This was hard to read because it's about mothers hurting their kids over long periods of time. The relatives don't want to believe a mother would do that, and the system doesn't know how to deal with it. There are even problems trying to find a specific law to prosecute a caretaker for making their child ill.
Three different mothers were the subject of this book, and the resolutions were never perfect. But the book is well-researched and I used it to get more information about the cases and the topic.
I do think more people should learn about this so that it can be identified and children protected. There was another famous case in the news recently but there was a lot of misinformation that came out with it. This book is a great resource and it was easy to follow because the narration was solid and serious.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this

The bond between a mother and their child is like no other. I know that for a fact. But when you take a mother who clearly has their own untreated (or I suppose in some cases, treated, but maybe not properly) mental issues they clearly cannot care for their child in a way that not only that child deserves, but also even close to acceptable. In most cases, the mother is just seeking attention and is willing to go to the most extreme ways to get it, even harming their own child. Munchausen Syndrome is a rare mental illness where simply put, people pretend to be sick for attention. Munchausen by proxy (MBP) is similar, but where the caregiver causes or “creates” illness in someone they are caring for. In almost all of these cases, this is the mother causing illness in the child. In this book, the author's own family was impacted by MBP, and she connects with Texas detective Mike Weber, who has handled more of these cases than anyone in the US, to dive deep into three shocking cases of MBP.

“One of the things that makes MBP abuse so difficult to accept is it robs children of the one person meant to love them best of all, eternally and unconditionally - their mom.”

You may not know that I was an avid nonfiction reader years ago before taking a break from reading all together and then jumping into the romance world, so when an opportunity is presented to me to read something like this, I'll usually jump at it. Munchausen and MBP are simply not about unnecessary medical procedures. These patients and parents literally go to the most extreme ends to get attention and put their children in life threatening situations repeatedly. As a mother, it is so hard to wrap my head around this. Also, as a mother, I've unfortunately seen other mothers have a complete disregard for their children, but this takes it to the next level.

This book also provides a reminder of how kids will try to protect their parents when they realize their parents might be in trouble for lying. I find it extremely sad how kids feel this way towards a parent, at ages where they are often too young to realize what they are doing, when the parent has no regard whatsoever for their child's feelings.

I personally love when an author narrates their own nonfic work. You can really hear the passion in their voice and love for their work. It makes the book that much more enjoyable.

A big thank you to Macmillan Audio and the authors for an advanced copy of this audiobook. Opinions are my own.

This subject is absolutely fascinating! The authors do a great job explaining the mental and physical aspects of Munchausen by proxy. They highlight three women and discuss, in detail, each of their stories. The investigator talks about all the difficulties he has faced while trying to prove intentional neglect and protect the children involved. Truly an eye-opening read!

This was such a good, in-depth look at Munchausen by Proxy through multiple case studies. There’s really one infamous case that’s been all over the media for years and most people are really only aware of that one case. This book looks at multiple cases, goes through the details of the cases, and discusses what the process was of trying to convict. The book was extremely informative in terms of what the signs are for a child and parent in this situation. They also teach about how difficult it is to prosecute this type of case, and how a munchausen by proxy case differs from other child abuse cases. Overall, I found this book to be extremely interesting and informative.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

I went into this one pretty blindly, not sure what to expect. I was unfamiliar with the podcast the author currently hosts on Munchausen by Proxy and her work to bring this terrible phenomenon to light. Most of us have heard of the case with Gypsy Rose Blanchard since she was imprisoned for murdering her mother, but it is actually quite startling how many cases are currently out there, even despite the worldwide attention to that bizarre story.
Dunlop narrates her own book, highlighting three prominent cases of women who just seemed like the everyday, normal "mother next door." That, perhaps, is the scariest prospect of all...that it could be anyone, not just those with obvious signs or past criminal records. It seems that it is hard to pinpoint whether this is specifically a mental illness (it is classified as a "syndrome") or if the attention-seeking behaviors of these women are just that...twisted, deliberate efforts to gain notoriety even at the expense of their children's (s') health, and tragically, sometimes deaths.
I was riveted by these true crime stories and blew through this audiobook in less than 24 hours. I am grieved that sometimes the trials did not always produce the obvious desired results, and most of all that this is a battle fought even amongst CPS, police, investigators, doctors and families. I am hopeful that the more these stories get told, the sooner these children can be helped.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARL. All opinions are mine.

Andrea Dunlop has a family connection to Munchausen By Proxy (MBP) as her sister has been investigated on charges of MBP twice. Consequently, her family has been torn apart from the fallout. She teams up with Mike Weber, a Texas detective who has worked extensively on child abuse cases, especially those involving medical harm. Together they deep dive three different cases of MBP, those of Hope Ybarra, Brittany Phillips, and Mary Welch. I was absolutely appalled at their behavior and what they have put these children through. And what's worse is the behavior of the DA's, judges and those who were supposed to be protecting children. I can't believe how long it takes to even get a case brought against someone, even when faced with an abundance of evidence of their behavior. So many times these children are continued to be harmed or even die from this ghastly behavior. I have always been intrigued my MBP and what makes a person behave in this manner. It was definitely a chilling account of these poor kids' lives. Hopefully this will bring a much needed light to these situations and hopefully there will be some changes for the better.

I was gifted an audio copy by @netgalley and @mcamillan audio in exchange for my honest review. The audiobook was very well done by Andrea. I will also be checking out her podcast to learn more. Highly recommend if you have any interest in true crime and child welfare. It was definitely a binge worthy and I couldn't put it down once I started.

This book is a bit uncomfortable, in a good way. It has big "podcast" energy, sort of like a large format "Did you hear THIS crazy story?" bar conversation.
Andrea Dunlop is an author and podcaster, her sister was lost to her due to Munchausen by proxy. Because of her personal experience she created a podcast based on a famous case of MBP, Hope Ybarra, who pretended to have cancer 4 times and faked that her daughters had cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis.
At first her family thought she was delusional. Then they discovered she was guilty of fraud, falsifying medical documentation.
Mike Weber was the sheriff/law enforcement on the Hope Ybarra case, he has made his career on several child abuse cases to varying results.
On one hand, this book is a good guidebook for those who want to know the patterns. On the other hand, it is also a good guidebook for how to work on this and pull it off. For me it felt like "eek this is none of my business" and I legitimately felt like a rubber necker... but I suppose there is a bit of that in all true crime genre.
It was an eye opener. I learned a lot. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around MBP is both a mental illness and a crime.

I've always been intrigued with Munchausen by Proxy, and the cases surrounding it. The book explores that, but not necessarily so eye opening about the disease itself. It centers more around three cases and each of those cases were gut wrenching over and over again. I liked that the author rode alongside, in the manner of telling the story, with Mike and what he had gone through to bring justice and spotlight to the cases. This was a great read/listen to, telling all aspects of each case, rather than diving into the psychology of it all.

It was like reading episodes of the crime podcast. You read/listen about human behavior and we, still to this day, can't really fathom. But this is a disease that needs more spotlight and this is definitely one platform to do so.

Pub date: February 5, 2025

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for a copy of this. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Pub Date: 2/4
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The Mother Next Door is a true crime novel about Munchausen by Proxy (MBP). MBP, simply put, is medical abuse by a parent to a child (usually a mother), placing the child through unnecessary medical procedures or surgeries for the acceptance and sympathy from others.
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This story focuses specifically on three different women who suffer from MBP and it was absolutely terrifying to hear the things that they put their children through. Unnecessary medical procedures and surgeries were done on these children. It makes me sick. What hurts even worse is how little CPS does to actually protect children from abusive parents (and I’ve even witnessed this first hand at my job). As a nurse, I think the answer to how to stop this is simple - EPIC is an electronic charting system that can interchange through any hospital system, meaning - from state to state from hospital to hospital and will make it easier to access medical records and stop unnecessary procedures from happening on these sweet babies.
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Throughout the entire book my jaw was on the ground. This was a very difficult listen, but extremely powerful. It is so hard to hear the things that these children went through; but with that being said, this is an extremely important topic to learn about. It is so important for people to be aware that this can be going on all around us. We need to protect the children from this abuse.
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This was narrated by the author - Andrea Dunlap. She did phenomenal. She has her own podcast that actually discusses how MBP affected her family. Which is definitely want to listen to. Highly highly highly recommend the listen to everyone; this really is such an important topic.
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Huge thank you to NetGalley, Andrea Dunlop, Mike Weber and MacMillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I can’t say I enjoyed this because of the disturbing content. But this is about a disturbing disorder that affects innocent children (mostly) and isn’t talked about enough and should be. Although I do think spreading information about this topic is important, this book wasn’t a home run to me. It centers around 3 cases of MPB and goes through each one in somewhat detail. I did find some parts repetitive and it did feel like reading through a case study at times. Honestly the part that I didn’t like the most is the assumptions. The author/narrator mentions that she has personal experience with MPB, but never goes into detail, either assuming we know or wanting us to go read her book or listen to her podcast to get the info. Also at the end she mentions the Maya Kowalski case and assumes we know about it. I personally know very little but after looking up the outcome of what happened, it felt as if it should be left out.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio copy of the book!

I’ve long been morbidly fascinated by Munchausen by Proxy (MBP). As a mother myself, the idea that a person (almost always the mother) could inflict this type of medical child abuse is unfathomable to me. The Mother Next Door presents three cases of MBP, diving deep on how the abuse transpired, how long it took for someone to notice, and how hard it is to prosecute these cases. Although the cover looks like it will fit in right next to your thrillers, the atrocities here really happened.

Although not addressed in the book, author Andrea Dunlop has some personal experience with MBP, and you can tell through her written word and narration how passionately she feels about the topic. Thanks to her podcast experience, she’s an excellent narrator on top of being a highly skilled writer. Her co-author, Mike Weber, is a Texas detective and one of the nation’s foremost experts on medical child abuse. The narrative is clear and compelling as it explores the investigations of Hope Ybarra, Brittany Phelps, and Mary Welch, whose children all suffered needless medical interventions (including feeding tubes and brain stents!) due to their mother’s deception. This book is mainly focused on these specific cases and the justice system, so although I would love to read more about MBP in general and what drives women to engage in these destructive, abusive behaviors, it’s outside the scope of what’s presented here.

The book is extremely well written and it had me deep in my feelings while I read and listened. It’s horrifying to me how the families of some of these women refused to see what was happening or even outright defended them. Worse still, I found out it’s incredibly difficult to prosecute these cases, and even though two of the three cases in this book end with justice, all too often the perpetrators go free. Despite all the sadness, anger, and horror, there are bright moments of hope as you see the public servants and healthcare workers who tirelessly work to protect vulnerable children, as well as the resilience of the children themselves after their nightmare situations are over.


Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Thank you, Net Galley, for the advanced audio of THE MOTHER NEXT DOOR by Andrea Dunlop. I thought I knew a lot about Munchausen By Proxy, but this book taught me a lot more. I was unaware until I started listening that this book was non-fiction, but personally, most of the non-fiction that I've read is rather dry. This was not. I knew that MBP cases were difficult to prove, but I was under the impression that once they made it to trial, a guilty verdict was a forgone conclusion. As the examples in this book showed, it's not quite that easy. I am now checking my library for the backlog of books by Andrea Dunlop.

Such a fascinating topic. As a mother myself, the worst thing is when one of my children is sick, I can not imagine the mind of someone who purposely makes their child ill. I’m very thankful to people like Mike Weber who are working toward justice for these children!

Review of The Mother Next Door by Andrea Dunlop & Mike Weber – 4.5 Stars

This book was a gripping and emotional read—so engaging that it almost felt like fiction, yet it covers very real and heartbreaking cases. Dunlop and Weber examine Munchausen by proxy (MBP), a form of medical child abuse that is both deeply disturbing and difficult to detect. Through expert insights, investigative reporting, and real-life cases, the book explores how and why these situations unfold, as well as the challenges in identifying and stopping them.

What stood out most to me was how complicated these cases are and how easily warning signs can be missed. It’s heartbreaking to think about the children who go unheard and the people who fight tirelessly to protect them. It also highlights how difficult it can be for doctors and law enforcement to navigate these cases, which is why advocacy and awareness are so important. While the subject matter is heavy, I appreciate that this book focuses on those working to challenge the system and push for change. A truly eye-opening and important read.

In SEEKING SHELTER by Jeff Hobbs, we get to know two women and their children as they navigate a life of homelessness. Their stories shatter stereotypes, while educating all of us on how easy it is to end up on the street, and how difficult it is to then get off those same streets.

Some topics we learn about along the way include:

➛Lack of affordable housing
➛Lack of affordable childcare
➛Inadequate school systems within poor areas
➛The absence of a strong support system, such as family or close friends
➛Fear of the government getting involved

One thing not discussed is that the absent fathers here did not pay a dime in child support, which is all too common. Women’s rights continue to be trampled upon, while too many fathers saunter away to live their lives as they please. If men were forced to take financial responsibility for their children, then we wouldn’t have so many single mothers with their children living in their cars and in temporary shelters.

But this book wasn’t all gloom and misery. We see remarkable strength and resilience with the women and the children. We see mothers doing everything they know how to do in order to give their kids the best education possible, setting them up for a successful adult life.

I alternated between my print copy and the audiobook. Janina Edwards provides a straightforward narration without embellishment, which I found easy to listen to and engaging.

*I received a free ARC from Scribner Books, and a free audiobook download from Simon Audio.*

This was heartbreaking and hard to listen to, which is to say it was very well written and hard-hitting with the facts.

4.5 stars. I don’t know that I know enough powerful adjectives to describe this book. It’s accessible, spelling everything out in a clean and concise manner, while being absolutely heart-wrenching and anger inducing.

It is so hard to believe any mother would do such horrendous things to their child, but I can only assume this is a mental illness.

Munchausen by Proxy - where a mother thinks her child has a life threatening illness and somehow convinces doctors to do invasive treatments on her child. Author Andrea Dunlop looks at three cases that ended up in court. Often the mother's parents, the child's father, medical personnel and teahers don't see what the mother is doing. Horrific and suprisingly somewhat common.

I couldn't put this book down as I read and listened to it. . The author narrates her book.

My thanks to Net Galley, St. Martin's Press and Macmilian Audio for an advanced copy of this e-book and audiobook.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for my honest review. This is narrated by the author, Andrea Dunlop, who does a great job!

THIS is how true crime should be written! I was glued to the story and found the offenders and characters to be incredibly interesting. While I know of Munchausen syndrome, I did not realize the patterns or know about these specific cases. I was heartbroken to see how little is done to protect these children.

This is so well written, researched and fantastic! Be prepared to clear your calendar when you start because you wont be able to put this one down!!!

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of this chilling true crime book by Andrea Dunlop and Mike Weber, with the audiobook narrated by the authors. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

Munchausen by proxy has fascinated and horrified both professionals and the general public since this disturbing form of child abuse was first identified. But widespread misinformation still swirls around these cases, because who could believe that a parent (especially a mother) would intentionally harm their child?

This is such a disturbing subject, but this book tackled it as sensitively as possible, from the viewpoints of a novelist whose own family experienced MBP and a detective who has worked on more medical child abuse cases than anyone in the country. With most cases where mental illness and crime intersect, it's difficult for the public, medical professionals, and the justice system to understand and treat these perpetrators, but this book should open eyes to the fact that these cases aren't a rarity and something must be done to protect the innocent children. It was an in-depth look into 3 cases as well as the author's own family connection, and it was heartbreaking. I liked the fact that the authors narrated the book, making it feel even more personal. Hopefully this book shines more light on this very dark issue.