Blog Tour Review, Guilty Mothers

She lies on the floor, her blue eyes wide and unseeing, arms outstretched as if begging for help. Kneeling next to her, wearing a purple sequinned ballgown and holding a knife in shaking hands, is her daughter…

In a quiet kitchen, where two mugs wait by the kettle to be filled, Sheryl Hawne lies in a pool of blood. Her only daughter, Katie, is found at her side, still clutching the murder weapon and apparently incapable of speech. To Detective Kim Stone, the case seems open and shut. But Katie is in no state to be questioned, so Kim and the team must dig deep to understand what triggered this brutal act.

Soon, they learn that Katie participated in beauty pageants as a child, and her mother kept a shrine to her achievements. As Kim gazes at the golden trophies and shiny rosettes, she is forced to wonder if this was what set Katie on the path to murder…

But then Kim receives a shocking call. Another woman is dead. And with Katie safely locked up, she cannot be the killer. The second victim also entered her daughter in pageants, and a broken tiara is found thrust down her throat. Someone clearly feels that these mothers are guilty – and that they deserve to die. Forcing back the memories of her own monstrous mother, Kim vows to find justice for these women, no matter what pain they caused.

Now more than a day behind their killer, Kim races to learn more about a competitive world where appearances are everything and mothers will go to any lengths to ensure their daughters triumph. Buried somewhere in this dark past is the key to unlocking the case… but will Kim be able to find it before another family is destroyed forever?

The twentieth book in the international, multi-million-copy bestselling series, Guilty Mothers will have you glued to the pages. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Val McDermid and Robert Dugoni will devour this gripping crime thriller.

My Review

How is this book 20 already?  And how am I still this invested in Kim and the team? This is an outstanding police series.  With great lovable characters that also show their flaws.  All of the team members grow from book to book and it’s the balance of the characters to the case that make this a must read series.

Mothers and their children.  A complicated relationship that sometimes goes awry.  And interestingly how what looks like a similar relationship or situation can be so different.  I love the research the author did to bring the good, the bad and the ugly of child beauty pageants to life.  What made me think of Jon Benet Ramsey was flipped to have the mothers being killed.  It looks like a daughter fought back and killed her Mom, but it turned out to be much more complicated when there is a string of deaths.

I liked that the side case was a grown man and his mother.  So similar but different than the main case and for long time readers knowing about Kim and her mother’s relationship ties these cases into the team.  This case fascinated me and I always love reading about Penn.

And to break up the tension, the team needs to add an act to the police variety show.  They have no volunteers.  It gave a little break to the intenseness of the current cases.

I was not one step ahead of the team and fell for the red herrings and twists.  It kept me on my toes and gripped to the book.

This is one of those series that doesn’t get a lot of accolades in the main stream book community, but definitely should.  If you aren’t reading this series, you should definitely give it a try.  It is one I am always recommending.

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