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Aug 22, 2013JCLRachelSH rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
This British thriller started as my hero, full of tough-as-nails feminist promise. An overstressed mother in the English Lake District loses her best friend’s 13 year old daughter during a string of local disappearances, and thus we head down the dark and twisty path of modern parenthood. Just What Kind of Mother Are You? has all the right ingredients: cheating spouses, plotting frenemies, sinister fathers, secrets roiling just beneath the surface of everyday domestic life. There’s even a subplot about dog rescue. But as I tore through, I started to feel disappointed and was reminded of praise Gillian Flynn recently showered on Alafiar Burke: ”you know you’re in good hands with her, and can relax without wondering if things are going to fall apart midway through.” That thriller pixie magic didn't quite happen for me here; this is Daly’s first novel, and I think she’s still feeling her way through, sharpening her craft and learning all the tricks. Her language and insights are both sharp, and I’m looking forward to how effortlessly she’ll certainly handle the twists in her second and third books.