Have you ever shared a secret and immediately wished you could you could take it back? But once your secret is out, there is no taking it back and it takes on a life of it's own.
Ros and her family take a much needed vacation and befriends a single woman names Lotte. Lotte is beautiful, fun, and persistent. She eventually convinces Ros to join her for a girls night out before they head back home. They head out for a fun night and Lotte makes sure the drinks keep coming. Ros remembers Lotte pushing her to open up and spill her darkest secret after all how can it hurt, they won't ever see each other again. The next thing Ros knows she wakes up in her hotel room with the worst hangover and no idea how she got back. But she can't shake the sinking feeling that she may have shared a secret so bad that it will tear her world apart. Good thing she will never have to see her again. Except she does. This stranger moves to her town, puts her daughter in the same school and has even moved in a house down the street. Lotte knows her secret, but she doesn't know what Ros will be willing to do to protect it.
I really enjoyed how these characters developed slowly over the course of the story. I found myself relating to what Ros and that feeling you get when you've said too much or trusted the wrong person. But just when you think you have it figured out, this book reveals a little more that sends your head spinning, You won't want to put it down.
Thank you Netgalley for this book for an honest review.

Title: The Mother at Number 5
Author: Jill Childs
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Publisher: Bookouture
Pub Date: June 21, 2023
My Rating: 4 stars
Pages: 308

This is my third Jill Child novel I especially liked "I Let Him in" and have been looking forward to reading another.

Ros Crofter and her husband Adam as well as their two daughters Sophie who is eight years-old and Bella who is four, are on a holiday in Majorca, Ros meets Lottie Humphries by the hotel pool when Ros notices that Lottie ordered a large platter of fruit which Ros knows had to be very expensive. Lottie offers some fruit to Ros and them starting chatting. Lottie make a comment about the children and asks why not put them in child care as that what I do with my four year old daughter Caitlyn. Although Ros doesn’t agree but they become ‘holiday friends’ and go out for a fun ‘Ladies Night Out’. They drink too much and start to tell secrets. Ros cannot remember anything about the night she thinks she is sure she mentioned that she and Adam haven’t been intimate in some time. Lottie attracted two studs who want to dance and what happened next is a blur. Ros is embarrassed but assumes no problem as they will never see each other again.
Soon after the holiday is over, Lottie appears at St Stephen’s school coffee which is the same school as Bella Additionally they have moves into an apartment on Bridge Lane Number 5, which is just around the corner from Ros.
Hmmm . .. Consequence???

Ros is suspicious about Lottie’s move which is practically next door and decided to stay away from her.

Story kept me interested - I was sure I wouldn’t trust Lottie.

Love the ‘A Letter from Jill” where author, Jill Child tells us about a train ride many years ago where the woman next to her seemed to be aware that she was grieving and she opened up and felt so liberated after talking to her. Later this make her think what if a sympathetic stranger turns out not to be accidental but deliberate. Hmmm

Story certainly went in a direction I wasn’t expecting. Ms. Child did not disappoint!

Want to thank NetGalley and Bookouture for granted me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 21, 2023

Not finished this book yet but I'm really enjoying getting stuck in on a nice sunny day.
I just want to know what happens next, what is lotte doing In Ros neighbour hood, what dark secert did Ros share while on holiday and why is sophie acting up??

I was completely hooked from the start, the suspense, the heartbreak!!…… utterly impossible to put down!  so it comes to the toilet with me 🤣🤣 ill update once i finish.

A slow start for me but then......Ros what are you doing? A night out on holiday with a woman you just met, not something i would do.
A really decent read once it got going full of twists and major twists right up till the very end.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.
Loved it!

I believe this is the first time I've read anything by this author, but I wouldn't hesitate to read her again. This was a suspenseful thriller which checked all the boxes for me. The story begins in Majorca on vacation. Ros and Adam and their two little girls are taking a summer vacation. By the pool, Ros meets Lotte. Lotte is there with her little girl Caitlyn. Adam and Ros live a very quiet life tending to their two girls, while Lotte is a bit wilder. Lotte asks Ros to go out for a girl's night out the last night Lotte is there. Ros agrees reluctantly.

Lotte takes Ros to a club and proceeds to buy many strong drinks for Ros, which Ros isn't used to She is soon very drunk. Lotte pumps Ros for information about her life, her husband, and eventually has her dancing with soe other guy. Ros cannot remember a thing in the morning.

When Ros and Adam return home, school soon reopens, and Ros is shocked to see Lotte in the schoolyard dropping off her child. Turns out Lotte has moved from London to Ros's northern area and not only that, she lives less than a block away. Ros thinks this is really strange and begins to wonder what exactly Lotte wants.

As the book continues, we find out. No spoilers here. This is a fast read, and it's well written. I read it in two sittings and it totally kept my interest. I highly recommend it. Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. I greatly appreciate it.

The book cover caught my attention straight away and once I had read the book description I knew I had to read it.
Fresh and dynamic... Fast-paced and spellbinding...a book you will have a hard time putting down.

Ooh, I enjoyed this. So many different twists and turns.
It will certainly have you guessing who is good, who is bad who should you be trusting.
Basic premise .. Ros is a basic, everyday mum who meets a larger then life mother called Lotte on holiday in Greece. After a debautous evening where Ros gets overly drunk she is glad to leave her new friend behind on the island. Only to have Lotte turn up, in her small town and slowly start to infiltrate into her life, working for her husband. Something isn't right about her...
This was a great read. Highly recommend for a fast, good thriller.
Spoiler:
Only thing is that is should possibly come with a child abuse trigger warning.

I received advanced copy from netgallery..

review may contain spoilers

The book was bit slow to start with Ros meeting Lotte on holiday and wondering what secrets were spilled on their drunking night out. Lotte moves round the corner from Ros and sends her daughter to the same school as Ros's kids. But why???
As the book goes on you can tell Lotte has secrets and this is some form of A revenge plot but against who??
Ros speaks her concerns to her husband Adam but he doesn't believe her making it out she paranoid and jumping to conclusions like before with his brother.....
When start getting into the book secrets and lies begin to come out starting with a false allegation by Lotte.
Who can Ros trust her Husband gaslights her, she is suspicious of her new friend and can old friends be trusted. And when her daughter is hurt in Lotte's care she really believes Lotte out to get them. But worst of all is Diane really a best friend or a backstabber.

Usually I can read a book in day or 2 but took me that to get into 1st half of book but 2nd half read within a day couldn't put it down we find out why Lotte targets them but has she got the wrong people, and was Lotte really responsible for Sophie's fall or is it something more, what were Adam and Charles really arguing about that Ros overheard, and then we come to the epilogue not going to spoil it but is there going to be another book as what is Lotte away to do next.

This is a must read bare in mind slow start but gets good

I struggled with this one. The first 60 - 70% was sooooo slow. I started skimming. But as the end loomed, the pace picked up. The closer and closer I got to the conclusion the more suspenseful, thrilling, and twisty the story got.

A terrific thriller I was drawn in from the first pages through all the twists and turns till the shocking ending.An author a book I will be recommending.#netgalley #bookouture

Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC of this book.
I have to say I'm torn, the first 50% felt slow, then it just got better and better!
I need to be gripped from page 1 but I kept going with this as I knew it could suddenly turn and boy did it!
Well written and I liked the 2 different POVs.
Did I expect the ending? Yes most of it, but the very last bombshell had me I'll admit.
Overall a good read.
I'd actually rate it 3.5

The Mother at Number 5 is a gripping, can't-put-down psychological thriller. Ros meets Lotte while on vacation and the two have a wild night out. Ros, fearful that she may have shared a bit too much, is relieved when the vacation is over and she'll never have to see Lotte again. When summer vacation ends and the school year begins, Ros is shocked to see Lotte and her daughter at Ros' children's school. Lotte has just moved across country, rented an apartment next to Ros', and enrolled her daughter in the same school as Ros' girls. Is Lotte stalking Ros? What is her angle? What secrets did Ros share that night on vacation?

The story is told from two POVs: Lotte and Ros, and through their chapters, the reader really gets to know the characters and understand why they make the decisions they do. The characters are well-developed and interesting. There were quite a few surprises and shocking reveals throughout the book. It definitely kept me on my toes. I did find the pacing to be a bit slow in the middle, and there was one storyline that I didn't think was necessary (Sophie's storyline). However, overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Mother at Number 5 and will certainly be recommending.

Great from page one, another very good addition from this author, she just keeps getting better and better

I really enjoyed this domestic thriller! When Ros meets Lotte on holiday - they share a drunken night out, most of which Ros can’t remember! Knowing she will never see Lotte again, she puts that night to the back of her mind. Imagine her shock when Lotte has turned up in her little village, and she seems intent on causing trouble for Ros and her lovely family!
Banging twist - although I did start to piece bits together!
Easy to read, well written and a great example of women doing all they can to get some justice!
Brilliant read.

While Ros is on holiday with her husband, Adam, and their 2 daughter Sophie and Bella, she meets Lotte while lying by the pool. The ladies become ‘holiday friends’, assuming they won’t see each other again after the holiday. The ladies have a night on the town, and Lotte treats them both to non-stop cocktails. Ros wakes up the following morning with a heavy hangover (which was so well written I felt a throwback to my last hangover) and no recollection of what happened last night. This is relieved she won’t see Lotte again and she can forget about the blank spots in her memory, and can stop worrying about the dark secret she may have told…

Once she’s home, Ros is back into routine. She drops the girls off at school then her and some of the parents head to a local cafe for a catch up, and that’s where she bumps into Lotte! Ros instantly feels shock and surprise to find Lotte has moved into a house around the corner from her and becomes uncomfortable in her presence. Lotte become intertwined in most aspects of her life over the next few weeks and Ros feels Lotte is up to something. Her husband, Adam, tells her she is being paranoid ‘like the last time’…

I absolutely LOVED this book! The characters were well written - you got to know them gradually without being overwhelmed with information. The action each character takes is understandable - I tend to find some characters in thrillers make the most ridiculous choices to create drama - this was different. The plot was slowly simmering away until it reached boiling point!

I love thrillers and get a kick out of guessing how it’s going to end, but this book ended in a way I absolutely did not see coming. It never crossed my mind throughout the whole book. Unreal.

Overall, I absolutely LOVED this book. I devoured it in my breaks at work, while I was having my morning cuppa, in bed before falling asleep - I couldn’t put it down! 5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy of The Woman At Number 5. Due for release next week - 21st of May! A must read for any fans of psychological thrillers!

This was a compelling and well-paced thriller. The twists were mostly believable and worked together well to move the plot. The characters were well-developed and engaging.

Ros meets Lotte by chance at a resort in Majorca. Ros is married with two children and Lotte is a single mother of one.
They go out on a girl's night out, and Ros gets blind drunk and cannot recall what happened, or what they talked out. She hopes that she did not divulge her darkest secret.

Soon after the holiday is over, Ros is stunned to find out that Lotte has moved to her home town, and is living practically next door. She gets suspicious, and tries to avoid Lotte. Easier said than done.
She knows that she has to protect her family at all costs.


What a fantastic book! Well written, and edge of the seat thrilling! I started this during our 4 hour 'loadshedding' (power outages in South Africa - Groan!), and finished it soon after when in bed.
I definitely want to read more of this author's work, 5/5 stars from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The mother at number 5 had me gripped from start to finish excellent psychological thriller with lots of suspense. I wasn’t sure how it was going to end definitely kept me guessing,

Ros is on holiday with her family when she meets Lotte. Lotte is a single mum with a daughter same age as Ros so when Lotte asks Ros to come for a drink with her Ros says yes. Ros wakes up regretting that decision she has told Ros things that she she have kept to her self but as her husband says you will never see her again so forget about it. Back home first day back at school the mums have a coffee morning Ros is not expecting Lotte to walk in having moved to the area. What is Lotte up to? Excellent thriller. This book is told from both of their perspectives which is great.

Fantastic thriller which will have you hooked from a start to finish highly recommend this to all who love a book with lots of suspense.

The description of this story had me intrigued and it was worth the read. It sounded similar to other novels I've read but this one was fresh and had lots of new surprises that caught me off guard! This story had some good twists it had me hooked until the end. Chapters switching perspectives of the characters were great for keeping me engaged and wanting to know more as the story unfolded. Epilogue was well crafted to really explain a lot to fill in those clues you've been itching to figure out.

I dont know why I went into this not expecting much other than a fast and easy read, nothing special but omg! I was blown away.

So the premise itsself is quite original and unique. Right from the start it doesn't feel like just a slightly different version of something I've read before.

The characters are well written and realistic. They're fleshed out and have very human reactions. They don't do stupid things purely so the plot can happen. And they're not idiotic or annoying.

The plot moves at a good pace. I'm not usually one for character based thrillers but this absolutely gor under my skin and it was the not knowing what was going on and the uneasy tension that's built from the start which made me not able to put the book down. It literally made an hr on tbe treadmill feel like 3 minutes! And that's not an easy feat.

And the twists and turns? Well...... they were just perfect! Never saw them coming and yet, they make perfect sense.

A must read! I loved every second of it