The Other Mothers by M M Chouinard

The Other Mothers (Detective Jo Fournier, #4)

by M M Chouinard

It’s a crisp spring morning when the small-town community around Briar Ridge Elementary School is shattered by devastating news. Bright and shy five-year-old Nicole has disappeared at recess.

Nicole’s mother, Gia, is lost in her grief. On the same day her baby girl vanished, Gia found out she was pregnant with the sister Nicole had begged for. Gia is also devastated that her best friend Karen was supervising the playground when Nicole was taken. And when Nicole’s body is discovered, Gia can’t help but ask: why didn’t Karen protect her little girl?

Someone knows what happened in school that day and Detective Jo Fournier is determined to find the truth. Jo’s little nieces also attend Briar Ridge and she would cross mountains to keep them safe. As she starts to dig into the mothers’ secrets, she begins to wonder if anyone is telling the truth. Gia’s been hiding a part of herself for years and Jo can tell it’s eating her apart. And Karen is definitely lying—but what is more important than finding the killer of her best friend’s daughter?

As Gia and Karen struggle with their guilt, a teacher at Briar Ridge dies in what looks like a tragic accident. But with two deaths in such a short time, Jo knows better than that. In this school, where soccer moms flock to the gates with cookies for teachers, someone is willing to kill to keep a secret. The only question is who.

A completely addictive thriller that will not let you go until you turn the last heart-thumping page! Perfect for fans of Gregg Olsen, Christopher Greyson and Teresa Driscoll.

Reviewed by Emma (SCR) on

5 of 5 stars

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This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Bookouture for my copy of this book via NetGalley and for letting me take part in this tour. I really enjoyed the previous books in this series so I was looking forward to seeing where this one took me.

This book was addictive! I seriously struggled to put it down. Chouinard really does know how to draw you in and keep you there. The beginning was paced slow but that allowed the case to build up and the links to form. The last third of the book was very tense and action-packed.

Jo and her team had a lot of potential suspects but none of them really fit. At first, I couldn't work out who the killer was and then I kept changing my mind. There would be one slight bit of evidence that made you question all of your thinking. It was extremely clever.

Jo has really grown over the series and in this book, a lot of personal things come to a head. You don't need to have read the other books to understand as these are explained. I think in this book Jo really turns a corner on her past.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I can't wait for the next one!

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  • Started reading
  • 20 January, 2021: Finished reading
  • 25 January, 2021: Reviewed