Careful, loving your children can leave you very vulnerable. A review of two thrillers, one American, one British.

What motivates humans to kill or to commit crimes? Greed, passion, hatred … Crime drama is therefore essentially about relationships and often about love. Loving someone, be it a partner, a child or a friend, it leaves us vulnerable. And crime seeks out victims who are vulnerable. Today I would like to bring two books to your attention which involve the love a mother has for her children. What is a mother’s worst nightmare? That her children are taken away, kidnapped or killed.

The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy

Interesting premise: a few young mothers join together to form the May Mothers, a sort of friendship / support group, with the idea of meeting up with their babies. When they decide to go out for drinks one night, the baby of a single mother is kidnapped. Mayhem ensues, as the police bungle the case and the media lays bare the private lives of, first the mother, then all the mothers. Secrets, best hidden, are exposed, reputations and families destroyed.  When all seems lost, three of the mothers decide to investigate in the hope of returning baby Midas to his mother Winnie. From a technical point of view, the author has decided to let the mothers speak in first person, chapter by chapter, but without identifying which mother is speaking in a particular chapter. This adds to the mystery but makes it a bit challenging at times to keep each voice distinct.

Set in Brooklyn, USA (where the author Aimee Molloy lives), film rights for The Perfect Mother have been optioned by Sony/Tri Star. Kerry Washington has been mentioned as producing it and taking a leading part. It was first published by Sphere in Britain in 2018,  and is now available in paperback. I’ve heard it’s very good as audio book.

Little Darlings by Melanie Golding

This is a deliciously different thriller which has elements of the supernatural or magical realism, if you will. A woman gives birth to twins in a hospital. During the night she sees a woman attempting to take her twins. The nagging fear that someone wants her babies never leaves her and as it turns out, she has a strong case for trusting her instincts. If a person is threatened, the mind can create a personification to embody the evil, to justify the fear. Of course, no one believes her, chalking her feelings up to post-natal depression or exhaustion. Not even her husband, or especially not her rather less than supportive husband.  One police officer, however, shows interest in her story and starts to investigate. To what extent will a mother go to save her children? Inspired by a Welsh Fairy-tale, this unsettling psychological thriller contains a good measure of horror.

Little Darlings is set in the Peak District and is a strong debut thriller by the British author Melanie Golding. Published by HQ in May 2019, it has been optioned for screen by Free Range Films.