Love, Mom by Iliana Xander #bookreview

Thank you Poisoned Pen Press, #partner, for the finished copy of Love, Mom in exchange for my honest review.

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Published: September 2, 2025

 

Summary:

A best-selling author. A mother. A murderer…

Mackenzie Casper is a brilliant student. But she is best known for her mother, a best-selling author whose dark, twisted thrillers have a dedicated worldwide fanbase.

When her mother dies in an accident, fans across the world are left grieving, and the investigators are asking: Was that really an accident?

The day of the memorial service, Mackenzie gets the first mysterious envelope, signed,
From #1 fan. XOXO

Inside are the pages of her mother’s diary that start with the lines:
Want to know a secret?
Love, Mom.

What Mackenzie reads leaves her in shock.
But then comes the second letter.
And the third…

Mackenzie starts her own investigation and stumbles upon secrets that her family has lived with for years.
Quickly, she realizes that her mother’s path to stardom was etched with sinister lies that might have caught up with her.

Sometimes fame is worth a murder. Or worse.
Soon, Mackenzie will come to find out that there are worse things than murder…

 

My thoughts:

This book has been all over social media and since I had been given a copy at Bouchercon, I finally decided to see what all the fuss was about. Let me just say, it’s a completely twisty, dark, bingeable thriller that I could not put down once I started reading it. I totally see what all the hype is about!

Psychological thrillers that delve into family dysfunction are always among my favorite and this was no exception! Getting to know the characters backstories just pulled me in further to this twisted story and the use of the letters added so much suspense. The use of dual times and multiple points of view really keep the story moving forward, as do the short chapters – with each one we seem to be just on the brink of something being revealed before we move onto a new chapter, just begging you to keep reading. Ahh, the suspense and tension were so high!

While I did figure out some of what was going on, it in no way detracted from my enjoyment as I needed to see how things got there in the first place. But that ending…just wow! Definitely pick this one up if you like twisty, dark, highly entertaining thrillers – you won’t be sorry!

 

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