Bad Mother by Mia Sheridan

Narrated by Vanessa Johansson and Sebastian York

Standalone thriller with a side of romance.

It’s been a while since I read a Mia Sheridan book, and I am looking to read more thrillers or mysteries this year so I was excited about Bad Mother by Mia Sheridan. It’s a serial killer thriller with a side of second-chance romance.

Sienna is originally from Reno, but has been a NYC cop for the last 10 years. Due to some heat in NY, she took a temporary job with the Reno PD. After being left at the altar, she never expected to be back in Reno, but as soon as she got there, dead bodies started turning up.

“Think of life as one big game board. If you control the pieces, if you’re a master of every move, you’re a kind of god. If you decide to play, always, always play to win.”

The killer left some very interesting and elaborate clues, as it was kind of a game for him. For me, as interesting as the clues were, they were a bit over-the-top and I don’t think anyone in the world would have really pieced them together the way they did.

“The killer. The caretaker. The monster. The victim. A mixture of them all.”

As the clues get personal, Sienna has to bring her ex in to help with the investigation. Even though it’s been years, the connection is still there, as strong as ever.

“He’d learned to live without her, but deep inside, he’d never felt whole.”

As the story progressed, Sienna and Gavin work to solve the mystery and catch the killer…or does the killer catch them?

Likes:

Kept me listening well into the night.
I didn’t really guess the outcome.
It was more of a mystery with clues to solve/police procedural than a thriller.
The escape room elements.
The ending scenes had me on the edge of my seat!
Very twisted story.
It made me cry.
Loved the epilogue.

Dislikes:

Some of the clues were so obscure that I don’t believe anyone outside of a book would have ever solved those clues.
The second-chance aspect didn’t really work for me. I would have rather they met during the case or they really worked out why he left in the first place better (read: GROVEL).
The ending felt like it just ran out of steam.

The Narration:

Vanessa Johnson was new to me and was just OK for me. As always, I loved Sebastian York, but I almost felt like his sexy voice was wasted here. There were a few lines repeated during the narration. I think this may have been better if I read rather than listened.

The Down & Dirty:

I love that Bad Mother by Mia Sheridan was mostly a thriller/mystery, but there was still a good bit of romance on the side. The story kept me engaged and on the edge of my seat, but it hasn’t really stuck with me. The mystery had lots of unexpected twists and turns, and some parts are not for the faint of heart. There were a lot of clues left by the killer that were so obscure, it seemed a little ridiculous that they were able to find these little tiny clues; for me, that was what held me back from completely loving the story. Still, the edge-of-your-seat excitement made up for it.