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A review by nzlisam
What Kind of Mother by Anna Lou Weatherly
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Ho-hum!
If Christine and Ed Carter could’ve predicted what awaited them downstairs when they wake up on a blissfully ignorant Sunday morning they would’ve chosen to stay in bed. The first downstairs, Christine finds her eighteen-year-old son Conor frantically pacing wearing a blood-stained T-shirt, his seventeen-year-old girlfriend Paris Levinson sobbing uncontrollably on the couch. The TV news is blaring in the background – announcing that the body of a badly beaten man has been found under a railway bridge. Conor’s tearful confession shocks Christine to the core;
“I’m sorry, Mum. I think we killed him.”
How far are two sets of parents willing to go to protect their children?
Not in a direction I was on board with that’s for sure!
Anna-Lou Weatherley consistently delivers addictive, binge-worthy, “didn’t see it coming” domestic psychological thriller/police procedures – until now that is. No. 8 (What Kind of Mother) in this series was by far the weakest instalment, and basically boiled down to a very cheesy cat-and-mouse game. Repetitive and tedious with a mixture of predictable or eye-rolling twists culminating in a lacklustre showdown, with idiot characters making stupid decisions and then being surprised at the mess they find themselves in. There were even two chapters in a row which ended with the same cliffhanger, but from different characters POV. Even seasoned Detective Dan Reilly’s investigation was “very slow on the update”. The one saving grace was his personal life, but that was a chapter at the most.
I sincerely hope Anna-Lou Weatherley returns to form in #9. However, if this one has piqued your interest but you are not a regular reader of this series, it can definitely be read as a standalone.
If Christine and Ed Carter could’ve predicted what awaited them downstairs when they wake up on a blissfully ignorant Sunday morning they would’ve chosen to stay in bed. The first downstairs, Christine finds her eighteen-year-old son Conor frantically pacing wearing a blood-stained T-shirt, his seventeen-year-old girlfriend Paris Levinson sobbing uncontrollably on the couch. The TV news is blaring in the background – announcing that the body of a badly beaten man has been found under a railway bridge. Conor’s tearful confession shocks Christine to the core;
“I’m sorry, Mum. I think we killed him.”
How far are two sets of parents willing to go to protect their children?
Not in a direction I was on board with that’s for sure!
Anna-Lou Weatherley consistently delivers addictive, binge-worthy, “didn’t see it coming” domestic psychological thriller/police procedures – until now that is. No. 8 (What Kind of Mother) in this series was by far the weakest instalment, and basically boiled down to a very cheesy cat-and-mouse game. Repetitive and tedious with a mixture of predictable or eye-rolling twists culminating in a lacklustre showdown, with idiot characters making stupid decisions and then being surprised at the mess they find themselves in. There were even two chapters in a row which ended with the same cliffhanger, but from different characters POV. Even seasoned Detective Dan Reilly’s investigation was “very slow on the update”. The one saving grace was his personal life, but that was a chapter at the most.
I sincerely hope Anna-Lou Weatherley returns to form in #9. However, if this one has piqued your interest but you are not a regular reader of this series, it can definitely be read as a standalone.