I love moms! Okay, don’t we all. They often represent the best part of humanity—they are caring, loving, self-less and fierce. Fierce enough to protect their children when required. Fierce enough to work in jobs where they are first on the scene of a crime. Often first to solve those crimes.
My debut novel, Derailed, features such a mom. P.I. Kelly Pruett shares custody of her eight-year-old deaf daughter with her ex and has recently lost her own dad. She’s running her dad’s agency she’s inherited when the opportunity to take on her first murder investigation shows up at her office door. Of course, Kelly’s ex and his mother aren’t too keen on that idea wanting her to play it safe and tend more to being a mom. But Kelly is determined to honor her father’s last wish and forge her own path. As a mother, it’s always a balance of family and professional life.
Which got me thinking, what other fictional moms are facing these kinds of pushbacks and obstacles to get their jobs done, to right a wrong, or solve a crime. Whether they are formally trained, jumping in for justice, or protecting their clan, here’s a few to read!
Heather Chavez, No Bad Deed
Heather Chavez is a new voice in crime fiction and I loved her debut featuring veterinarian and mom of two, Cassie Larkin, who stops to help a stranger being brutally attacked. The book opens with: “If my kids had been with me, it would never have happened.” The attacker warns her to let the woman die, and he’ll let Cassie live, before he flees in her car, which has in it all her personal information. The next night, Cassie’s husband disappears while trick-or-treating with their young daughter. Since becoming a mom, Cassie has relied on her intellect to solve problems, but as her life unravels, her darker side starts to re-emerge, especially when her children are threatened.
A Lady’s Guide to Gossip and Murder by Dianne Freeman
This is book two of the Countess of Harleigh Mystery Series. Frances Wynn is a widow and a mother to head-strong seven-year-old Rose. Frances expects to spend a few quiet months in London with her almost-engaged sister. Instead, she’s immersed in a shocking mystery when a friend is found murdered. You would think a mom who has a nanny would be free to chase criminals whenever she likes, but when a child is determined to do something that puts her at risk, criminals must take a back seat, at least temporarily. Let’s just say, Frances has her hands full from every angle.
Frances is delightful, smart, witty, and resourceful. If you haven’t yet discovered this historical mystery series, you’re missing out. Dianne’s third book, A Lady’s Guide to Mischief and Murder, will be out in July and I’m counting the days.
Until I Find You by Rea Fry
I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of this book which will be out in August. It is a must read and features a very strong single mom Rebecca Gray, who has gone blind because of a degenerative condition. She awakes after fainting in the park, she makes a promise to start taking better care of herself. When her infant son begins to cry, she pick him up, but he’s not her son.
Bec will stop at nothing to find him. But she’s a blind woman in a world where seeing is believe. The police think she’s confused. Her friends don’t see the difference. But Bec must push the limits of her world to uncover what happened to her baby boy and bring him home for good.
The 7th Month by Lisa Gardner
This was Lisa Gardner’s first short story and the novella takes us into the day in the life of Boston Detective D.D. Warren during her seventh month of pregnancy. The long running series is excellent, but this is a turning point for Detective Warren as becoming a mother often is. In the hopes of staying in the loop, she accepts a small consulting role on the set of a serial killer film. A simple task until a member of the crew, a former Boston cop, is found dead. As another cast member is attacked, D.D. realizes that like it or not, her priorities have changed—and her last desperate hope is that she can catch a killer before she and her unborn baby face mortal danger.
Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
Another great read for your list and a newer mystery voice. Everyone says Lauren Tranter is exhausted, that she needs rest. And they’re right; with newborn twins, Morgan and Riley, she’s never been more tired in her life. But she knows what she saw: that night, in her hospital room, a woman tried to take her babies and replace them with her own…creatures, even though no one believes her. A month passes. One bright summer morning, the babies disappear from Lauren’s side in a park. When they’re found, something is different about them. As everyone around her celebrates their return, Lauren begins to realize they are not her children. Determined to bring her true infant sons home, Lauren risks the unthinkable. But if she’s wrong about what she saw…she’ll be making the biggest mistake of her life.
Sheriff Joanna Brady Series by J.A. Jance
Talk about a strong female protagonist. There are 21 books in this series and it doesn’t start out with Joanna Brady being the sheriff. Her husband was set to become the sheriff of Cochise County, until he tried to kill himself, or so they said…. But Joanna, who at the time is a devoted wife and a mother to their 9 year old daughter, knows a cover up when she hears one and a murder when she sees it. Her determined efforts to clear her husband’s name place her and the family in danger. She overcomes and goes on to eventually become Sheriff of Cochise County herself in the series. Above is J.A. Jance’s most recent Joanna Brady book, but if you want a consistently good read with great plots, this series is it.
Little Voices by Vanessa Lillie
This book was such an engrossing read and Vanessa is one talented writer. Devon Burges is in the throes of a high-risk birth when she learns of her dear friend’s murder. The police quickly name another friend as the chief suspect, but Devon doesn’t buy it—and despite her difficult recovery, she decides to investigate. Haunted by postpartum problems that manifest as a cruel voice in her head, Devon is barely getting by. Yet her instincts are still sharp, and she’s bent on proving her friend’s innocence. But as Devon digs into the evidence, the voice in her head grows more insistent, the danger more intense. Each layer is darker, more disturbing, and she’s not sure she—or her baby—can survive what lies at the truth.
Hush Hush by Laura Lippman
I’m a huge fan of Laura Lippman and her strong and fierce Tess Monaghan character. I’ve loved seeing Tess progress and change over the years and by Hush Hush, Tess is a mom and raising a toddler. Another mother Melisandre Harris Dawes, was found not guilty of a crime by reason of insanity. She fled the country, leaving her two daughters with their father. Twelve years later, she’s back in Baltimore, and Tess is asked to provide security detail while Melisandre films a documentary. Tess, juggling work with caring for her demanding toddler, is uneasy about the case. But something draws her in when someone is leaving Melisandre enigmatic, threatening notes. Soon Tess, insecure about her parenting abilities and receiving cryptic messages of her own, isn’t sure whether she should be protecting Melisandre from harm—or protecting everyone else from Melisandre.
The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald
This novel gripped me from the beginning. In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists. When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Told in two POVs of both the daughter who fell and the mother who wants to find the truth. Page turning and heart breaking and a must read.
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
In a Philadelphia neighborhood rocked by the opioid crisis, two once-inseparable sisters find themselves at odds. One, Kacey, lives on the streets in the vise of addiction. The other, Mickey, single mom to a 4-year old daughter, walks those same blocks on her police beat. The challenge to balance her role as mom and police officer is evident. But at the same time Kacey disappears, a mysterious string of murders begins in Mickey’s district, and Mickey becomes dangerously obsessed with finding the culprit—and her sister—before it’s too late. Such a great book that gets your heart-pounding in one moment, and heart-wrenching in the next.
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
It’s 1986, the heart of the Cold War, and Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She’s brilliant, but she’s also a young black woman working in an old boys’ club. Her career has stalled out, she’s overlooked for every high-profile squad, and her days are filled with monotonous paperwork. So when she’s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara, the charismatic revolutionary president of Burkina Faso, she agrees. Doing so will change everything she believes about what it means to be a spy, a lover, a sister, and a good American. The story interweaves past and present, as she’s recounting the times that her clandestine life and personal life intersected, once in a deadly way with her children in the next room. It’s riveting and even more so because it’s based on actual events!
The Works of Mary Higgins Clark
Lastly, I want to recognize Mary Higgins Clark. Besides the fact that some of her stories feature strong mothers in perilous situations in which they overcome, after being widowed, Mrs. Clark sat down to write novels at the encouragement of her agent. The suspense world was the benefactor when she turned her focus to suspense. To be raising children on her own and writing mysteries makes her quite fierce in my book. She was one of my idols, and I already miss her. Thank you Mary Higgins Clark for instilling in this mother the desire to write mystery. And Cheers to Moms everywhere.
