Mother's Day [Hardcover]

Patricia Macdonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 1994

In a quiet New England town, the Newhalls live an uneventful life with their adopted daughter. When the child's birth mother is murdered, the first suspect is the adoptive father. The author of The Unforgiven and No Way Home delivers a complex, emotionally intense "family-in-peril" thriller.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thirteen-year-old Jenny Newhall is a normal adolescent: bright, big-hearted and snappish to her adoptive mother. Jenny's birth mother, teenager Linda Emery, hid her pregnancy and disappeared from her home in Massachusetts, leaving grieving relatives to assume she had been killed. Now, when Linda shows up unannounced on the Newhall's doorstep on Mother's Day, skeletons clatter from closets all over town, and soon Linda's bloodied body turns up in a dumpster. Suspicion points to Jenny's adoptive father, Greg, who evades arrest and goes underground, trying to unravel clues that could make his family whole again. The police investigation headed by laconic loner Walter Ference exposes infidelity, sexual extortion and the key to an earlier murder. MacDonald, an Edgar award nominee for The Unforgiven , digs with relish into the town's secrets and its stockpile of hot emotions--betrayal, rejection, anger, jealousy and unrequited lust--pushing the buttons that titillate readers but failing to cohere into a focused narrative. The suspense she generates is disappointingly stop-and-go, loosening its hold too quickly after each revelation and falling away into mundane details.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Karen Newhall's Mother's Day is upset when her adopted daughter Jenny's birth mother appears on her doorstep. But her whole life is capsized two days later when the woman is found murdered and Karen's husband, Greg, is the prime suspect--because, he admits, he had an extramarital affair with the victim 14 years earlier and Jenny is actually his real daughter. The news of the affair devastates Karen, and when Greg escapes from police custody, she begins to wonder if he also lied about the murder. MacDonald supplies plenty of suspects in her large cast of characters and then provides a satisfying, albeit predictable, ending. She has written several mass-market best sellers, including No Way Home (Dell, 1990), and this new entry will be welcomed by her fans. Recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/93.
- Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, Ind.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (March 7, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446516856
• ISBN-13: 978-0446516853
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,657,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heart-Pounding Suspense, May 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mother's Day (Hardcover)

Mother's Day hooked me right away with its vivid character descriptions and the sense of doom that hung over them. First off, there's the body of the girl found in the river. Then, as soon as Jenny Newhall (adopted daughter of main characters Greg and Karen Newhall) didn't show up for the Mother's Day brunch, the reader knows right away that something is amiss. Then when Jenny's real mother Linda appears, the reader is drawn even further into the lives of the characters. Everyone is shocked and confused. But someone knows why Linda is back. Someone knows her connections from long ago, and now the danger REALLY begins for everyone!

MacDonald's description of the characters, specifically their emotions, helps to draw the reader in: Karen's love for Jenny, Jenny's happiness at meeting her birth mother....and eventually Karen and Jenny's total fear, anger, and terror at the secrets they learn. The hatred of the killer and the final scenes of the book are very intense, and will make your heart pound! The ending was shocking, a total surprise.

An excellent book for those who love suspense and mystery!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Keeps you on the edge of your seat, December 16, 2008

By 

Patricia Ann "bookmark" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother's Day (Hardcover)

It is Mother's Day and Jenny, the adopted daughter of Greg & Karen Newhall fails to appear at the planned luncheon. Later that afternoon, the "real" mother, Linda, suddenly appears on their doorstep wanting to meet Jenny, and have a relationship with her daughter. Jenny wants to get to know her "real" mother. Linda left town 13 years ago and never had any contact with anyone in the town, including her own family. Several days later, Linda's body is found, the victim of a brutal murder. Since Linda and Greg have a "past" Greg is the number one suspect in the murder. Could Greg be the "natural" father? Lots of secrets and twists and turns in this story. The surprise ending really caught me off guard. If you like MacDonald, you will like this book. She keeps you turning the pages.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, May 8, 2008

By 

Virginia Hayward - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mother's Day (Hardcover)

I enjoyed this book very much. Patricia Mac Donald is one of my favorite authors. Anyone will held in suspense with this story