In Such a Good Mom, new mother Brynn is dealing with exhaustion and also ambivalent feelings about being a new mom. Brynn's idyllic Martha's Vineyard lifestyle and family seem to be coming apart at the seams. And then, a family friend is murdered and Brynn's husband is the lead suspect. With the support of her caring friends and all-encompassing in-laws, Brynn tries to figure out what happened all while trying to deal with her overwhelming exhaustion from taking care of her son by herself.
As for my review- I thought this book lost its way a little bit. It's a searing portrait of the difficulties and expectations for new mothers and new babies. Brynn's feelings and worries highlight the challenges of trying to preserve your own identity while being a new mother. I think this book would have been better as a standalone in that direction. The mystery of the murder and trying to unravel what happened with her husband all seem secondary to the story of motherhood. Or, if you look at it the other way, this murder mystery was bogged down with so much about the angst of motherhood. This could have been a great book if one or the other took center stage. By combining these two, it's a good book, but nothing spectacular. Someone- either the people who want a good mystery or the people who want to read a book about the trials and tribulations of being a new mom- will be somewhat disappointed with this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an ARC e-book for me to read and review.

“Such a Good Mom” by Julia Spiro is a mystery book, but for a majority of the book that is an underlying part of the plot. Most of this book discusses new Mom, Brynn, dealing with postpartum depression in, at times, rather detailed detail. I don’t have an issue with someone suffering from postpartum, but at times the information became repetitive and, honestly, distracted from the mystery. I never felt that the book, like the book summary says, “brings the real and layered Martha’s Vineyard to life” - for me, this book could have been based nearly anywhere and it would’ve worked fine. Getting back to the mystery, once the mystery started rolling, I felt the book became more interesting - though it took to nearly the 85% mark for it to really get underway. Was I surprised by the final who-done-it? No, as it wasn’t shocking or surprising, but I think it was an okay to good mystery. I do think this book needs some editing (at one point Brynn says the baby looks like her and a few paragraphs later, she states the baby looks like her husband) along with trigger warnings. I’m also a bit confused as to when this book took place - it’s being published in 2025 yet the baby was born during the time of COVID restrictions (so, 2020 or 2021) and is only a few months old at the beginning of the book. For me, this book was an okay idea, but I wish that either there had been more focus on the mystery OR that the mystery wasn’t part of the book; instead this book seemed to bridge both that, for me, didn’t quite work as well as I hoped.

This was a great read. Brynn lives on Martha's Vineyard and has a newborn son. She is struggling with undiagnosed postpartum depression; her husband is working long hours, and a family friend is found dead. When her husband Ross is arrested for the crime, she is overwhelmed. He would never do that, but there seems to be some evidence. Ross tells her to find something, but she is confused about what he means. As this progresses, Brynn digs for more information and finds a lot of disturbing things. Without ruining the mystery, this is well written, and I couldn't put it down. I received an advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and it only took a few days to read. I think this is going to be a good book club option for several clubs. I plan recommending to my book friends and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Such a Good Mom by Julia Spiro deals with murder, family relationships and secrets, with a healthy dose of new mom postpartum depression and adjustment mixed in. As a postpartum doula and Mom myself, I know well how a new baby turns one's life upside down, especially during those first few months. Add in one's husband seeming detached and absent, and Brynn had plenty to deal with. and that is before her husband is arrested!

From there we move into family drama and a mystery. I did predict the ending but enjoyed watching it unspool nonetheless.

I read an ARC of this book, and there were a few things that need to be ironed out, but I feel confident that will happen during the editing process.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Not for me. This novel couldn't decide if it was a murder mystery or some kind of treatise on motherhood. The main character has post partum depression, which everyone in her life seems to know except for her, and no one does anything about it. Did this upper middle class white woman really think someone would take her baby away if she told her doctor she thought she had post partum depression? The PPD seemed to be more of a device for an unreliable narrator who is so exhausted she can't even remember what time her husband came home. The mystery was flat and not fully fleshed out. Overall, this was repetitive and I found myself skimming the second half of the book, especially the unnecessary side stories about minor characters and the FMC's endless internal thoughts.

Thank you to the publisher St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy of, Winter Magic In Port Berry, by K.T. Dady, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Brynn should be so happy, living in Martha's Vineyard, having a loving husband, and a new baby, but then someone is dead, and her husband is the prime suspect. This book had a lot going on. Murder, postpartum, and more, it was a good read.

there's the bones of a good suspense story in there, but they're kinda covered with some writing that REALLY needs a good editor. 3 stars. tysm for thea rc.

Such A Good Mom is a suspense novel set on Martha's Vineyard, an island renowned for its beauty, history, and wealth. The setting is integral to the book and this reviewer enjoyed imagining a warm weather visit there. The story is about new mother, Brynn, her struggle with post-partum depression, and its eroding effect on her marriage. When a murder takes place on the island, Brynn's husband is arrested on suspicion, and her state of mind is further challenged. Though her loyalty to her husband is tested, she is compelled to search for answers.

Such A Good Mom is well written, and the storyline is easy to follow. The post-partum depression theme dominates the book, which might not work for some readers, but will stir empathy in others.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for providing an advance copy of the book to read and review. This review will post to Bayside Book Reviews.com at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. Follow us! *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

The suspense was great, story was interesting. Postpartum stuff was blegh, but we all have different experiences. I’d read her again.

I felt like the author did an excellent job portraying the difficulty of becoming a first-time mother and the associated complex emotions. On top of the trials of motherhood, Brynn was dealing with her husband being arrested for the murder of a young woman and worked to figure out if her husband was framed since she didn't believe he could murder someone despite evidence to the contrary. This is a solid mystery. and I only guessed part of the ending.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Solid 3.5* this book started out great, then I felt like it kept going off in different directions. On and on about one subject and I actually forgot what else had been going on. I feel like it couldn't make up its mind what kind of book it wanted to be, chic lit or thriller.....
Thanks to netgalley, the publisher and author for the chance to read this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book! I really enjoyed this story, Brynn is a new mother who has been struggling with motherhood. Motherhood isn’t really going the way she envisioned it. Lack of support from her husband Ross, feeling like she can’t do it all, and resenting her baby. Then her whole world comes crashing down when her husband is arrested for the murder of a girl working at the local country club that the Nelson family frequents. She has to fight through everything she’s been going through to try to find the clue her husband has given her as he’s arrested. It’s a real look at new motherhood and the struggles that many woman go through, with the added side of a mystery that keeps you wondering through all the twists and turns.

Rounded up to 3.5 stars.

This book deals a lot with postpartum depression and the trials and tribulations of being a new mother. As someone who doesn’t have kids yet myself, it unlocked a new fear I didn’t know I had about not loving my child and falling into this spiral. The author does a good job of taking us on this ride and look into the first few months of motherhood while also dealing with some family drama.

I found the book to be slow at some points, but I did enjoy the suspenseful twist at the end, and the epilogue was a nice wrap up to the story.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC 🫶🏼 Rounded up to 3.5 stars.

This book deals a lot with postpartum depression and the trials and tribulations of being a new mother. As someone who doesn’t have kids yet myself, it unlocked a new fear I didn’t know I had about not loving my child and falling into this spiral. The author does a good job of taking us on this ride and look into the first few months of motherhood while also dealing with some family drama.

I found the book to be slow at some points, but I did enjoy the suspenseful twist at the end, and the epilogue was a nice wrap up to the story.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC 🫶🏼

Thank you to Julia Spiro, St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the ARC of Such a Good Mom.

As a new mom, Brynn Nelson is having a difficult time connecting to her newborn son. As a result, she is at times resentful of the baby, disappointed in what she perceived to be her bad mothering, and reflective of how much easier and more enjoyable life was before baby. She is the last one of her group of friends having children and the ease with which they all seem to parent adds to her questioning her abilities to be a good mom.

Then Cece, a server at the country club she frequents with her husband's family is found murdered and her husband, Ross, is arrested on suspicion of being the killer. Even as the evidence against Ross starts to build, Brynn still has feelings that everything is not as it seems. Especially as she thinks about the words that Ross whispered to her as he was being led away. That she needed to find "the orange sun" and that all would make sense.

As Brynn conducts her own investigation into Cece's murder she begins to learn things about Ross' family that make her realize that none of are the people she thought they were.

It's taken me a couple of weeks to consider how I was going to review this book. I really had a hard time connecting to Brynn. Though it appears she was suffering from postpartum depression, and no, I am in no way an expert, I do wonder if it was also a case of a lifetime of unrealistic or skewed expectations. There was evidence of this in the way that she judged her own mother's parenting style and held it up to comparison to her mother-in-law's. Also, the ideology that she had that parenting, especially a newborn, is easy. Parenting, despite all of the joys that come with it, is by no means an easy job. It's exhausting, it changes your life and in many ways the person you are, and also changes the way you as a person are perceived by others.

Overall, I enjoyed the plot and the twists of the story line and Spiro's writing style. As such, I will probably look to exploring some of her other books.

🌟🌟🌟💫

Both an examination of the intensity of the trials of new motherhood, and a Martha-Vineyards-based mystery, this book only partially scores on both fronts.

Brynn Nelson, our third person POV (and somewhat unreliable) narrator, is in her early thirties, and has not quite felt like herself since the birth of three-month-old Lucas. A traumatic birth, (followed by what looks to the reader like a severe case of postpartum depression), is proving harrowing for Brynn, who is feeling lost, alienated and alone, particularly as she has also felt her husband, Ross, pulling away from her since Lucas’s birth, and has confusingly completely failed to bond with her new son.

When the body of a young woman turns up on Norton beach, hints of Ross’s potential involvement opens doors wider, for Brynn, to a nightmarish tale of whodunit, made more complex by the emotive wandering and questioning of Brynn’s fragile state of mind, her loss of ability to trust those around her, and most of all, her loss of her own mental confidence and sense of self.

Suspenseful in parts, with a great, atmospheric setting, this reader found the pacing of this story a little too slow, and the characters either too unlikable (Brynn and Ross’s entire family), or not developed enough (Ross, and Brynn’s trio of close friends) for a truly awesome reading experience.

With an ending that, although predictable, satisfied this reader, overall this is an enjoyable story, that just missed the mark characteristic of a stellar read.

A great big thank you to #Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this story. All thoughts presented are my own.

Links:


https://booklymatters.com/such-a-good-mom/

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Such a Good Mom by Julia Spiro ⭐⭐⭐⭐

St. Martin's Press
Pub Date: 4-29-25

Thank you @netgalley, @stmartinspress, and @juliaspiro for this eARC.

"Like most New England summertime destinations, Martha’s Vineyard was no stranger to tragedy, though it often hid deep in the island’s underbelly, safely tucked away from tourists, rarely disrupting their cycle of lobster rolls and blue-sky beach days."

Summer destinations are never as idyllic as they seem, especially for those who make these places their year-round home.

Brynn Nelson's postpartum world is rocked when her husband, Ross, is arrested following the death of a young woman. Suffering from depression and feeling disconnected from her husband, Brynn looks for clues to prove who did and did not kill Cecelia Buckley.

Although I've never given birth, Brynn's bouts of depression and self doubt following the birth of her son, Lucas, felt very real to me. This murder mystery kept me guessing until the end!

#suchagoodmom #juliaspiro #stmartinspress #netgalley

Such a Good Mom
By: Julia Spiro
Pub Date: April 29, 2025
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Summer on Martha’s Vineyard sounds like heaven. But when a body is found things heat up.
Brynn and Ross are new parents and Brynn is suffering from postpartum depression and Ross is getting more distant. She feels like she is losing herself. She misses her writing and her life before her baby.
When Ross is arrested for the murder of Cecelia, Brynn wants to find out what really happened. Does she really know her husband or is he guilty?
Triggers: Depression, Postpartum
Thank you Minotaur for the gifted e-ARC

While this one had an interesting back story and plot, it was probably 80% about this new mom's post partum depression, exhaustion, and guilt for not connecting with her child and her fear that she wasn't a good mom because of it. I found that, frankly, exhausting. So I am either not the right audience for this or I've just seen this as a plot driver a few too many times.

I really enjoyed this novel about motherhood, postpartum depression, family, and love which supported a delightful mystery plot. The plotting of this was so tight and twisty I really didn’t see the conclusion until the author revealed it! The Vineyard setting was quite accurately depicted and added to the enjoyment of this read. I will definitely look for the other two novels by this author.

Thank you to #netgalley, #stmartinspress and the author, Julia Spiro for this ebook arc to read. All opinions are my own.