The perfect mother by Caroline Mitchell

Roz never intended to get pregnant, and it has left her with very few choices.  She's too Catholic to get rid of the baby, and she can't have a relationship with the babies father, so her only choice is to offer the baby up for adoption.  Wanting to give her baby the best chance of a good life, Roz signs up with an adoption agency, and she soon finds herself connected with a couple that seem perfect for her and her baby.  They are wlling to pay for her to come and live with them in New York through her pregnancy, and they will give her money that will set her up with a new life.  It's an offer that is too good to be true, the only catch is that Roz will need to agree to serecy because they want to pass the baby off as their own. 

Jetting off to New York is the start of an adventure for Roz, because although she has talked to the wife on the phone, she doesn't know exactly who they are.  The couple will only reveal who they are once Roz has signed a non disclosure agreement, and with very few choices left Roz signs the agreement and is introduced to the couple - Hollywood power couple Sheridan Sinclair and Daniel Watson.  It's overwhelming for anyone, especially a naïve Irish girl like Roz, and she is too in awe of the couple to question some of the odd things that seem to be happening.  Sheridan is by turns warm and friendly and old and controlling. Roz tries to get on with her, but Sheridan seems determined to control every aspect of her life.  When Roz starts finding articles about Sheridan and Daniel in unexpected places she can't help but feel a little paranoid, but as time marches on and she feels more and more like a prisoner she comes to realise that she has no idea who she is dealing with - and that she is completely at Sheridan's mercy.

The perfect mother is a tense psychological thriller that starts with a bang sometime near the present, and then goes back in time to bring you up to the present day through chapters that show you what is happening from the point of view of Roz and Sheridan.  The characters are well developed, and while the three main characters of Roz, Sheridan, and Daniel are the ones that have the most development and presence, thought has gone into the other characters in the book and they are developed enough to find their own places in the story without overwhelming the main characters.  The setting is interesting and lends itself to all sorts of possibilities, and it is all too easy for your mind to run away with the possibilities.

It is tempting to jump to conclusions through the novel, and there are little seeds and hints that make you want to guess what is coming - but in the end things did not go where I was expecting them too (somewhat unusual when you read heaps of crime and thrillers).  This was an excellent read, and I will be looking for more books from Caroline Mitchell to see if her other books are as good as The perfect mother.

If you like this book then try:

• The better sister by Alafair Burke
• Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
• The survivors club by Lisa Gardner
• Behind closed doors by B.A. Paris
• Spare me the truth by C.J. Carver
• Mercy killings by Lisa Cutts
• Cut short by Leigh Russell
• Good me bad me by Ali Land
• The slaughter man by Tony Parsons
• The girl in the ice by Robert Bryndza
• Crimson Lake by Candice Fox
• The edge of normal by Carla Norton
• Swimming in the dark by Paddy Richardson

Reviewed by Brilla