The Missing Mother is the third book I've read by Kelleher and yet another book that I couldn't put down and devoured in twenty four hours.

I love the idea of the safe haven boxes, maybe this is something that could well become a thing of the not to distant future, who knows?

The plot is brilliant, well written and oh, so twisty. It's narrated from three different POV that are all intricately linked together. And I almost forgot, it has a killer twist at the end which I didn't see coming!

Really enjoyed this book, it is fast paced and kept me engaged and guessing right up until the end. Would recommend.

Absolutely amazing! It got its hooks into me from the start and kept me engaged throughout. It was so captivating and so cleverly plotted out. Written from POVs, it just keeps you guessing throughout. Even when you think you know.... you don't!! So much more than a domestic noir, more than a general chick lit, it just surpasses so many similar themed books in my opinion. It gives you chills and also just makes you think..... must read

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of The Missing Mother by Casey Kelleher. The story is about a journalist who is working two stories and how they come together in the book. It was a fast read and kept me engaged the whole time. The ending wasn't quite what I expected though. The book gives you something to think about. I would recommend this book to others. I gave it 4 stars.

This is a great psychological thriller that gripped me from the blurb. Love when a storyline grabs you from the get-go and gets straight to the depts of it and keeps the pace throughout. Told from three characters points of view - Jenna, the missing mother, and
"Him". Great edge of the seat kind of read. Likeable and dislikable characters that will have you rooting for some and wishing others get their comeuppance. Enjoyed this one…

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review #TheMissingMother

I am not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. It’s part women’s fiction and part suspenseful mystery. I was hooked from the start. It is dark and when you consider it can happen, it’s scary. It proves you never really know the people around you.

I’ll admit to yelling at Jenna more than once for her poor decisions. As a fan of police procedurals, I liked the twist that it was a journalist investigating instead of the police. She had a different perspective and a different thought process in how to track things down.

Three POVs brought different aspects to the story. Jenna, the journalist, was investigating the scheme. Evie, the mother, who gave up her child and was running from someone. And him, the nameless bad guy that I waffled back and forth on who he was. I’d brag I guessed it was him, but having guessed every male in the book, the only way I would have been wrong would be if it was some new character.

I read this in a day and it has stayed with me. I always wonder about the mother that would put her baby in a box versus just dropping them off at a hospital. I think this would be a great book club book or buddy read. So much to talk about. The twists and turns and the social issues. I’d advise you to go in cold unless you have trigger issues and then definitely take a look at those because there could be a couple for some.

This isn’t my normal five star read, but the complex plot that keeps me thinking. It’s definitely worth the read.

I thought I had this case cracked faulty early on but Kelleher threw a few wrenches in the machinery.
A dropped off infant, a mother aching for her loss, and a terrifying perp who exerts control as he preys on women.
The plot was enveloping and I did cheer mistakenly when I thought the main perp was taken down. I did have a suspicion who else was in it on, but the author threw a big surprise at me in the end.
I couldn’t warm up to Jenna. I thought her splashing information all over the news was disingenuous and showed her lack of consideration for the victims.

Such a brilliant addictive page turner from beginning to end.
Well written as always with well developed characters this psychological thriller grabs your attention from the first page.
Casey Kelleher is fast becoming one of my favourite authors she never ceases to amaze me with each book she writes.
This was a very clever well thought out story full of suspense with twists you won’t see coming.
The story starts with the placement of a new born baby named Holly into what’s termed as a safe box.
These are boxes at fire stations where new mothers can safely surrender their baby when they are unable to care for them.
It’s run by a charity to help women who have been abused raped etc. with no other options.
They assure these women of anonymity should they need to use these safety boxes.
Jenna is an investigative journalist who also happens to have been abandoned at birth herself.
This has never bothered her as she had a very caring family who adopted her.
That all changes when she gets a phone call from a fireman about a baby that has been left in the safe box.
Jenna is unsettled by this & is determined to find out more about the missing mother.
Is she in trouble ? Does she need help ?
Some instinct in Jenna is telling her to look into why the mother has left her baby there.
Jenna begins to open up a can of worms that could lead her into danger.
This was an intensely gripping story that I just couldn’t put down.
Absolutely loved it.

Oh wow... this one gave me chills from the beginning chapter. I did not know where it was headed, but I knew that it was headed in a dark place. The scene opens up with a mother safely surrendering her baby at a local firehouse, which is where there is a new program for safe haven for babies. You immediately know this is not a case of a mother not wanting her baby. This baby is in danger and so is the mother.

The fireman who finds the baby calls Jenna to the station. Jenna is a hard nosed investigative journalist. When Jenna realizes the baby has been surrendered, it brings up all sorts of memories for her. Jenna's mother abandoned her when she was a baby. She left her in a box in a hallway. This case is suddenly very personal for Jenna and brings up some feelings she thought she had left in the past.

Meanwhile women in the area are being given spiked drinks and being brutally attacked while under the influence. Jenna is in the midst of this investigation as well. Everything really starts heating up for Jenna as she delves deep into this investigation and realizes how dangerous these people really are to women and possibly to herself.

This was quite the thrill ride. It sucked me in from the first chapter. I love a book like this where you can see puzzle pieces starting to fall into place, and as they fall into place, you realize there is something much more dangerous and dark going on than you first believed. Each chapter was told from a point of view of different characters in the story. I was wowed by the twists and turns as I tried to solve this mystery along with Jenna. You are taken into the dark underworld of predators who look like regular, nice guys, but who are anything but nice. Creepy is not even a good adjective to describe this plotline, but I sunk right into it because I had to know the true story.

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

What a story!
A story that kept me engaged until I finished the book.
The ending was not what I was expecting at all!
Definitely a story full of dark suspense.
Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Casey Kelleher is one of my favourite writers so I couldn't wait to get my hands on her latest psychological thriller The Missing Mother.
When a baby is left in a 'safe box' at a local fire station, reporter Jenna Stone gets a phone call and publishes a piece to try to track down the mother
This is a cleverly written, on point and well paced thriller. It is told from three points of view which are intricately woven together to produce a gripping read.
Highly recommend!!

There was a story in the news a few months ago about a baby being surrendered in one of the new baby boxes in a fire station. This was the first I had heard of such a thing. That is also what drew me to this book, a fictionalized version of just one of the women's stories that have safely surrendered their child. Right off the bat, the protagonist, a reporter, kind of annoyed me, seemingly judgemental of a woman who had just made the most heartbreaking decision of her life. However, my feelings toward the reporter softened as the story continued to unfold. This was a sad, twisty tale that left me shocked and unsettled, knowing that this could happen to anyone. This was a great, well told story that earned four stars from me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Missing Mother’ written by Casey Kelleher in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

A new born baby named Holly has been ‘safely surrendered’ under a scheme initiated by the charity ‘Safe Place Baby Boxes’ where new mothers can leave the babies they aren’t able to care for. Islington Gazette reporter Jenna Stone gets a phone call in the middle of the night that a baby has been safely surrendered outside a fire station and decides to use it as a new story for the newspaper. But she doesn’t realise that it could tie in with a story she’s been investigating and could put her at risk.

‘The Missing Mother’ is a psychological thriller told from the perspectives of Jenna the reporter, Evie who has to surrender her baby for her own safety, and ‘him’ the man who’s involved with an Incel group who think it’s their right to spike women’s drinks. I found the first half of the story slow-going but the second half more than compensated as it became exciting and I got really involved in Jenna’s investigation. The plot is fast-paced with tense nail-biting twists and turns and despite thinking I knew the identity of ‘him’ it wasn’t until the final massive twist that I realised I was completely wrong. I was so close to giving up on this book early on but I’m really glad I didn’t as it got very exciting and kept me engrossed until I reached the final page.

Strap yourself in for a rollercoaster of a book. Casey is one of my favourite authors, I was first introduced to her books when she wrote gangland, so much so that I read everyone one.

Her psychological thrillers are on another level, and definitely not for the faint hearted, .

The story is told from three different perspectives, which I enjoyed,

A great read and written by a great author

I inhaled this book like a fat kid with cake!

The Missing Mother is an addictive, perfectly paced thriller. Told from 3 POVs, (Jenna, Evie - the mom, and “him”), each storyline was perfectly pieced together with the others.

Jenna is an investigative journalist who got a call in the middle of the night about baby “Holly” that was safely surrendered at the fire station. Between herself, her friend/coworker Keirsten, and her boss Liam, they decide to run a story in the paper, along with a photo that she was able to get.

Meanwhile, there is something going on with the men of this town - a website devoted to horrible things about women, and a spree of women being poisoned and raped. Jenna had previously done a story on this and it now has resurfaced, since she also was almost poisoned….

Eventually these storylines collide, and the ending was NOT what I was expecting!! With a smaller cast it was super easy to keep track of everyone.
I truly thought this book was exceptional.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in return for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub date: 05 Feb 2024

The Missing Mother by Casey Kelleher was another brilliant read from Casey.
This was so cleverly written and pieced together and the twists were shocking.
The characters were interesting, the story itself was great, the ending was unexpected and the style of writing was perfect.
This book is masterfully crafted so much so that it will keep you guessing until the end, and I mean the very end.
An incredibly gripping psychological thriller.

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I read this book in super quick time as I was eager to find out what was going to happen. A gripping story that I highly recommend.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this arc.. i couldnt wait to get started on this one., and i wasnt disappointed.. i think most people have heard of drinks being spiked on a night out. The author has written it with sensitivity
When a baby is (safely surrendered) in a box at the local fire station, did the mom want to do that or was she forced?,?. Jenna gets the tip off from the firefighter who found her,and named her Holly.. jenna is on a mission to find the men who are spiking womens drinks.,and go on to sexually assault them. Jenna finds an important piece of information when baby sitting at her best friends house, in Duncans study what is it? Is jenna in danger?
I really didnt see that ending coming, i was so engrossed i couldnt put it down. The topis were written in a sensitive manner, i thoroughly recommend this book

The only way to stay safe...is to stay hidden...

Well that wasn't what I expected. I mean that in a good way. I thought this would be another missing baby/mother thriller but oh no, this was so much more. The only let down was the main character and the fact she was a journalist. I find them parasitic scourges of society feeding off the misfortune of others and had it not been for that aspect I may have enjoyed it more. BUT...it is a key element of the story, so all is forgiven.

They call is "safely surrendered". A safe box provided by a charity which women who find themselves in impossible situations where they find themselves unable to care for their babies, can safely surrender them in these boxes where they are quickly collected and in the care of social services. The mother has a right to anonymity and will not be sought or vilified for her decision.

Journalist Jenna receives a tip off that a baby has been left at the local fire station, the first locality in the UK to trial the safe box. Eager for a scoop, Jenna is quick to gather as much information and a photograph of the hours old baby before social services swoop in. She calls her boss with the news and he is eager to publish the story highlighting the trial without treading on the charity's toes by going public with it. After all, it's a human interest story...isn't it?

But deep down, Jenna fears for the mother. That she may need help and feel she cannot reach out. She's hoping her story will encourage the woman to come forward. But she has no idea of the rabbit warren she is going down...or what she will uncover.

Scared and alone, Evie can't believe it when she sees her baby girl's photo in the paper the following morning. After everything she went through, the hiding, the secrecy, the torment...all to keep her little girl safe and this journalist bandies her photo around in the local paper which is soon picked up by the nationals. Fearing for her safety, she is terrified what this means for her now that this has become public knowledge. Despite the assurances that her anonymity is guaranteed, the nation is soon searching for "the missing mother". What will happen to her and her baby girl when they catch up with her? Or worst still...if "he" does?

This was an intriguing read from start to finish despite the irritating journalist aspect. I kept turning the pages wanting to know if I was right in my assumptions. My first guess was too obvious but my second was spot on!

The story unfolds through both Jenna and Evie's eyes and the two threads are carefully interwoven leading to a thrilling nail-biting finish.

I would like to thank #CaseyKelleher, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheMissingMother in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

I loved this book and read it in one day as I couldn’t put it down. I was totally immersed in it and thought I knew what the outcome would be but I was totally wrong! It was full of shocks and surprise throughout.

Evie had put her newborn daughter into a ‘safe box’ where the mother’s anonymity was guaranteed. Evie felt this was the only option as she and her baby were in danger and she needed to protect her daughter.

Jenna had been abandoned as a baby herself - she was the first person to find out about the baby that had been left, after receiving a call when the box was activated. Jenna was a journalist and was determined to reunite mother and baby as she felt this was the best option for everyone.

Jenna was investigating undercover into an Incel ring and website and was loathe to stop investigating once she had finished her article and a key figure had been arrested. Jenna was putting herself in clear danger and her friend Kirsten warned her that it was too risky. Jenna was determined to carry on with this investigation while trying to find Evie too. Things spiralled out of control for Jenna after a night out and she didn’t know who to trust.

A fab read and one I would definitely recommend. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.