Sarah J. Naughton

This story follows a group of five women who met whilst they were all pregnant. They form a friendship that continues once the babies are born. Throw in a mystery to the mix when one of the husbands goes missing.

This book for me I enjoyed small parts of it and didn't enjoy the rest. At first I thought it was going down the route of police procedure which I really don't enjoy anymore. As it was it didn't and good job as the police in this book really didn't have a clue.

The five women are all very different and the beginning of the story I was quite enjoying. The women all lead very different lives which isn't always as it seems.

The middle section I struggled with as when the story delved deeper into the women's lives I found some of it quite dull. I did skip some of this to get back to the missing husband.

The final bit was probably the best. The women come across through the book as perhaps not really the best of friends. The twist changes this assumption and I think this sort of saves the book.

Never read a book by the author before but may give another one ago in the future.… (más)

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‘The Mothers’ is the kind of book I normally avoid, so please bear that in mind when you read my allergic reaction to it below. This sub-genre, which I’ve seen termed ‘domestic noir’,is incredibly popular at the moment, if bookshop shelves and my Instagram feed are anything to go by . The easiest way to describe it is to say that it features crime stories based around the everyday lives of normal women. Put like that it quite appeals to me, and I can certainly think of many books and authors it fits that I have really liked. Natsuo Kirino, Megan Abbott, Shirley Jackson and so on. The problem I have with this modern wave of British (and all the ones I’ve read have been British) domestic noirs is that they feel like they’ve been pushed out by publishers to satisfy the market, rather than because they have real merit. That might feel like a strange thing to say given my love of pulp paperbacks, but being a pulp fan is really about separating the wheat from the chaff. ‘The Mothers’ is definitely chaff.
The central concept is one that’s typical to the form. A diverse group of women who have met through antenatal classes and maintained their friendship over the first years of their children’s lives find themselves embroiled in a mystery. The husband of one of the women has vanished, and a plucky young police woman is on hand to investigate. Things ramp up further when a further disappearance takes place. As is often the case with this kind of thing, the story is then told largely in flashback, with a gradual build up to the crimes.
This might have been an okay read but for three major problems. Most critically, at times the mystery element feels completely forgotten about and we’re treated instead to endless descriptions of coffee dates, drinks evenings and the boring minutiae of everyday life. I get that some of this is necessary to build the characters and establish the relationships between them, but god was it dull to read.
Secondly, the eventual plot lacks any credibility at all and has some major holes. The main detective misses some pretty massive things and doesn’t seem motivated at all to crack the case. In fact there is an ongoing joke between her and her boss that she only wants to solve the mystery so that she doesn’t have to attend a diversity seminar.
Which brings me to my final point. The book is kind of nasty. When I introduced Tolerance Warnings I expected to be using them for nasty old pulps from the 60s and 70s, not crime novels from 2020. Yet I’m adding two for this book. I won’t go into details for fear of spoilers, but there is a white middle-class vibe about the whole thing which left a bad taste in my mouth.
All in all then, this is one to avoid. There is a glimmer of light at the end, with an okay twist, but even that is problematic as it relies on one of the items I’m adding a Tolerance Warning for.


… (más)

Tattletale starts with a teasing two-part introduction titled 'Before' and 'After' where there's a lot of screaming going on, so I knew that this was going to be a pacey read. Indeed it was, as I rocketed through the pages filled with several amazing eyebrow raising and jaw-dropping moments.

Abe is in a coma after falling over the banister in his apartment block and the prognosis looks bleak. Did he jump or was he pushed? This is what his estranged sister, Mags, wants to find out as she returns from America where she now lives. Mags meets Abe's heartbroken girlfriend, Jody, who found him when he fell but Jody can't help Mags to piece together the events of that night. Is that can't or won't? Jody appears to be hiding something and Mags starts to get some anonymous notes so she starts to think that everything is not what it seems. Mags does a bit of digging and speaks to Abe's neighbour, Mira. Mira seems to only understand English when it suits her, so clams up when Mags asks too many questions. So now we want to know Mira is hiding and why we don't see much of her mysterious husband. Even though my brain went into overdrive, I could never have imagined the direction this book would take.

Tattletale is very dark and disturbing at times, with some very uncomfortable scenes. It twists and turns down such dark alleyways that I needed a torch to find my way back to safety. The characters each have so many facets to them that you are never sure what they are thinking or what they will do next. Although it is quite disturbing, I loved the direction the book went in as it was so very unexpected. Such a clever, absorbing story and definitely one I'd recommend but be prepared for some uncomfortable reading. As uncomfortable as it is at times, it is impossible to tear your eyes away from the page - I was completely riveted.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.… (más)