Overview
A chilling, compulsively readable novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Dead Lie Down and The Other Woman’s House
Sally Thorning is watching the news with her husband one night when she hears an unexpected name—Mark Bretherick. It’s a name she shouldn’t know, but last year after a business trip canceled at the last minute, Sally treated herself to a secret vacation—away from her hectic family life—and met a man. After their brief affair, the two planned to never meet again. All the details are the same: his job, where he lives, his wife Geraldine and daughter Lucy. But the photograph on the news is not the man Sally knew. And now Geraldine and Lucy are dead. The third book in Sophie Hannah’s acclaimed Zailer and Waterhouse series, The Wrong Mother delivers white knuckle suspense and Hannah’s trademark plot twists, and is perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn and Ruth Rendell.
Synopsis
A chilling exploration of a mother's unspeakable betrayal from the author of Little Face
Sally Thorning is watching the news with her husband when she hears an unexpected name-Mark Bretherick. It's a name she shouldn't know, but last year Sally treated herself to a secret vacation-away from her hectic family life-and met a man. After their brief affair, the two planned to never meet again. But now, Mark's wife and daughter are dead-and the safety of Sally's own family is in doubt. Sophie Hannah established herself as a new master of psychological suspense with her previous novel, Little Face. Now with accomplished prose and a plot guaranteed to keep readers guessing, The Wrong Mother is Hannah's most captivating work yet.
The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio
Hannah goes in for all those bizarre plot twists and outlandish behaviors that have come to define the psychological-suspense story, but she does it with style and wit. And while these Gothic chords bring a dissonant note to the realistic chapters written in the police-procedural format, they can't muffle the voices of the women in this story who persist in speaking intimately and honestly about the pressures on them as supermoms.
Editorials
Marilyn Stasio
Hannah goes in for all those bizarre plot twists and outlandish behaviors that have come to define the psychological-suspense story, but she does it with style and wit. And while these Gothic chords bring a dissonant note to the realistic chapters written in the police-procedural format, they can't muffle the voices of the women in this story who persist in speaking intimately and honestly about the pressures on them as supermoms.—The New York Times