Six thrillers where mothers fight for their children...and fan-girling at Supernova
Plus: What makes a good series ending? After 8 seasons will Outlander pay off?
Hello my reader friends!
In this week’s issue:
I travel through the stones to meet the Outlander cast (and some of the nicest people at Perth Supanova)
It gets me thinking about series endings…the ones I’ve loved and the ones that had me shouting at the TV…
A shout out to a special bookstore owner…
And 6 thriller reads where mothers fight for their children.
Last week, I was meant to be having a very quiet weekend, but it turned into a very busy one, as you may have seen on my socials. I had no idea that some of the Outlander stars were visiting Supernova in Perth until the last minute, when my daughter’s friend happened to mentioned it.
However, thanks to my very lovely hubby (who was encouraging me despite the *gulp* ticket price), I ended up spending the weekend at the Perth Exhibition and Convention Centre, checking out all kinds of cool stuff and events, as well as meeting Jamie Fraser himself, Mr Sam Heughan!
YOLO, right? (As one of my friends texted me back when I told her - whereupon I had to google YOLO to find out that it’s ‘you only live once’!) My husband also capped off his awesomeness by standing for 90 minutes in line to get superstar author Lynette Noni’s signature for our teen, who was ill and so couldn’t come with us.
It was such a pleasure seeing everyone celebrating everything that stories and characters meant to them, and having so much fun with one another. I’ve not been in such a friendly crowd of people for a long time, and it seemed that everyone I sat down next to was up for a chat.
The cast of Outlander were promoting the new spin-off series called Blood of My Blood (coming soon to Stan), as well as talking about the final season of Outlander (already filmed, and coming next year).
Evangeline Lily of Lost fame was also at the event, which got me thinking about good series endings. I get really invested in certain TV series, and I’m always keen to see whether they can pull off a satisfying ending. For me, the Lost ending was really disappointing and put me off investing in long series for a while.
And I’m also a bit gutted about the fizzler last episode of The Handmaid’s Tale (particularly after the epic penultimate episode). If you watched it, did you agree? I know some people loved it.
And so now I’m nervous for Outlander, as, for me, the later seasons haven’t been as strong as the first, lacking all the strong central narratives. Let’s hope they can pull off a Gavin & Stacey style finale, as that one felt just about perfect.
I’d love to hear which TV series you love and which series endings you’ve loved or hated. Let me know in the comments!
LOCKING DOWN AFTER MY ONLY JULY EVENT
I had such a great event on Tuesday evening with Stefen from Stefen’s Bookshop in Perth and a group of keen bookclubbers (about half of the audience were men, an unusual ratio for my events!).
Stefen is so knowledgeable about genres, crime fic and speculative fiction - and we chatted in depth about both The Hush and When She Was Gone, pulling out all the different themes and making me excited to get back to writing.
Alas, I’m now back to my self-imposed lockdown as I have to finish a draft of my next novel (one that’s good enough to share) in the next 5-6 weeks. It’s well on the way, but there’s still a lot to do to pull it together.
If you’ve heard me talk about it, you’ll know I’m playing around with lots of Agatha Christie themes, and the challenge feels immense, but it’s good to keep pushing myself, and exciting watching it take shape.
Meanwhile, I’d love to share this list of reads I put together for CrimeReads, of book where mothers fight for their children. They’re all such brilliant, unputdownable stories, so if you haven’t found them yet then you’re in for a treat:
THRILLERS WHERE MOTHERS FIGHT FOR THEIR CHILDREN
Stories about mothers and daughters are everywhere, but the endless nuances of this intense relationship are fertile ground for thriller writers.
Many of my novels address different dynamics of this relationship, but in my new thriller When She Was Gone I look at the tricky role of the estranged mother.
My protagonist Rose has been denied access to her child by the cruel actions of her ex-partner, however, she has taken up the cause for other women in similar scenarios and has worked as a police officer, a hostage negotiator and with domestic violence victims.
So when Rose finds out that her grown-up daughter Louisa has vanished from a remote Australian beach with the two young children in her care, she knows it’s her moment to step up and push her way into the investigation, in the hopes of discovering what’s happened and recovering the missing trio.
Researching this story made me think of other outstanding thrillers where different kinds of mothers have needed to fight for their daughters in order to keep them safe or to discover what has happened to them.
If stories have messages, perhaps the theme of these is never underestimate a mother!
If you liked When She Was Gone, you’ll love:
What Happened to Nina by Dervla McTiernan
In this ripper of a story, Nina’s hard-working mother Leanne is left desperate to discover what happened to her daughter when Nina suddenly goes missing after a weekend away with her boyfriend Simon. The problem is that Simon’s mother Jamie is just as determined to protect him, no matter what he did, and decides to employ a reputation management team to direct the attention back onto Nina’s parents. McTiernan cleverly plays with plot and reveals in this nail-biting story, which leaves Leanne struggling to keep her life together as she fights for answers, while trying to protect her younger daughter from the fallout too.
The Push by Ashley Audrain
In this brilliantly executed, chilling thriller, a struggling mother becomes increasingly convinced that her young daughter is displaying sociopathic behaviour. But is it all in Blythe’s head? Her husband Fox seems to think so, ensuring Blythe begins to question her own judgement – and her abilities as a mother – more and more. As her life enters freefall, things take an even darker turn when Violet’s behaviour worsens – and Audrain delivers both chills and heartrending scenes with an equally unforgettable punch.
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
When Hannah Michael’s husband Owen suddenly disappears without warning, he leaves behind a cryptic message asking Hannah to protect her teenage stepdaughter Bailey. Although Bailey is initially wary and hostile to Hannah, it soon becomes clear that Owen isn’t who they’d thought he was, and the two women work together to uncover the reasons why the man they love has disappeared.
The Crash by Freida McFadden
Pregnancy is often used in thrillers to up the stakes around a character’s physical and mental vulnerability, but also because the fierce, primal urge a mother has to protect her child means she’ll fight back against every kind of danger. In The Crash, McFadden’s character Tegan is 8 months pregnant when she ends up having a car accident in a blizzard, which leaves her with a broken ankle. She’s rescued by a mysterious couple who take her to their cabin, and things only get worse from there.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
Right outside her front window, Jen witnesses her son Todd murder a total stranger on Halloween, but when she wakes the next day she has gone back in time and the murder has yet to happen. As she continues to wake up at different points in their past, she realizes that somewhere in these revisitings lies the trigger for Todd’s crime – and it becomes her mission to find it and stop these this terrible event from happening. I love this premise, and McAllister delivers a clever and unique read.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
A young girl goes missing after a house fire, and the story travels back in time to flesh out the details of what happened. There are three centralized mother characters here, and more in the background, all fighting for their daughters in different ways – with their various states of prosperity playing a huge part in the choices available to them. This book is a beautifully fleshed out social commentary on status and wealth as well as an exceptional mystery.
No doubt there’s something here to whet your reading appetite - and if you’ve read other books that would go well on this list, I’d love to hear about them.
Haven’t read When She Was Gone yet? Can I recommend the audio version? The narration by Sophie Loughran is incredible!
Until next time, happy reading!
ICYMI last time on Story Matters:
How to support the authors you love: a reader's guide
At one of my recent events, the audience members seemed genuinely concerned about how best to support me (SO lovely!). Their questions made me aware that readers are not always sure if they are doing the right thing by authors, whether they’re purchasing from a bookshop or borrowing from a library, so I thought I’d put together a guide to give you more …
How cool meeting Jamie from Outlander!
Another book about mothers I would recommend is Three Mothers by Hannah Beckerman. Very much in the vein of the Netflix recent series Adolescence