Melissa Slade has been in gaol since 2013 and now she is awaiting the decision about whether or not a second appeal will be granted. New evidence has mysteriously turned up and it seems very likely that she will at last be successful. She had been prosecuted in the Slade Babies case and had been found guilty of murder. 
Jonathan Hunt is the journalist given the task of finding out the truth of the case for his newspaper, having also reported about the cot death of Melissa’s first twin Amber. When the second twin Ellie also died weeks later the suspicion had fallen onto her mother. The trial verdict saw a life prison sentence handed down. Presently Jon is mentoring a keen young colleague called Kelly, who joins him in the run up to the appeal and so the investigation begins. Jon and Kelly work well together and their enquiries and interviews are soon garnering results. The investigation breaks down into two possibilities. Is Melissa guilty of murder, or has there been a grave miscarriage of justice?
 ‘The Guilty Mother’ is Diane Jeffrey’s third compelling novel and I have had the privilege of reviewing them all. I didn’t think she could get any better but I was definitely wrong. Diane is a wonderfully accomplished story teller and her characters are full of intrigue and interest. I was hooked from the very first page and literally wanted to continue reading without a break. I hated having to put it down.  It was full of blind alleyways, spills and thrills, tension and menace. It was a richly imaginative story. By the time it ended I was fraught with expectancy and I was even more impressed with ‘The Guilty Mother’ than either of the others. It was so thought provoking that I am still in awe of it a few days later. Whatever will she envisage next? I’m very excited by her talent and fluency. The novel had a complicated storyline and she managed it expertly. It was full of excitement and the action was swift and incisive. I can’t wait to read her next novel. Thank you for my review copy. It’s a very well deserved 4.5* review from me.