Thank you so much Dutton for the gifted ARC!

What an exciting premise!! A young child found in a hidden room in a house that wasn't known to have a child living there AFTER someone was murdered there? That sure sounded like a plot that would be INTENSE to read.

What started off super strong, began to fall off around the 30%ish mark for me, I hate to say! I felt like the plot went spinning in so many different directions, it was hard for me to understand what the main storyline was even supposed to be.

Overall, this one was not for me, but I wish the author success.

I am late to the Detective Louise Rick party...but you do not need to have read any previous books to dive into this mystery.

A murder has taken place in a remote Danish town and Detective Louise Rick, of the newly formed Mobile Task Unit, heads off to take over the investigation. Her team is hastily put together and they begin to work on solving the murder. As they work the investigation, they find a tangle of mysteries all seeming attached together... can they unravel them and solve the murder?

Don't let the name of this book make you think this will be a cozy murder... it is not cozy at all. Rick's team find themselves shocked at the ugliness beneath the surface of the town. Blædel's writing is masterful! This might have been my first installment in her writing, but it won't be the last! Since finishing, I have not stopped thinking about all the threads Blædel weaves together! This is a true 5-star read! If you like a good noir mystery, you will love this one! I highly recommend!

I would like to thank Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for this digital copy of A Mother's Love: A Novel. It will be published March 11, 2025.

Dorthe Hyllested the innkeeper is found murdered, and they send the new P13 team to investigate. Detective Louise Rick is heading up the new team and comes to town to start the investigation. When searching the inn a hidden room is found where a child lived, but Dorthe didn't have children. A search is made to find the child and find out who the child belongs to.

There are many twists and turns in this who done it story. Seems there was a lot going on in this small town that was keep hidden.

I’ve read a few of the novels in this series, but it’s been a while so it took me some time to remember the characters. This new entry has Louise investigating the murder of an innkeeper that soon leads to a possible missing child. Louise has a lot to lose, since this is the first case for her new task force. I’m sorry to say that this book didn’t hold my interest. I was looking forward to meeting her new coworkers, but there isn’t much about them. Louise’s journalist bestie, Camila, is important to the story but they hardly interact. The plot reminded me a lot of another Scandi Noir book that I recently read and that has a very similar story, including the missing child. There was also a lot of background information about Louise and Camila, including their family lives. I didn’t remember enough from previous entries to care too much about the supporting characters in their lives. This is not a bad book, it just wasn’t for me.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/PENGUIN GROUP Dutton.

In this latest Louise Rick thriller, she faces a new challenge as the head of a new department, The Mobile Task Unit. Away from her home in Copenhagen, Louise works with new colleagues she hasn't met before. During the course of her investigation that involves the murder of an innkeeper and an apparent missing child, she needs to contact her ex, Eik. In order for him to lend a helping hand seeing that the case requires his special skills, she sets her ego aside and calls him.
That's a challenge in itself, because they broke things off abruptly a while ago. She hasn't come to grips with the heartbreak yet. She also contacts Camilla, her journalist friend who she can always count on in her personal as well as in her professional life. To top it all off, the death of her close neighbor's companion adds to her stress.
Needless to say, Louise is not in the best frame of mind to find out who killed innkeeper Dorthe Hyllested and where the missing child is. But she, along with her newly-formed team, manages to solve both crimes in the end.
This was an enjoyable read, propulsive and fast-paced, although confusing at times. Louise and Camilla seemed to go through a disconnect of their own, as it is common in the series. It was a decent thriller, and I thank NetGalley and the publishers at Dutton for an advanced copy, but it didn't wow me. I'm still glad I read it, and I would recommend it to those who love Nordic Noir thrillers.

First of all thank you to Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this before publication date.
Detective Louise dives into a case of murder, mystery and somewhat kidnapping in this beginning series hopefully! Her press author friend Camille gives her all into her stories and cares for those she reported on. Together they link puzzle of the past bringing this story into the full picture of how history made the world's of the characters collide.

Title: A Mother's Love
Author: Sara Blaedel
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Publication Date: March 11, 2025

There were just so many tangled webs weaved in this novel. It seemed like everyone/everything was interconnected somehow. What started out as a murder investigation turned into a missing child investigation, both involving the same cast of characters. Are the two incidents somehow connected?? Just when you thought the murderer was found, something else popped up.

I found the main character, Louise, hard to like. All of her interactions with her "best friend" Camilla seemed brusque and rude.

There were several times when I almost tapped out, putting the novel in my DNF pile, but I didn't want to feel like a quitter. I found the writing style to be rather dry, but I pushed on.

Even though who the murderer was made complete sense to me, the ending seemed rather abrupt. The author really didn't go into much setail regarding the missing boy (how he ended up with the innkeeper and why he was eventually taken from the foster home.)

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

This was a great mystery with lots of twists and turns. Characters exhibited lots of personality, perhaps because they have been together for quite a number of books. It should appeal to those who’ve followed this series though it works as a stand alone novel too.

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton Books for the ARC to read and review.

An absolutely heart wrenching, yet fast paced story that hits with quite the ending. I did not expect the change of events as the story developed. This one was a true joy to read.

This book is apparently part of a series, which I didn't know until partway through. Maybe that's why I couldn't connect with Louise, who I found to be rather pretentious in some of her interactions. This was a problem for me, as I need to become invested in the characters to care about the story.

The mystery itself was good but seemed to be overwritten in an effort to give "wow" moments. I don't need a lot of surprises if the mystery is compelling. There were also some parts of the storyline/timeline that needs better editing because the details don't make sense. I hope they are fixed before the final publication.

My Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

I have read other books in this series in the past, although it has been awhile so I'm a bit confused why this one isn't listed as part of the Louise Rick series when it obviously should be. And while there appears to be a lot that has changed for Louise since I last read one of the novels, this one was easy enough to pick up on and understand.

And sadly, now I remember why I stopped reading them. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there will be many others who will enjoy this book much more than I did. But for me, it just comes across as lackluster and tedious.

I found Louise to be much more dislikable in this book than the others, much in the way that she bossed Camilla (her friend who happened to be a journalist) around, basically forcing her to agree to look into the case she was working even after Camilla repeatedly told her that she was taking a much needed break to spend time with her father. This was even more annoying because Louise had already gotten snippy with Camilla about being "pumped for information". I'm sorry what? You cannot basically demand someone to do research on your behalf and then get snippy when they ask questions. There were also a couple of times throughout the book where she just comes off as though she thinks she's better than her colleagues (or at least knows better than they do), and does things the way she wants instead of taking into account what others have to say.

Then there were the continuity issues. For example, when someone is explaining how they murdered someone it is said that they followed their victim to one location where they remained for an hour until the victim returned home. And which point the killer went to their own home to get the murder weapon, and yet someone when they arrived back at the victim's house, the victim themselves had just gotten there? How were they just arriving home if they had already been there when the killer went to retrieve the murder weapon? There is another instance where it is said that Louise went into the living room to spend time with her son and their downstairs neighbor, except shortly before that we are told that Melvin (the neighbor) had returned to his own home, and Jonas (the son) was in his bedroom. Or earlier in the story when it was stated that a couple who may have been a potential witness to a different murder were on their way to Odense, when they stopped and ate lunch in Odense before continuing on. But if they were going to Odense, how could they have already stopped there for lunch? It was all the little things like this that started to add up and wear on me as a reader.

Finally we come to what was probably the biggest disappointment of all. The "twists" that I believe were supposed to be these major moments were as a reader we were expected to gasp in shock just felt.... contrived. To the point that when we got to the last big "twist" involving a church and a child, I was just over it entirely. By that point it just seemed like a meaningless way to drive up the word count and that was all. It added nothing to the story whatsoever.

As I said prior, I do believe this story will appeal to a wide majority of other readers, I'm just starting to think this author just isn't for me.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

First and foremost, a huge thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC and provide a review.

This was my first book by Sara Blaedel, and it probably won't be my last. It was a bit of a slow burn, and some of the characters were better developed than others. The question of the day for A Mother's Love is, who is the child? Followed by where is the child? Nobody knows, or they claim they don't know. But do they? The slow burn builds up into a satisfying ending.

The storyline felt a little disconnected and it just didn’t grab me liked I had hoped. This is the first book I’ve read by this particular author so Melanie she just isn’t my style.

This book was okay, but didn't grip me in any way. The plot itself was very unbelievable, one crazy plot twist after another.

Thanks to Netgally for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this and flew through it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Dutton, for letting me read and review an advanced copy of the book, ‘A Mother’s Love’, by Sara Blaedel.

Louise Rick has been put in charge of a new police travel unit, Police District 13, and is not happy with how the unit is staffed. She is also not happy with her first assignment, to investigate the murder of an innkeeper in a small village, especially because the local team just doesn’t have enough staff of their own.

As Louise gets deeper in the case, horrendous secrets are revealed, and a second murder is inevitable. This story is well written and leads the reader through a dark world that some evil people have created.

A Mother’s Love by Sara Blaedel delivers an engaging mystery with satisfying twists and turns. However, Louise and Camilla’s storylines feel disconnected, lacking the synergy that could have made the story more compelling. Camilla’s arc, in particular, feels like an afterthought—her character falls flat, and the passion for journalism that defined her in the past seems missing. Despite these shortcomings, Blaedel’s strong pacing and suspenseful writing still make this a worthwhile read for mystery fans.

Rating: 3.5! Thank you to Netgalley for providing an E-arc in exchange for an honest review!

Danish detective Louise Risk has just taken the helm of the new Mobile Task Unit and reeling from a recent breakup is ready forma new case as a distraction. When the owner of a rural inn is found murdered she and her team are assigned the case. When Louise finds a nursery hidden in the upstairs apartment she is puzzled. The victim was recently widowed and childless. No one in the community was aware of a child and Louise must find not only a killer but a missing toddler. When she uncovers a cabin in the woods linked to a sordid sex trade she ponders the links. When more deaths ensue Louise and her team must pick up the pace to find the child and his identity and uncover the killer.. I enjoy Scandinavian Noir and Sara Bladel has been a go to author since I first discovered her. Louise is a strong protagonist depicted with human doubts and frailities. Bladel can always be counted on for a very twisty plot and unexpected revelations. Any reader who enjoys an emotionally charged police procedural that keeps you changing your mind about the suspects and connections every few chapters should give this compelling narrative a try. There are several entries in the Louise Rick series and each one is engaging and suspenseful.

A Mother's Love es el libro no sé qué número de la serie sobre la detective Louise. Si no han leído los libros anteriores, como yo, estarán perdidos respecto a lo que ocurre en la vida personal de los personajes. Lo bueno es que esto no afecta en nada al desarrollo del caso que deben resolver.

Los policías dejaron mucho que desear, especialmente Louise, ya que es la protagonista. Se pasa sacando conclusiones sin investigar, culpando a medio mundo y queriendo arrestar a personas inocentes. Le di esa calificación porque, a pesar de todo esto, el caso me pareció interesante, con muchos giros y un final inesperado.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall the plot was good,but I had a really hard time getting invested in the book. I found myself not wanting to read and I don't know the reasoning. Thr only thing I can think of was the book did not take place in America and i couldn't picture the setting.