A Mother's Lie

By: Jo Crow

Narrated by: Stacy Hinkle

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

When her child’s life is at stake, a mother will do anything to save him.? Clara McNair is running out of time to save her son, James. When the two-year-old is diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, only an experimental treatment can save his life. She desperately needs money to pay for the surgery, but she’ll have to travel back to the site of her darkest memories to get it?

Clara has escaped the demons of her youth - or so she thinks. It’s been 10 years since the mysterious disappearance of her parents. Widely suspected of murdering her mother and father, Clara fled west to start a new life. Now, a documentary film crew is offering cold, hard cash - enough to pay for James’s treatment - in exchange for the sordid secrets of her past. With no other choice but to delve into a long-ago tragedy, Clara must unravel the lies surrounding that terrible night. Facing hostile gossip, Clara is fighting to clear her name and learn the truth about what really happened. But how far will she go into the dark to save her son and herself?

©2017 Relay Publishing (P)2018 Relay Publishing

Suspenseful thriller

I chose to read this book after receiving a free copy. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

Clara McNair has returned to her hometown to star in a documentary about the disappearance of her parents 10 years ago. It’s the last thing she wants to do but she needs money for medical treatment for her son James, and they’ll pay her enough to cover those expenses.

Clara knows that most people in Hickory Hills believe she murdered her parents but she was just a wild teenager who actually loved them dearly. Unfortunately, when she returns she learns that her father wasn’t the pillar of the community that she thought. Someone else in town must think that she knows more about her father than she does because she’s receiving threats, someone is following her, and her safety is in peril.

She decides to take matters into her own hands and find out what she can about the past. There were a couple surprises and a couple twists but the murderer wasn’t much of a surprise. I didn’t feel that Clara was portrayed realistically because a mom, especially one who would do anything to save her son, wouldn’t leave her son with someone he didn’t know. Even though Amanda was Clara’s best friend 10 years ago, 10 years is a long time. James is known to have seizures and she left him with her overnight!

The narrator did a good job. Her pace was good and I was able to follow easily and always knew who was speaking.

I enjoyed reading (listening to) A Mother’s Lie and look forward to reading more by this author.

Keep Your Friends Close, but Enemies Closer

I really enjoyed listening to this book and was totally surprised by the ending! My heart went out to Clara, who is trying to do the right thing for herself and her son, James, but never seems to catch a break......who needs a break when you have friends like she has :-)

Narrator did a fantastic job!!!

I was given a free review copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Melodrama...on steroids

This was an intriguing story line and should have been a good listen. As it was, it felt like a very bad Lifetime movie.

I should have known this was going to be questionable listen when the main character decided that acting in a documentary would give her enough money to handle an exorbitant hospital bill for a rare illness her kid had. Documentary's are not known for their high salaries. Then when a friend that had not been spoken to for 20 years was given the caregiving of said son within minutes of filming the documentary, well, cue the uh-oh's.

This was a very long listen for such a contrived story. I stayed with it because of the narration (that was good) but I was tempted to stop listening, many, many, many times.

A good mystery.

A well designed mystery with believable characters and a good performance from the Narrator.

This will entertain most listeners who are looking for a good diversion on a long Plane ride
or trip.



This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

A Mother's Lie

A very likable suspense story with lovable characters. A really good page turner that will keep you guessing.

Very good character development. I really liked Clara and her adorable son James. both were done very well :-) I did really feel for Clara - being suspected of her parent's murder and all she wanted was to find out the truth.

Definitely kept me reading, had to find out what happened! And, unexpected ending - Good job!

AUDIO -
I really enjoyed listening to this from audible. Sometimes I like the audio version and sometimes I wish I had read the book. but this one was very well done. I was satisfied after listening.

I voluntarily posted this review after receiving a copy of this book from Partners in Crime Tours ~ Thank You!