I chose this because it's being billed as perfect for fans of Motherland which is currently one of my fav TV shows. And it is - just like the show it's an honest and amusing depiction of life as a modern-day mother. For example, one mum says she's glad her son doesn't want to be in the school play because "he's got zero stage presence....He's the only one of my boys I ever left at the supermarket." Or the headteacher who seeking a confession from the children says "I have all day", meaning "forty minutes before the final bell went and she was legally required to send them home."
I particularly liked Christine though whose cat has been stolen but children are told "He was a kitten but now he's a cat and he's decided to move out". She later gets her kids to mark down Mrs Rodger's movements in a notebook before forcing one of them to help her break into said neighbour's house to get the cat back. This I might add is elderly but wily Mrs Rodgers who always remembers "to hunch herself forward - fragility her greatest weapon." I guess humorous parenting is not enough on its own and you still need a storyline but the murder mystery element seemed an odd and unexpected choice, especially the triggering way it panned out. But, just a minor down point in an otherwise brilliantly funny, entertaining and relatable book - and one I'd totally recommend (especially for fans of Motherland).
I particularly liked Christine though whose cat has been stolen but children are told "He was a kitten but now he's a cat and he's decided to move out". She later gets her kids to mark down Mrs Rodger's movements in a notebook before forcing one of them to help her break into said neighbour's house to get the cat back. This I might add is elderly but wily Mrs Rodgers who always remembers "to hunch herself forward - fragility her greatest weapon." I guess humorous parenting is not enough on its own and you still need a storyline but the murder mystery element seemed an odd and unexpected choice, especially the triggering way it panned out. But, just a minor down point in an otherwise brilliantly funny, entertaining and relatable book - and one I'd totally recommend (especially for fans of Motherland).