist! Gripping page-turner with great characters’Sunday Times bestselling author B A Paris She says she’s innocent. DO YOU BELIEVE HER? 2013 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 … an eye, her perfect life became a nightmare – when she found herself on trial for the murder of her little girls.
PRESENT DAY
Jonathan Hunt covered the original Slade Babies case for the local newspaper. Now that new evidence has come to light, Jon’s boss wants him back on the story to uncover the truth.
With Melissa’s appeal date looming, time is running out. And, as Jon gets drawn deeper into a case he’d wanted to forget, he starts to question Melissa’s guilt.
Is Melissa manipulating Jon or telling him the truth? Is she a murderer, or the victim of a miscarriage of justice?
And if Melissa Slade is innocent, what really happened to Ellie and Amber Slade?
READERS LOVE THE GUILTY MOTHER:
‘Gripping, thought-provoking and scarily believable… just when you think you know where the story is going, another twist comes round the corner’ TM Logan, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Holiday
‘A mind blowing storyline… AND THAT LAST CHAPTER TOOK MY BREATH AWAY… Everything a thriller ought to be’ Shalini
‘Don’t miss this book’ Sue
‘The phrase “on the edge of your seat” was made for this book’ Mark
‘Keeps you on your toes’ Sarah
‘Absolutely thrilling! … You really will be guessing right until the very end!’ Jodie
‘A crazy thriller read and keeps you going back and forth’ Melanie
‘Full of twists up to the very last sentence’ Kim
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A great mystery with twists I didn’t see coming!
Real twisted and unexpected ending.
Alright, entertained me.
First of all a huge thanks to #NetGalley, #Harper360, and author #DianeJeffrey for the ARC of #TheGuiltyMother.
A solid 4.5 stars on this book. The only thing wrong about this was I didn’t have the time to be able to read it in one sitting….because, I totally could have, and would’ve.
There are three narrators in this story, Melissa, Jonathan, and Kelly. When we begin Melissa is in prison because she was found guilty of killing one of her twins. Jonathan and Kelly are investigative reporters who have been given the assignment of trying to uncover the truth. Let me tell you, the truth, your truth, is your perception of reality and we don’t always all live in that same reality.
The push and pull of the storyline keeps you perfectly, completely guessing what will happen next. Now, to me, the perfect book is the one where the author completely surprises you with something you didn’t think of. This…is….that…book!
Now, that I’m thinking about the book, and digesting it, I give it 5 full bright shiny stars. I can’t wait to read something else from Diane.
The opinions above are mine and mine alone. Run, don’t walk, and grab this book. You will be able to purchase this at your favorite book retailer on or after 5/18/21.
Jonathan has recently been promoted to chief reporter at “The Redcliffe Gazette.” Kelly is working with Jonathan, and he is mentoring her. Their boss, Claire, is the news editor and has called him into her office. She wants him to investigate more of the Melissa Slade murder conviction.
Jonathan works hard to write his news stories as fairly as possible, and is diligently working with Kelly to show her how to do the same. Jonathan is a widower with two young sons. His wife had been killed along with their unborn daughter several years ago.
The Court of Appeal has allowed Melissa Slade to appeal against the murder conviction of killing her twin daughters. The babies died a few weeks apart. It was determined that Amber had died from SIDS or cot death, but Ellie’s death was ruled suspicious and the jury convicted Melissa to life in prison for the deaths of both girls. Melissa is also an ex-cop which makes life for her in prison even more difficult. It appears that the autopsy report for Ellie had not been fully shared with the court at the time of the trial and new evidence makes some think Melissa may be cleared of murdering her babies. Melissa is also the mother of teenager, Callum, from her first marriage. He has not dealt well with having his mother in prison, and she wants so much to be out and help him.
Melissa Slade had a difficult time with post-partum depression after the birth of the twins. Her husband hired a nanny named Clementine to help her, along with a maid to clean the house. Some think she may have been depressed and that’s why she killed Ellie.
Will Melissa get a new trial, and if so, could she be cleared of charges? How can she ever be happy after losing her little babies?
This is a good book that keeps the reader wondering right up to the very end what happened, and who, may have killed Ellie. Any mother reading this book will realize even more just how fragile little babies are. Read the book and see if you can guess what truly happened.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
When Jon’s boss asks him to cover the story of Melissa Slade’s appeal, he is less than thrilled to be thrown back to the past that he’s trying desperately to forget. He has no choice as he was the original reporter when she was on trial for killing her newborn twin girls, Amber and Ellie. As he and his assistant Kelly start questioning the people who knew her best, new evidence comes to light which may prove that Melissa may be innocent. And when they dig deeper into the family, they discover secrets that were never meant to be exposed…and someone will do whatever it takes to keep it that way.
This was a page-turner for me and kept my interest. I was guessing all the way to the end. There were twists and surprises and I was wondering if certain people were faking to be helpful or if they were truly trying to help Melissa. So many other things were going on that were tied to the case. Taken from the POV’s of Jon, Kelly, and Melissa, you see from their eyes whether they believe she killed the babies. Overall a great read and I look forward to reading more from this author.
Thank you Netgalley and Harper 360/HQ Digital for the opportunity to read this book.
I found myself really wanting to read this book, and enjoyed 90% of it… the ending was something of a twist, but felt forced
Great book!
I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 for this reason. I enjoyed this book, but not a page-turner for me as most of the reviews I read saw. The book did, however; have a surprising end. The plot had several twists and turns. I felt very sorry for the mother all the way through the book to the very end.
This book kept me reading until I finished it, so many twists and turns, and an unbelievable, unexpected ending
“I didn’t see that coming,” said I each time I started a new section. You won’t be able to figure it out or put it down.
This took a bit to get into but I’m sure glad I got this book – definitely worth a read..
Jonathan is a journalist assigned to report on the upcoming appeal of a mother in prison for murdering her infant daughter. Initially reluctant to take the assignment and doubting the woman’s innocence, he gradually gets drawn into undertaking his own investigation. He soon senses that he’s being manipulated. He is a likeable viewpoint character with a fully fleshed out backstory that has mysteries attached.
A second viewpoint character is Kelly, the rookie reporter who assists Jonathan. She too has a full backstory and there are hints that she may have her own reasons for getting involved in the appeal case.
The third viewpoint character is Melissa, the jailed mother. As I’m sure the author intended, I found her sections a difficult read as they brought back memories of real-life mothers who were jailed on the scientific evidence of expert witnesses.
Jonathan and Kelly follow several leads and expose shocking evidence. I can see mileage in a sequel as there are more stories that these characters could tell. I’d certainly read it.
Very well done! Melissa loses one of her twins apparently to SIDS – is that her fault? Then the second twin dies and the cause is not as clear – is this one her fault?
The author has done a spectacular job of developing her characters and showing the light and dark of each of them. Once you start this one you’ll be hard pressed to put it down. The real question here is Do You Believe Her?