Guilty Mothers
Angela Marsons
415 pages
Bookouture
Published on May 30th
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Guilty Mothers is book 20 in the consistently excellent DI Kim Marsons series about an English Black Country detective and her devoted team who keep uncovering serial killers. Despite this improbability, the plotting, characters and writing are so good that I really donāt mind how far fetched they are. This one explores the world of childhood beauty pageants – I didnāt know these were a thing in the UK, but apparently so.
When a middle aged woman is found stabbed to death, with her daughter Katie sitting by her side holding the knife, Kimās only wants to know why – but then another pageant mother is killed and itās clear that Katie must be innocent. The case brings back memories of Kimās own horrendous childhood, but there are other ways for mothers to abuse their daughters. Meanwhile Penn encounters a son who seems almost too devoted to his motherā¦
I liked that this instalment puts the focus back onto the crimes being investigated, rather than inflicting more trauma on the members of Kimās beleaguered team. Happily, lovely Stacy is back to herself, and it was great to see lovable Tink return too. There are plenty of potential suspects and the usual red herrings and misdirection, so as usual I didnāt guess who the baddie would turn out to be. One strange note was the frequent use of Mom rather than Mum, a jarring Americanism for a book set in the UK that I havenāt noticed previously.
As ever, Marsons has clearly done plenty of research on her chosen topic so I learned some things about the child pageant world – she/Kim is not as negative about it as I wouldāve expected. Thereās also discussion about the effects of parental narcissism, which touched some nerves with me because it was so accurate – this might be triggering for some: āShame, blame, guilt, desperation. Thereās a fear of failure, even a fear of success. You accept bad behaviour in others. Youāre constantly seeking approval, validation, by being a people pleaser and being afraid to say no. You take on other peopleās problems and think you have to fix them. Youāll try and control the uncontrollable. Thereāll be chronic worry and anxiety. Youāll believe itās selfish to put yourself first as your own desires donāt matter. You have no sense of self or what you want. Youāll have weak or non-existent boundaries, and youāll be afraid to speak your truth.ā
The darkness is balanced by moments of levity: āShe sighed heavily and stepped aside. Okay, that took more words than if Kim had just knocked her out of the way to gain entry, but it was far less likely to result in a formal complaint. Go, Bryant.ā Also the teamās attempts to muster an entry for the forceās variety show was an amusing subplot.
Overall, while not my favourite, this is another great read which should satisfy Kimās legions of fans – remind me when we get to see the TV adaptation? Thanks to Bookouture for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Guilty Mothers is published on May 30th.
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