By: Helen Cooper
Narrator: Imogen Church
Penguin Audio
ISBN: 978-0593719930
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication Date: 12/03/2024
Format: Other
My Rating: 4 Stars (ARC)
A deliciously vengeful and sinister suspense novel, about two women whose friendship cracks after one of their sons murders the other’s from the author of The Downstairs Neighbor and The Couple in the Photo.
In a close-knit English village, Chrissy and Alice were once best friends. So were their sons Leo and Robbie. Until the night Leo killed Robbie with a single, devastating punch. Leo went to prison, Chrissy lost her pub, and Alice poured her anger into a twisted project: leading a village committee to take over Chrissy’s "cursed" bar.
When Leo is given early parole, the villagers are incensed and fearful about the prospect of his return. But as Chrissy arrives to collect Leo from prison, he isn’t there. The prison staff tell her he has already been released, but nobody knows where he’s gone.
As the village closes ranks, Chrissy realizes her former friends are suspects in her son’s disappearance, not least still-bitter Alice. Is this about Leo and what happened that terrible night? Or does it go further back, into a dark past none of them wants to revisit?
My Review
From the author of The Couple in the Photo, Author Helen Cooper returns with her fourth novel, MY DARLING BOY—a gripping domestic suspense of Two Mothers. Best Friends. Two Sons. And ONE devastating murder.
How far will they go to protect themselves and their family?
About...
It is New Year's Eve 2021. Two mothers (Alice and Chrissy) are in the cellar of a pub when the unspeakable happens. Only eight minutes into the new year, two friends are arguing.
Then, a bigger crash upstairs. An eruption of shouts. Dead silence. Someone is calling for them to come. Talk of an argument, an ambulance. Spatters of red.
Two women come to a halt. One son is on the floor. The other stands over him. Someone is sobbing. Is he breathing? The mothers scream. My darling boy. What has he done? Their anguish is palpable, their hearts breaking with each breath.
Then, two mothers are not speaking, blocked numbers, notes from the other and the pub committee, and one son is in jail, pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Fast-forward to December 2023. One mom goes to the prison to pick up her son, who is out for early parole. However, when she arrives, he has disappeared.
Where did he go, and who picked him up? The mystery deepens, the plot thickens, and the reader is left on the edge of their seat, craving more.
My thoughts...
MY DARLING BOY is a twisty, emotionally charged psychological thriller of domestic suspense. The author skillfully weaves a web of intrigue, leaving the reader captivated by the ongoing mystery of why one son would murder his friend and where he went after prison.
The author masterfully uses misdirection and allows the POV of both Chrissy and Alice, as well as the aftermath and the complications within the pub, the village, and the families.
From dark, hidden family secrets across two generations, including a betrayal and a shocking revelation, MY DARLING BOY asks how far you would go to protect those you love.
Multi-layered and twisty, from friendship, family, deception, loss, revenge, dark hidden secrets, betrayal, and forgiveness.
Recs...
MY DARLING BOY is for fans of the author and those who enjoy complex family dramas and works by Louise Jensen, Shari Lapena, Victoria Helen Stone, Darby Kane, Daniel Hurst, Sarah Bonner, and K.L. Slater.
Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Dec 3, 2024
My Rating: 4 Stars
Praise
"Cooper offers a sinister story set in a close-knit English village, involving broken friendships and murder.” —Library Journal
"For bookworms who loved The Perfect Couple’s mystery aspect and web of complicated relationships, add My Darling Boy to your TBR list. The domestic thriller follows a pair of ex-best friends after one of their sons is found dead and the other vanishes. It’s recommended for fans of ‘stories driven by family drama, unpredictable twists, and complex female protagonists.’ Sound familiar?"
—Best Life
"Another great psychological thriller, with lots of twists and turns, as only she can write."
—Red Carpet Crash
"[My Darling Boy] is told from disparate viewpoints, offering tantalizing misdirection. Readers who like the slow burn of a mystery will enjoy this atmospheric thriller. Recommend to fans of Tana French or Kate Morton."
—Library Journal
"Mothers and sons are mired in a quicksand of deception in this tale of psychological suspense. . . . The title of Cooper's fourth novel appears to give a nod to happy families ensconced in idyllic relationships, but it quickly becomes apparent that it's just another of the book's intriguing misdirections. Cooper builds the scaffolding of this secret-packed novel on a harrowing event in which either 'a push or a punch' during a scuffle in a pub leaves a young man dead and another sent to prison. . . . Into this already compelling storyline, Cooper drops other plot-driving grenades. . . . In a vertigo-inducing denouement of Hitchcockian proportions, 'a push or a punch' seems to come full circle. Cooper, with her keen understanding of family dynamics, pushes her characters and her readers to wonder how far they would go to protect themselves and their children. This pitch-perfect story about families and secrets starts with a punch and ends with a bang."
—Kirkus Reviews
"Many secrets and lies unfold in this emotionally charged tale. . . . Cooper weaves an extremely tangled web, but all is resolved in a perilous confrontation atop a viaduct. Her fans will enjoy this."
—Booklist
"I was gripped by this beautifully, written, intricately plotted, tangle of secrets and lies. Bravo, Helen Cooper."
—Louise Jensen, author of The Sister
"Another masterfully constructed novel from the queen of psychological thrillers, Helen Cooper. My Darling Boy takes a cast of gloriously complex characters and throws them into a nightmare scenario to create a story that will keep you turning the pages until the very end.”
—Sarah Bonner, author of Her Perfect Twin
"Helen Cooper is a masterful plotter. In My Darling Boy, she crafts an intricate thriller that explores grief, blame and outsidership in a small village community. Taut, twisty and utterly compulsive, it takes secrets, lies and age-old betrayals and spins a gripping mystery."
—Kia Abdullah, author of Perfectly Nice Neighbors
About the Author
Photo credit: Photography by Gem
Helen Cooper is a writer of psychological thrillers living in Leicester, UK.
She has taught English and Academic Writing in both Further and Higher Education and was Head of Learning Enhancement at the University of Birmingham. She has an MA in Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University and has been published in Woman, Writers’ Forum, Mslexia, the Lincolnshire Echo, Derbyshire Life, and on the Crime Readers' Association website. She was shortlisted for the Bath Short Story Prize in 2014 and came third in the Leicester Writes Short Story Prize in 2018.
Her novels include The Downstairs Neighbour, published in 2021, The Other Guest (2022), and The Couple In The Photo (2023).
Helen has also co-authored two books on academic writing for university students - Where's Your Argument? and Using Feedback to Boost Your Grades - published by Bloomsbury Academic.
She is currently vice president of Leicester Writers' Club. She lives in Leicester with her fiance and cat, and loves reading, walking, pasta, and wine.
Her agent is Hellie Ogden, WME books. WEBSITE
