Tash is a freelance journalist living in a London suburb who begins digging into the suspicious death of a local nanny named Sophie to try and get her career back on track. While investigating, Tash becomes close friends with the other mothers in her son's new playgroup, who may know more about Sophie's death than they are letting on. As Tash works to uncover what happened, she starts receiving warnings from an unknown number telling her to stop. Will Tash get to the bottom before it is too late?

The beginning of the book started off slow for me, and it took a minute before the pacing picked up and things got interesting. I liked the short chapters and that the author alternated between Tash and Sophie's POV. The countdown leading up to Sophie's death kept me wanting more. I found those chapters to be the most enjoyable and suspenseful. The author does a good job of placing breadcrumbs throughout and keeping the reader guessing; however, there were a lot of different characters in this book and their personalities all blended into one, making it hard to remember who was who in the group. Overall, this book fell short of my expectations. Although it was still a decent read, I enjoyed Faulkner's other book, Greenwich Park, more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I had the extreme pleasure of gaining an early copy of this novel. I enjoyed reading the author’s previous novel, Greenwich Park and was pleased to have the opportunity to read and review.
The Other Mothers is a domestic thriller that is an entirely unique story. We get to see two POVs— Sophie, the deceased nanny, and Tash, a freelance journalist who is investigating Sophie’s death and who happens to befriend the wealthy mothers at her son’s playgroup. The timeline alternates between the present and Sophie’s past leading up to the moment of her death. A brilliant psychological thriller that will have you saying, "Just one more chapter!"

Happy Publication Day!!!

The Other Mothers is Katherine Faulkner's second thriller & it was a good one!

We follow our main character Tash, mom and journalist and is hoping a new case will get her back into the game & that case being no other than a Nanny who was found dead and Tash thinks that murder happened, even though the police don't. We follow Tash get down to the grit and find out what really happened.

This book is medium paced with a lot of character introductions at the beginning between mothers and their husbands so it is a little to get into a first but once you know who is who and how everyone is connected - it is much easier to read!

I liked how we got a lot of unreliability between the main characters and really gave a "who am I supposed to trust right now" and "what is going on" vibes.

Read this if you like
- Everyone Being A Suspect
- Motherhood / Spousal Drama
- Neighborhood Thrillers Where Everyone Knows Everything
- "Mom's Club" & Rich Housewives

A young nanny dies, and it is ruled an accident. However, Tash can feel in her bones that it was murd3r. She decides that this can be the story that will relaunch her journalism career! She puts her son in a local playgroup in hopes that she can get some work done while he is there. Finn, her son, is having a hard time when she drops him off. One of the other mothers offers to have Tash and Finn over for a playdate. Finn can get to know the other children better, and Tash can hang out with other new mothers.

Tash begins to wonder why she was so quickly accepted into this tight-knit friend group.

As Tash gets closer to the truth, she gets warnings, and bad things start happening to her. This book made me think of the saying, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Also, a lot of mothers can relate to wanting to make friends with other new mothers. That aspect of the story drew me in. This story is told in the present from Tash's POV and then goes to the past and is told from Sophie's (the nanny's) POV. You know I love dual timelines and multi-POV.

This was fast-paced, and I was invested to know "who dun it" and why!

Read this Book If:
You want to read a who dun it thriller
You want to have a twist of an ending in your next book
You're a nosey lady or lad and like drama in your thrillers

This was really good!! I didn't read the first book by this author, GREENWICH PARK, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I saw many people loving this one, so I had to check it out. I was impressed!! I thought the pacing was good, plenty of shady characters, and you never know who to trust.

Tash is a mother investigating the death of a nanny. She gets involved with the mothers in her sons playgroup. These mothers will have you not trusting one of them. You get the point of view of Tash in the present time, and the point of view of the nanny, Sophie, in the past. As you get further into the book. It gets more and more engrossing as you are trying to figure out what really happened! This one was suspenseful and entertaining. Loved it!!

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. My review will be posted on Instagram, Bookbub, Goodreads and Amazon.

https://onereadingnurse.com/2023/12/05/book-review-the-other-mothers-by-katherine-faulkner/

I just have to get one random thought out of the way: why are her book covers both in all lowercase letters? It’s so rare that it jumps out at me!

The Other Mothers took a few chapters for me to get into since there is a bit of chronological time jumping. Once I got the hang of it I couldn’t put the book down. Like first it doesn’t seem that interesting and then all of a sudden it’s 2am and whoops! Faulkner builds tension and suspense slowly and it’s just perfect pacing.

Tash is a journalist who ends up personally and professionally wrapped in the lives of the wealthy mothers in her son’s new playgroup. She is investigating the death of a nanny and I just love when there are so many equally suspicious suspects. Everyone is shady and many are a little twisted, but there’s always one big baddie and I couldn’t have guessed who it was.

The point of view flips between Tash in the present and the dead nanny in the past. Obviously the action spirals towards two things: in phe present Tash is getting into serious trouble and in he past, the murder of the nanny approaches. It’s addicting to keep flipping pages and see how depraved everyone gets by the end.

Faulkner is also really good at tying atmosphere and physical setting into her plots. The locations feel real whether it’s a sticky, tiny flat, a luxurious townhouse, or a rainy London park.

Check it out yourself if you like complicated female friendships and layers on layers of mystery and secrets. Just don’t start it at bedside or you might lose sleep and regret it at work in the morning👀

...

Thanks for checking out my book review of The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner. I received a digital advanced copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and as always, all options are my own ♥️

This was exciting, a good story about murder, secrets, and a really toxic group of new mothers.
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Quick synopsis: Tash, the mother of a toddler, is a freelance writer who starts looking into the death of a nanny a few months earlier, and finds herself enmeshed in a playgroup with several other mothers who all have secrets.
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I liked this a lot more than Greenwich Park, I thought it really did a much better job of subtly building the story and developing red herrings more naturally. So if you liked that book, you should love this one!
*
I think the climax was a bit clunky, but I really enjoyed how the twists kept coming even when I thought the whole thing was wrapped up. It also felt a bit long at times, but overall a really solid thriller.

Thank you Gallery Books and Netgalley for an ARC of {" The Other Mothers". I have heard a lot of great things about Faulkner's debut novel, " Greenwich Park", but haven't had a chance to pick it up yet. If her debut novel is anything like her sophomore novel, wow ..WOW.. WOW. I read thrillers probably more than any other genre and can usually predict the ending of a novel, but I can honestly say I was surprised by every twist and turn this book offered. I couldn't put this one down, and cannot wait to see what Faulkner writes next.

I just read The Other Mothers and oooo, it was so good. It was the story of a mom who goes digging into the suspicious death of a nanny to one of the kids in her mom’s group. This had all the vibes of a Liane Moriarty or Sally Hepworth book. With timelines jumping, narrators switching back and forth, twists, turns, red herrings, fancy moms who are clearly hiding things and main characters taking things one step too far too many times that they lose all credibility. And it was all done in a compelling, delicious and juicy way that meant I could not put the book down.

Katherine Faulkner returns following Greenwich Park with THE OTHER MOTHERS, a deliciously wicked mom noir domestic thriller —full of mean grown-up girls with menace, murder, class, and lots of TWISTS!

Set in an upscale London neighborhood with breathtaking homes, designer clothes, put-together moms and nannies— and way too-expensive playdates! Faulkner cleverly explores the dark side of motherhood and the fissures inside female friendships.

Tash James, mother of Finn and wife of Tom, a doctor. They are broke, and she is trying to launch her career as a freelance journalist. When she learns about the death of a nanny, Sophie Blake, which sounds suspicious, she thinks this will be her chance.

She needs to meet the other mothers to develop friendships and investigate. The mothers invite her into their group of friends, and she is delighted and gets swept into their socially wealthy world of expensive playdates, glamour, coffee, and cocktails. Has she found friendship in Laura, Nichole, and Claire?

Told from the POVs of Tash (present) and Sophie (past), it is a slow burn until all the secrets unravel. But then another young woman is found dead. The more she dives in, the more she wonders if these other mothers are her friends or if they have an alternative agenda.

Who's Zoomin' Who?

It is explosive when the group and their husbands go together on holiday. Dark SECRETS and lies of the past rise to the surface, and desperation and the plot thickens. There is so much to unfold in this group!

THE OTHER MOTHERS is a well-written domestic thriller with twists, and the author's investigative journalism skills shined through. If you enjoy evil mommy dramas and suburban thrillers infused with secrets, manipulation, deception, lies, and MURDER —this is for you!

Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an advanced reading review copy for an honest opinion.

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pub Date: Dec 5, 2023
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4.25 stars

A bingey thriller where everyone is a suspect and you're pulled in a million directions. Faulkner lead me down so many windy paths, and I enjoyed the ride. You will be left guessing until the bitter end and repeatedly ask yourself "what is going on?"

Dang. I'm sad. I was really looking forward to this one and then I got it on audio and I was so excited and it fell short for me. Sorry that was the longest sentence ever, but I just had to get my thoughts out.

Katherine Faulkner had me in her grasp with Greenwich Park, so I was excited for the opportunity to read her latest release The Other Mothers. In Faulkner’s attest book, we meet Tash—a new mother and freelance journalist. Tash isn’t one of the posh moms, though she’s spent plenty of time observing them from a distance. When Sophie, a young nanny, dies it seems like this might be just the story to launch Tash’s career. Soon Tash finds herself in the midst of the upscale group of moms she’s previously only known from afar. But becoming intertwined with the London elite has risks—and an increasing body count.
Katherine Faulkner is no doubt a skilled storyteller in the thriller genre. This story follows a nonlinear timeline and moves between Tash’s storyline and Sophie's. There are layers upon layers of deceit, darkness, and backstory in The Other Mothers—sometimes so much that my mind screamed, “it’s just too much!” No matter how overwhelming it seemed though, I couldn’t stop reading. Faulkner has a way of instilling palpable danger and suspense even in the calmest moments of a story. I am truly a fan and The Other Mothers was a fantastic day spent reading!
Thank you, Gallery Books, and Netgalley for the ARC.
The Other Mothers is scheduled for a December 5, 2023 release.

@katherinefaulknerwrites is a master of the domestic thriller! Her second novel, The Other Mothers, is a fantastic look into the already scary world of motherhood in the toddler years but ups the lies, twists, & turns of her main character, Tash’s life! Tash is a freelance journalist who is juggling a two year old, her job, her marriage, & a new friend group she has found from her son’s day care. She is also consumed with finding out the truth around the death of a local nanny.

I truly loved this book and could not put it down once I started it!

Thank you @simonandschuster for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

(This review was also shared on the Barnes & Noble website)

I liked how determined freelance journalist Tash is to find out if and who murdered a young nanny found floating in a natural pond. Her investigation involves meeting and socializing with several wealthy mothers of children in playschool, and she is glad her son Finn will find new playmates among them.

The suspense is built well as the novel progresses and the reader can't decide who to suspect, which woman or which husband. Tash is drawn into their drama, but I was glad to see her discover the truth, even at her own peril. The ending came as a surprise as it seemed very ambiguous at first, until I thought about it and figured out what would happen.

A psychological thriller well worth reading.

The Other Mothers, by Katherine Faulkner, is a slow burn to start, but once I was up to speed on the different characters, I found myself moving from chapter to chapter to see what happened. Who can you trust if not your friends, your mate, even yourself...
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the ARC ebook I read to complete this review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a book that I found hard to rate. I didn't like most of the characters, but I felt compelled to find out what happened. Tash is intrigued to uncover whether a nanny's death was truly an accident or a murder. The police have closed the case and the coroner has ruled it an accident, but some evidence contradicts their findings. Tash is struggling as a freelance journalist and is hoping that this investigation will restart her career. She is also struggling to find the solution to care for her toddler son while she works. He resists going to the playgroup , but another mother invites her son into playdates to help her adapt. Tash is also invited to join a group of wealthy women as well. One of them might know what happened to the nanny. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher. This is my honest and voluntarily given review. I didn't like to see how increasingly captivated Tash was by the world of the wealthy and how that affected her. Other than the toddlers, there was only one adult character that I like.

This one started out slow but picked up about 30% of the way in. Tash is an investigative journalist who is determined to solve the murder of a nanny in a ritzy suburb of London. This thriller is set in a posh suburb with an upper-class cast of characters who have lots of secrets. Kept me guessing! I just reviewed The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner. #NetGalley

Another stellar novel by Ms. Faulkner. I swore I had it all figured out instantly but nope. Wanting to be accepted is especially hard for mothers and Tash gets caught up in that. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty toxic group.

After a bit of a slow start this book will have you suspecting EVERYONE. I found the pacing of the story to be uneven as there was a lot of care and detail given to the descriptions of parenting and caregiving but then other parts that have to do with the overarching murder mystery were glossed over. In the end, it was a pretty good thriller with a twisty resolution.