The Better Mother

 

Author: Emily Shiner

Publisher: Inkubator Books

Publishing Date: 22nd Octover 2023

Many thanks to the publishing team and ZooLoos BT for my digital copy and a spot on the tour. 

Blurb 

Zoe just wanted to help. Now she may have a killer in her home.

Zoe is happily married to Ethan until the day a 13-year-old boy shows up on their doorstep. He says his name is Micah and that Ethan is his father. Distressed because his mother is missing, Micah has come to them for help.

Ethan is wary – he didn’t know anything about Micah - but kind-hearted Zoe feels she can’t possibly turn her back on the boy. She welcomes him into their home and does her best to make him part of the family.

But there’s something off about Micah.

He lies constantly, creeps silently around the house and towers over Zoe, observing her every move. And his growing bond with Anna, Zoe’s young daughter, feels all wrong.

So when his mother's body is found and the police start looking for the murderer, Zoe realizes something terrible…

He might already be in her home.

My Thoughts

Another fantastic book from the author. 

One evening and the knock on the door changed the lives of Zoe, Micha, Anna and Ethan forever.

Zoe, Ethan and Anna live a blissful happy life with everything and more of what the could want. With Ethans life in stark contrast, living with a drug addict for a mother who would leave him for days alone to fend for himself. Later on we find out that Michas mother has died. 

The story is from the POV of Zoe and Micha which I really liked. We really get to delve into both lives and find out more about the characters from each side and their motives.

Zoe was more keen to take in Micha than Ethan was. Was Ethan right in being more hesitant and these questions start to arise for Zoe when unsettling things start to happen. However her maternal instincts kick in and she cannot see a child without a parent or a stable home. 

As the plot gets deeper we learn who has murdered Micha's mother and thats the twist in the book. But there appears much more to Micha even up until the last page that is chilling. 

Overall a really good psychological thriller.