The author seemingly could not decide if she was writing a mystery or a book about post partum depression. The new mother (also the main female protagonist) cannot stop commenting about her new life with an infant in ways that I found annoyingly repetitive. She refuses help from a group of clearly very close female friends, determined to be “such a good mom”. I found it difficult to sympathize. Her relationship with her husband is now strained but they don't seem to talk about their issues with each other. Now comes the murder. No spoilers so I will say only that the accused person is clearly going to be shown to be innocent. How it all unravels is fairly interesting. The ending is just too pat and predictable.
Sorry but this is a miss, not a hit for me.

Spiro has done an excellent job of showing the frightening side of post partum depression. The book is a good story, I felt compassion for Brynn because she is overwhelmed and now with her husband in jail she is alone. I was good read and I enjoyed the mystery of who killed Cecelia.
This book was interesting and i enjoyed it enough to read more by Julia Spiro.


Thank you NetGalley for the Electronic advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

The main character was very relatable as someone who recently went through the throws of the postpartum period. That, mixed with some mystery and suspense, and it really had my attention.

Thank you @minatourbooks and @netgalley for this advance ebook. Such an interesting story - part thriller, part literary character development.

With a healthy newborn baby, a devoted husband, a successful career, and a busy life on Martha’s Vineyard, Brynn Nelson should be the happiest she’s ever been. But Brynn is struggling. Her husband, Ross, grows more distant by the day, and the challenges and exhaustion of postpartum make Brynn feel like she’s slowly losing pieces of herself to motherhood. Pieces that she might never get back.

But it’s summer on the Vineyard, a beacon for wealthy visitors, and a place so beautiful that it seems immune to tragedy and crime. Except for locals, like Brynn, who know all too well that tragedy can strike at any point. And this time, it hits close to home when a friend of the family is found washed ashore. Dead. And Brynn’s already hectic life is turned upside down when Ross is arrested for the crime.

Left reeling with more questions than answers, Brynn’s only path forward is to find out who really killed Cecelia Buckley, even if it means it was her husband. She’s not sure who she’s able to trust anymore. And with dizzying, endless cycle of sleepless nights, diapers, and bottles, Brynn’s not even sure she can trust herself. She’s not sure of anything anymore, but she won’t stop until she finds the truth.

LOVED! This was so good and really captured that early exhausting blur of postpartum days- where things feel like you’re living in a sort of dream state and you can’t totally be sure of what is and isn’t real because you’re so tired and overwhelmed. That captured element was perfect addition to this book. I really loved the ride along the way and the ending was *chefs kiss*

Starts off with an intriguing plot - new mom caught in murder mystery - but very quickly got super boring with no suspense.
It tried to be a thriller but focused way too much on motherhood which was not interesting. The PPD could have been handled much better but instead was just used as a device to make the narrator unreliable.
Super repetitive at times and had so much backstory and detail that didn’t matter.
I heavily skimmed the last half of the book just to find out whodunnit. Would not recommend.
Only finished and reviewed for NetGalley stats.

Fast paced, beautifully written book about the realities of dealing with a newborn, post partum depression, and her husband’s arrest. Brynn lives on a picturesque island and should have a perfect life. She has a close circle of friends, a beautiful healthy baby, but lacks proper support from her husband, who unbeknownst to her is dealing with his own dangerous drama. This is the first book I have read by this author, but I will definitely be reading her prior novels.

I didn’t enjoy this book and I had to force myself to finish it.
This read like a B movie scripted by a goth teenager who just discovered angst and adjectives.
All of the characters are one-dimensional.
The main character is self absorbed, selfish and exhausting. Are we supposed to believe that at one point this hot mess was a strong, independent woman? I saw zero evidence of that.
The flow of the story was constantly interrupted by inconsistencies and contradictions-one character is noted for the truck he drives, then two paragraphs later, it’s a car. Brynn laments that no one would mistake her for the babysitter because she and Lucas look alike, but one the same page, the author states that Lucas looks like ROSS and Brynn can find no trace of herself in him. In another scene, Brynn walks into her in-laws’ house and finds them seated in club chairs flanking the fireplace. But her father-in-law then gets up from the COUCH. 🤦🏻‍♀️
The ending somewhat redeemed the narrative arc-the story progressed more smoothly when there was dialogue. But there was too much melodrama and handwringing and not enough payoff. Details were very few and there was no build up. Everything concluded with a whimper, not a bang.
Also, I have to say, as a mother of 8, I am all too familiar with the thankless nature of motherhood. Sometimes it’s a grind and a lot of times it’s exhausting, frustrating and mind-numbing. And birth traumas and postpartum depression are definitely real. This novel does nothing to address any of that. It’s just a long list of complaints.

A compelling synopsis, but everything about this fell flat for me; I found it painfully predictable and dull, and the culmination of the story is over the top implausible.



Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the DRC

This was a great thriller. I even woke up in the middle of the night wondering what would happen next! Brynn is a new momma who is struggling with motherhood when her husband is arrested. Brynn works very hard to put the pieces of the puzzle together to try to find the truth. You will not be disappointed with this one!!! Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to preview this book.

Set in idyllic Martha’s Vinyard, a new mom is dealing with the overwhelming upheaval a newborn can bring to your world, when her husband is arrested for murder. Brynn starts looking into what happened and what lead her to this place in her life and the book is a thrilling tale of will-she or won’t she stand by her man. I thought I had the end figured out but there was a small twist I didn’t expect and it made for a good read!

Trigger Warning: this book deals with postpartum depression and may be hard to read for some. I probably would not have read this book if I had known how prevalent the PPD in the main character would be. While I recognize that this is a reality that many new mothers go through, it is not something I enjoy reading about. Our main character has a seemingly perfect life, but is still unhappy. Then, a murder occurs and her husband is accused. She starts investigating the murder while dealing with postpartum depression. The overall plot was good, even if it was somewhat predictable. I think that this would be a good book for the right reader.

Such a Good Mom, by Julia Spiro, is set on Martha's Vineyard and is about a new mother struggling to cope with the massive shift in everything after the arrival of a baby. I love reading books set on MV, as my husband has strong connections to the island and I've been many times. It's a very special place and always makes an interesting backdrop. I also loved the murder mystery aspect and the will-she-or-won't-she-stand-by-her-man dilemma faced by Brynn when her husband is arrested for the murder of a family friend. Definitely a page turner!

I really like the vineyard setting of this book and the fact that this is a domestic thriller. The writing was decent enough, in my opinion. A few sentences that sounded way too cliché or even cringy, but other than that it's a very readable book.
I wouldn't say the ending is unexpected - especially for more hardcore mystery/thrillers readers, but it fits the plot and the characters's actions.
I'd say this book can resonate better with a female audience and especially with new moms.
Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel.

This book really caught my interest, due to the post partum depression angle. Our protagonist clearly has undiagnosed PPD, and that affects most of the decisions that she makes in this book. She has a hard time caring about life, and resents her son for throwing her personal life into chaos. On top of it, her husband is arrested for a crime that he says he did not commit, and she has to figure a way out of it.

This book really had me at the offset, and it was an easy read for me. I looked forward to picking it up again and again, and related to the new mom in the story, due to my own history. I think a lot of women will relate to this, and it explores the world of PPD, and also the guilt that those with PPD go through (which feeds their PPD). The mystery also really was good, and not too far fetched. Overall, a really great, enjoyable read!

Thank you to the Author, Publisher and Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

TW: PPD and PPA

3.25 Stars and a DNF at 53%

When I first read the description for this book, I figured I would be hooked. The book sounded intriguing, and it had a great title (Especially for a reviewer who is also a new mom). However, the storyline fell flat because of grammatical Errors throughout it. It seems like the publisher never did a proper spellcheck, because there was incorrect grammar and spelling throughout this book. I actually had to book early (Chapter 17) because I couldn’t read anymore of it. I wish this offered the best of luck, but this book just fell flat.

Better editing would provide a better read. New author to me, and poor editing so I don't know if this is her standard fare or an outlier. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

TW: postpartum depression.

Brynn and Ross have a great life and just welcomed a new son, Lucas, to their world. Ross is next in line at Nelson & Sons construction, but everything turns to crap when he’s arrested for murder. While Brynn is in the darkest point of her life dealing with postpartum depression, learning how to do life as a new momma with a newborn, she starts investigating the case. Along the way, she finds herself again all while getting to the bottom of it!

I overall enjoyed the book, I did however find it predictable, I pegged it. I did find that the postpartum depression was a little repetitive, but I do understand that it is a real thing that women go through and probably have the exact same feelings repetitively, so I do respect how the perspective into the condition was highlighted.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Such A Good Mom!

Such a Good Mom is a atmospheric thriller set on Martha's Vineyard. When the main character's husband is arrested and accused of a murder of a local woman, she must use his cryptic clues to figure out what it happening behind the scenes, all while trying to keep her sanity as a new mom. I especially liked the descriptions of new parenthood in this book, and the thriller plot was intriguing and moved quickly

I enjoyed this domestic thriller set in Martha's Vineyard, a perfect setting for murder and the community of whodunits.
I loved it.