A Mother Would Know by Amber Garza

 

Title: A Mother Would Know

Author: Amber Garza

Narrator: Vivienne Leheny 

Publisher: MIRA

Release Date: December 13, 2022

A mother questions everything she knows about her son when a local woman is found dead.

Valerie has been forgetting things. Her daughter worries about her being on her own in her big Victorian house—one rumored to be haunted after a tragedy decades earlier—and truth be told, she is a little lonely. With few options, she asks her adult son to move home, but it’s not quite the reunion she hoped for. Hudson is taciturn, moody and frequently gone.

The neighbors already hold a grudge against Hudson, and they aren’t happy about his return. When a young woman is found murdered a block away, suspicion falls on him immediately, without a shred of evidence. While Valerie fights to defend her son, she begins to wonder who she really invited into her home.

It’s a horrible thing for a mother to even think…but is it possible she’s enabled a monster? A monster she is living with, alone?

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I liked A Mother Would Know.

Valerie is distressed about her memory. Her mother had Alzheimer's and she saw what the disease did to her. She'd rather not find out. Valerie's daughter, Kendra worries about her health and living alone but Valerie doesn't want to leave her home. So instead when her son needs a place to crash, she is more than happy for him to stay with her. Yet, the neighborhood disagrees. You see, years prior the next-door neighbor's daughter's death was associated with Hudson since he was her boyfriend.

Valerie worries about Hudson. She remembers some incidents when Hudson was growing up that perturbed her and of course, she knows about Helen, the girlfriend that died. Making matters worse, two new deaths occurred in the neighborhood and they have a connection to Hudson. What is she going to do?

I listened to the audio and Vivienne Leheny helped keep things straight between the past and the present. The majority of the book is narrated by Valerie. She is an unreliable narrator due to her memory loss. I felt bad for her. She was in an impossible position. Do you believe your son is a killer or are you a terrible mother for thinking it?

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by MIRA via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.