I did not expect where this story was going at all!

Synopsis: Valerie is suffering from memory lapses and fears it's due to early-onset Alzheimers like her mother had. Needing help, she asks her son Hudson, who fled town right after high school, to help her out at home. At first, Valerie is determined to repair their relationship. However, shortly after Hudson's arrival a local woman is found murdered and she begins to question everything she knows about her son.

Overall, this was a fast-paced and twisty psychological thriller that did the unreliable narrator trope well. I liked how the author highlighted how sibling tension, careless parenting and childhood mistakes can impact the present and dived into that internal dilemma of what to do when you think someone you loved did something wrong. The one negative is that there were a ton of sudden shifts in the POVs and timelines without a font change or chapter break. This got confusing and had me rereading often. If you typically listen to audiobooks, this is one where I'd say skip the listen and read.

Pub date : 12/13

Really liked this one. Also using this as a place to show my support for the Harper Collins union. Thank you to Harper for the gifted ARC my honest review.

The structure of this eARC was quite messy in my opinion. The book was mostly written from the main character Valeries POV. Her past to present switched really abruptly and I had a hard time following for a while. The transitions were really unclear and by the time I got the the end of the book I realized that I may have been missing POV changes from Valerie back to her son, Hudson along the way. I’m hoping this won’t be the case once the final copy is published. This book started out with a pretty creepy paranormal element but then it fizzled out and popped back up at the end. For me, I could have done with out it. I really didn’t dislike this book, the twists were pretty neat and I didn’t see them coming but there were a lot of unanswered questions at the end. What bothered me was that the police work wasn’t convincing. I was super obvious that things were missed or overlooked and a really unrealistic way. I’m looking forward to hearing more about this book once published because I believe it has the potential to be better. I feel that I would have enjoyed the story a lot more if it wasn’t for the structure.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC

With a slow start and an astounding finish, this book surprised me with its unexpected twists and the backstory that accompanied them. The plot was tightly woven and the story was fascinating. Valerie is a mother who is suffering from memory loss so her son Hudson comes home to be with her. Her daughter Kendra is a nurse so delegates herself to reminding her mom to take special vitamins to help her memory. Nothing, not one thing, is as it seems it this book. The deception between the characters is as real as that that the readers face. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and all of their many layers. It seemed that once I felt as though I understood a character, there was another revelation that made me question my assumptions. The plot was equally multi-layered, with a lot of secrets hidden and methodically revealed. I would call this domestic suspense and recommend it for those who want to solve the puzzle of the family relationship that never quite got off the ground.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Ms Garza’s books keep getting better and better!

I don’t want to spoil, but I definitely did not see the twist coming! On the surface of domestic, psychological thriller, but also a fairly deep look at motherhood, family, and loyalty.
Definitely one of my favorite thrillers this year. Easy five out of five.

What a whirlwind, this fast paced tale had me turning page after page, Here you have a story about a mother named Valerie facing concerning health problems that have her questioning everything. Valerie’s adult son Hudson returns home to help and is at odds with his sister Kendra who is also involved with Valerie. When a murder nearby starts dredging up deaths from the past, everyone is a suspect, especially Hudson. The death toll climbs and doubt is around every corner. I love how this tale mixed in the past and the future and different character perspective. This one truly kept me guessing right up until the very end.

I was gifted an ARC of this story from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Although I adore Amber Garza's writing style, A Mother Would Know was too slow for me. I almost gave up on the book numerous times. Things heated up 85 percent into the book. It was a good ending which is reflected in my rating. Thanks for the advance review copy.

A son moves back home to help watch over his mother. The neighbor across the street has blamed him for killing her daughter for years. When she and another woman in the neighborhood end up murdered, Valerie searches for proof her son is innocent.
I kept trying to guess who was the killer and then there was that moment like Ah-Ha! I still second guessed the culprit, and I still wasn't right. This book took me in a few different directions but it kept me on my toes.

I didn't feel any connection with Kendra and Hudson seemed to be the prodigal son. Valerie seemed lost in her memories alot but that could have been her regrets surfacing.

Overall, I enjoyed this book although it seemed to start off a little slow. Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and MIRA.

When Valerie’s adult son, Hudson, moves in with her, she’s happy to have her boy back. He is there to help her with her early-onset Alzheimer’s. Her neighbors are not happy because they blame him for a past tragedy. When a young woman is murdered in the neighborhood, the blame falls on Hudson.

This is one you definitely want to avoid spoilers. There’s a pretty big twist, which I did not figure out so I loved the surprise! The ending was a bit more “told than shown” but it was still an a-ha moment that kept me on the edge of my seat. I liked how all the characters, especially the main character, had flaws.

“Forgiveness. The rising sun bringing a new day. Most things can’t be righted. Except for death. Once someone is gone, that’s it. There are no more opportunities.”

A Mother Would Know comes out 12/13.

Slow Burn That Becomes Twistier And With More Crossings Than A Mountain Road Between A Railroad Track And A River. Let's get the elephant out of the room up front: Through around the 2/3 or so mark of this 300+ page book - so for roughly the first couple hundred pages - this book is *slow*. So slow that it does in fact struggle to keep the attention at times. But then, Great Gatsby was *so much worse* in that regard and is regarded as one of the greatest books in American literature. This particular book will never be in *that* conversation, but like Gatsby it does have the moment where suddenly, it begins getting *so much better* and actually becomes a truly solid book by the end. Indeed, that back third - that last hundred pages or so- really is going to remind you of driving down a 2 lane mountain road between train tracks and a stream - there are so very many twists and crossings that it can get rather dizzying trying to keep track of who is crossing who and for what reason now. And yet it is this aspect of the book that is executed *so* well and almost *had* to have the slow buildup it got. Some of the stuff here is utterly horrific, others of it more simply extremely creepy, and in the end you will be left breathless. Very much recommended.

Amber Garza you have a new fan.

A Mother Would Know is a page turning book that grabs you from the beginning to the last page.

If you like dysfunctional families, unlikeable characters and one that you just have to cheer on despite their bad decisions this book is for you.

Valerie is having memory problems and her prodigal son Hudson comes home to look after her.

She thinks she knows her children very well like all mom's do.

Does she though?

Bodies are mounting up and the pages fly by.

I have preordered this for my daughter .

Cant wait to read Amber's other books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harelquin Trade Publishing Mira for a compelling read.

Based on the blurb, I thought I'd love this book, but it was a miss for me. The pacing was way too slow for the genre, and things didn't begin to pick up until about halfway through the story, which was a bit too late. I found the police hard to believe (for missing such obvious evidence). There's so much telling vs. showing, and as a result, I couldn't really connect with the characters or plot. I did enjoy Bowie, but that was one of the only positives for me.

Valerie's mother passed away with early onset of dementia Valier herself is starting to have memory issues and fears she's destined to suffer the same early demise. After a bad break up with his girlfriend, Hudson finds himself with nowhere to go. What perfect timing! Valerie invites him to move back with her, hoping hell help should she fall ill. Her dauther Kendra offers to have Valerie move in with her and her family. But Valerie is determined not to leave her home. She is sure she will be well looked for. But will she? Lots of great twists!

3.5⭐️ This is my second book by this author. I definitely liked When I Was You more but this one was pretty good as well! This is about Valerie, Hudson and Kendra. Valerie wasn’t the best mom, her career in music came first and now she may be suffering from the earlier stages of Alzheimer’s so her son, Hudson moves home to help take care of her despite Kendra already doing this. Hudson has all the traits of a psychopath and a neighbor ends up dead shortly after he arrives. Mom is starting to believe that Hudson might be capable of killing and could have done it before.

What a fantastic read! I thought I had it all figured out until the very end and then everything changed! This was a page-turner for sure and the duel timelines with the twist was done so well. Definitely give this a read if you’re looking for a good mystery/psychological thriller. This will be released December 13th.

A Mother Would Know is a fast paced thriller full of twist and turns. How well does a mother truly know their children? Valerie thinks she knows them pretty well till her son Hudson, moves back home. When Hudson returns home a lot of forgotten things are stirred up then a young woman is found murdered down the street. Valerie has to face the fact that she may not know her son at all. I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this story. I thought it was interesting to read how far a mother will go for their children without crossing a line.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a fast-paced psychological thriller that will keep you guessing. There are definitely some good twists at the end, although some people may see these coming. There is a good amount of suspense and questions that will keep you turning the page.

Valerie was in a band many years ago when her kids were young. Now, she is a widow living alone with symptoms of Alzheimer's working their way into her life. Her son Hudson moves in with her, and, although it's nice to have company besides her dog Bowie, his presence brings up bad memories of the past. Her daughter Kendra is constantly trying to get her to take her vitamins and eat healthy to help "cure" the onset of Alzheimer's. When a neighbor is murdered, Valerie's mind starts to spin out of control.

I enjoyed this book for the most part, but there were things with Valerie and the detectives investigating the murder that were just a little unplausible IMO. The POV switches were a little confusing, but hopefully they are better in the final draft of this book. Bowie was definitely my favorite character.

"A Mother Would Know" by Amber Garza


“Powerful characters with unforeseen events make this novel a page-turner. This is a psychological thriller sure to keep the reader on tenterhooks up to the unexpected conclusion.”

Valerie Jacobs is in a quandary. She is beginning to forget things, and now she has to write herself notes so she won't miss something important. When her mother had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease when she was still young, Valerie learned the ailment runs in families. Has this illness caught up with her, too? After all, she forgot to pick up her grandson for Kendra, her daughter, and her oldest never ceases to remind her of her transgressions.

Things have been tough for Valerie for quite a while. Though she lives in her Victorian dream house, one that's said to be haunted by six-year-old Grace Newton who died a mysterious death more than 50 years ago, Kendra constantly tries to get her to sell the old place and move in with her, her husband, and baby, Mason. No way. Valerie would be smothered living with her staid and arrogant daughter not to mention her stick-in-the-mud, son-in-law, Theo.

Married to Darren for many years, Valerie loved her career as a singer with a band called, Flight of Hearts, which did well. But did this affect her family? She and Darren drifted apart with him taking to the bottle and more often than not, he was inebriated while in the care of Kendra and younger brother Hudson, leaving them to fend for themselves. The two kids were always at odds with each other and never failed to show their disdain for Valerie, believing she "abandoned" them.

Now they are grown. Kendra has a family, and Hudson, a deadbeat, who left a long time ago, returns home. Kendra claims their mother is losing her faculties and needs Hudson to be with her. So it wouldn't seem as if he's to be her caretaker, Hudson informs Valerie his last lover threw him out, and he has no place else to go. In reality, he does not want to return to his childhood home where his presence is frowned upon by the neighbors. When only a teenager, Hudson's BFF, and girlfriend Heather died in a freak accident. Hudson was cleared of all charges, yet everyone still considers him guilty of killing the young girl, though he swears he is innocent.

Valerie, lonely with only Bowie, the pooch who keeps her company, is thrilled to have her son back home. A few years before, Darren passed away thanks to his drinking, and the band split up, all because of Valerie, making her world crumble around her. Now she is alone and considered a pariah in her neighborhood, so she is happy to have Hudson back with her, though he's hardly ever home. As time progresses, they become closer, which annoys Kendra to no end. She always maligned her mother saying she put her band before them, so she was close to her father, and she blamed Valerie for his passing.

Hudson now works at a decent job and socializes a lot with his friends, and when Valerie happens to notice a text sent to him by his ex, she starts to worry—worry to the point of checking her out and going to see her, needing to find out what happened between them. She learns the woman had a restraining order out on Hudson, which has Valerie questioning Heather's death. Could Hudson have pushed her off the cliff causing her to perish? Though Hudson has a temper, would he go so far as to kill someone?

Then when a new neighbor named Molly is found murdered, suspicion turns again to Hudson. He was seen talking to her at a local bar the night before she was killed, though Hudson is adamant about having nothing to do with her demise, saying he just chatted briefly with her.

Valerie's antenna goes up, and she breaks into Molly's home looking to see if she can find anything that could implicate Hudson. When she finds a man's watch, she thinks it looks familiar, but who does it belong to, and was it left there by mistake? Could it be Hudson's?

As her thoughts and suspicions grow, her mind becomes more distorted, and Kendra is more certain Valerie is in need of constant help. Sure, Valerie's mind is jumbled for she cannot figure out what is happening or who she can trust. She also wonders if how she raised her children caused them to still be rivals with each other, even as adults when she notices their rivalry and malice toward each other has escalated. What exactly is going on with her children? Has she lost her mind?

Powerful characters with unforeseen events make this novel a page-turner. This is a psychological thriller sure to keep the reader on tenterhooks up to the unexpected conclusion.

Convoluted

A Mother Would Know is a twisted psychological thriller about a woman with early-onset Alzheimers. With two women found murdered in her neighborhood, she is shocked when her son is one of the main suspects.

Narrated by Valerie, with a few other voices mixed in, I found the structure MESSY. As she shares her fears regarding her memory loss, memories from the past make their way into the narrative in a nonlinear order. Included are Valerie's past as a musician and her obsession with a little girl who was murdered in the Victorian house she loves. There are multiple storylines, many of which are left unresolved.

I had a lot of issues with this book. The pacing is slow--nothing happens for the first 25%, and it is all telling. Finally, when someone dies, the plot picks up momentum but, unfortunately, suffers from too much telling and not enough showing, which is the kiss of death for me.

Another issue I have is that the police must be blind because they leave behind blatantly obvious evidence. Valerie is the one who finds the clues after breaking into two crime scenes without getting caught--did I mention she is struggling with her memory, yet she is capable of stealthily breaking into two houses and finding evidence? At one crime scene, the police didn’t even take the victim’s laptop or diaries. I was rolling my eyes nonstop during these scenes.

There are a few good things about this book: Bowie the dog being one of them. Thankfully, he doesn’t come to any harm. There are also some good twists and turns, but they are not good enough for me to recommend reading this mess.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Harlequin in exchange for an honest review.