The Other Mother by Miranda Rijks

Release: April 19, 2023
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Source: Zooloos Book Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Audible

Four-year-old Florrie is missing. Who has taken her, and what do they want?

A friend asks Jane to pick up her daughter, Florrie, from school. She can’t imagine the horror and shock that follows.. Because someone pretending to be Jane has already collected Florrie. And now the little four-year-old is missing…

Things don’t get any easier when Jane starts receiving anonymous letters that include intimate details about her life. As a psychologist and agony aunt, she always got letters asking for advice, but these are different. Are they somehow connected to the missing child?

Then, to her utter dismay, Jane finds incriminating evidence in her own home, evidence that is clearly links Florrie. She starts to doubt everyone around her, even her own family – could one of them be an accomplice in Florrie’s disappearance?

Under the unspeakable stress, her marriage crumbles, her children act out and her once-successful business falls apart. And that’s when Jane discovers a shocking secret that shatters her entire world.

About the Author:

Miranda Rijks is a writer of psychological thrillers and suspense novels. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. She’s been writing all of her life and has a Masters in writing. A couple of years ago she decided to ditch the business plans and press releases and now she’s living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in Sussex, England with her Dutch husband, musician daughter and black Labrador.

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The Other Mother Review:

Firstly, this book surprised me because the author took it in a direction I did not expect. What starts as a simple abduction case of a small girl creates a ripple effect that opens Pandora’s Box and reveals many people’s secrets and lies. I have read a few of the author’s earlier books, and she manages to completely write something fresh that stands apart from her previous books. The author has a beautiful imagination and creativity, and the revelations and secrets from the plot surprised me. For instance, I enjoyed how the author wrote the Aurora Rae letters and how they psychologically impacted Jane. Some memorable moments are when Jane interviews Toni, or we see Nick with Elsa.

Also, this is one of those books I was only fond of very few characters. Almost all of them do something shady that makes you judge them, and I didn’t empathize with anyone. Even Jane, the good one of them all, makes professional mistakes that cost her patients, and it was hard for me to root for her. Also, I didn’t particularly appreciate how she treated her children because she was so absorbed in her professional life. Yet, the story is so unpredictable that the plot kept me drawing on what each character would do next. But, if I had to pick one, Naomi was memorable because you see all her emotional trouble with Lorenzo and Maria. I loved how the author wrote Naomi’s dilemmas and felt she portrayed her well.

Overall, “The Other Mother” is a unique thriller with a plot that feels like you have read it before but would surprise you.