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From Cradle to Grave

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A nail-biting novel of domestic suspense from a best-selling author - When Morgan Adair arrives at the small seaside town of West Briar on the Long Island shore, she is looking forward to attending the baptism of her new godson, Drew. Morgan and Drew's mother, Claire, have been friends since childhood, and Morgan was delighted when Claire married the handsome Guy Bolton. But a few days after the christening, Morgan receives a devastating phone call from her friend . . .

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

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1566 people want to read

About the author

Patricia MacDonald

68 books550 followers
Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Patricia MacDonald is the author of several psychological suspense novels set in small towns. MacDonald grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and has a master's degree from Boston College. Before writing her own novels she was a book editor and was once an editor for a soap opera magazine in New York. She is married to writer Art Bourgeau. They live in Cape May, New Jersey and have one daughter.

Her first novel, The Unforgiven, published in 1981, received an Edgar Award nomination from the Mystery Writers of America. Secret Admirer (1995) won the literary prize at the 1997 Deauville Film Festival in France, where MacDonald is consistently a number one bestseller. She’s also been awarded the prize for literature at the International Forum of Cinema and Literature in Monaco.


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5 stars
3,647 (42%)
4 stars
3,133 (36%)
3 stars
1,386 (16%)
2 stars
260 (3%)
1 star
118 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 300 reviews
Profile Image for Mandy.
320 reviews405 followers
November 6, 2015
Wow!!! Wow!!!! Wow!!! This book is a total page turner and will keep you guessing with every page. Halfway through I thought I had it figured out and then BAM! The ending floored me... I just loved this book. If you are looking for a good mystery with twists and turns then you will enjoy this. It is a great mystery full of suspense, lies, deceit, and amazing characters. Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Julie .
4,234 reviews38k followers
January 1, 2022
From Cradle to Grave by Patricia McDonald is a 2021 Joffe Books publication.

Morgan Adair arrives at West Briar to attend the Baptism of her Godson. Instead of the joyous occasion it should have been, she finds her best friend, Claire suffering from deep depression, barely able to function. Once the christening is over, Morgan attempt to put her concerns away only to receive the most shocking phone call of her life.

Returning to West Briar, she tries to make sense of all that happened and support her friend whose life is hanging in the balance. She meets with great resistance, though, and soon finds her own life in danger…

Patricia McDonald is a veteran author of romantic suspense, but I lost track of her for a long while. I was happy to see she’s still writing! I happened across this book in the Kindle Unlimited library and recognizing the name I immediately checked it out.

The premise for this story is quite disturbing and emotional, which put me on edge right away and made me feel very uncomfortable with the subject matter. Some of the dialogue was difficult as well, and I nearly put the book aside at one point.

While the story eventually comes together and is truly hair raising, the execution was not the best. If you decide to try this book, be prepared for a bit of messiness in the middle before it finally firms up.

There is a mild romantic angle to the story for Morgan’s character, but it was flat, flat, flat and an unnecessary element, as the friendship between Morgan and Claire was the primary focus and was enough to carry story without any messy romantic add-ons. That said, while reading this book, I was reminded of the old school romantic suspense novels and at times I did think the book was slightly dated.

As it turns out, this book is indeed a reissue and was originally published in 2010, which explains some things- but not all, since the book had a much older vibe to it.

I’m not sure how, but the author managed to pull a ‘come from behind victory’ with a strong enough finish I mostly forgave the rough first three quarters of the story.

It’s been a good long while since I’ve read anything by Patricia McDonald, and perhaps I have a selective memory, but I don’t think this book is the best representation of her work.

Overall, it was worked out in the end, but most of the book was a real struggle.

3 stars
Profile Image for Zoe Reads.
650 reviews37 followers
February 25, 2021
This book was ok. Not amazing, not rubbish. Just ok.

Morgan Adair is lifelong friend of Claire who has recently become a mum to Drew. The story focuses around the death of Claire’s husband and son.

Some trigger warnings with this book especially as it covers the death of a baby.

Morgan is convinced of Claire’s innocence and fights to get to find out what really happened that night. A few twists and turns but nothing spectacular or breathtaking for me.
Profile Image for Elusive.
1,219 reviews55 followers
January 10, 2017
In 'From Cradle to Grave', when Morgan attends the christening ceremony of her godson, Drew who's the son of her best friend Claire, little does she know that something tragic is about to happen. Despite someone's unexpected appearance at this event, everything seems to be under control. However, as Morgan is getting ready to depart, she receives a phone call from Claire who claims that she'd murdered her husband and baby..

The storyline was certainly promising as it brought up several questions such as whether Claire had really killed them and if so, why? Or was it someone else - perhaps the surprise visitor? Unfortunately, the poor execution made this an incredibly long-winded, painful read that failed to build up suspense. Where do I begin? The main character, Morgan was one-dimensional just like everyone else. Although the book mostly focused on her (using third person narrative), I never connected to her nor cared about her because she was so flat and boring.

Besides that, her attempts to get to the bottom of the truth in the hopes that Claire's actually innocent were filled with numerous unrealistic elements. Knowledgeable, influential people were conveniently available and ready to help. No one got in the way during her 'investigation'. She could lie and get away with it every single time. That's not all.. she was also able to enter Claire's house just a few days after the murders without getting into trouble. That was unbelievable on every level. In short, Morgan wasn't smart or resourceful; she was just lucky.

Claire was such a weak, forgettable character which was simply unacceptable considering she played a major role in the story. It would have been great if the author had shown her good and dark side thus making it harder to figure out if she was a cold-blooded murderer or a postpartum depression sufferer. Since that wasn't the case, the ineffective writing pretty much gave away the answer in the beginning. As for the other characters, they're not even worth discussing because they had no personality.

The mystery itself had lots of potential. I especially liked the shocking revelation but I couldn't say the same for the rest of the book. The author had the tendency to write such long-winded walls of text that added nothing to the story. On top of that, the dialogues were usually stilted so none of the conversations sounded remotely natural or normal. I found it hilarious that the guards were given dialogues every now and then - those served no purpose except to pad up the book. As for the romance, it was laughably bad.

Overall, 'From Cradle to Grave' should be titled 'From Bookshelf to Bin' because that's where it deserves to be. A host of one-dimensional characters combined with wordiness, unrealism and lack of challenges resulted in a mediocre, dull read - one that I wish I could unread.
Profile Image for Ruth.
71 reviews34 followers
September 24, 2022
Meh

Good plot in theory but the writing was boring and relies on way too many ridiculous coincidences to move the story along.
Profile Image for Tûba.
144 reviews35 followers
December 6, 2022
Öyle uzun uzun anlatımlar, betimlemeler,zekice yazılmış diyaloglar,olayın derinine inişler falan yok.Olay oldu, hop suçlu bulundu oldu benim için. Hızlıca bitireyim diyenler için...
2,480 reviews
December 10, 2014
a woman with a new baby, very depressed. her husband and baby turn up dead and she confessed to killing them. her best friend comes to her aid but doesnt understand what is going on.

turns out it was the stepmother who had a long affair with her step son that drugged his wife and drowned his baby. he came up and thought his wife did it and in the struggle fell and hit his head on the tub and died

she confessed , she was really confused and drugged and was arrested. her good friend came and managed to figure it out while almost getting killed herself by the stepmother who was caught, charged and convicted

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Alli Garrison.
928 reviews8 followers
December 14, 2021
Sophomoric at best

Have you ever wished for a meteor to drop from the sky on the characters of a book? Well, I have!
Unbelievable twists, ridiculous dialogue, and the dumbest amateur detective I've ever come across. Reprehensible characters, affairs, stupidity, ugh.
Profile Image for Daniella Clear.
125 reviews42 followers
May 29, 2021
3.5 Stars

This book was ok, not great but also not the worst thriller I've read. It was a pretty fast-paced, quick easy read that kept me guessing throughout.

Morgan's best friend Claire is arrested for the horrific murder of her 6 week old son and husband after she confesses to the crime. However Morgan doesn't believe Claire could have done something so atrocious, so she sets out to figure out what really happened and try to prove her best friends innocence.

There were some good twists and turns throughout this book, however overall I wasn't blown away by it. I still felt it was an ok book and very readable, but I've read better thrillers then From Cradle to Grave.
I would still recommend this if your looking for a quick, fast-paced, suspenseful read.
3.5 Stars.
Profile Image for Alexandra.
177 reviews1 follower
December 2, 2023
oookay i had a million theories written in the margin of this book and not one was correct. i didnt realize the twist until it happened, which is the best kind of book. patricia macdonald never lets me down in that im completely mind blown at the end of each book. i highly recommend her books if you want to ensure you cant predict the ending!!

sidenote; the main character was a complete moron and i was so mad at half the shit she did but alas, id recommend this book 😚

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Profile Image for lusty22.
412 reviews2 followers
December 17, 2022
I love Patricia MacDonald! This was a great read. Maybe not quite as strong as some of her mysteries, but still a great read.
Profile Image for Shan.
109 reviews4 followers
March 25, 2023
DNF @ 40%

No. I just didn't like this book at all. So boring. I think I gave it a fair enough chance to wow me and it just didn't. Maybe it has a good ending and is able to redeem itself somehow but I'm not even remotely interested in reading another page let alone to the end. The writing is so drab and drawn out, the characters were so basic when they should be anything but considering the storyline. Nope, Nope. I don't recommend this one.
Profile Image for Daily_debby.
126 reviews49 followers
April 24, 2021
Morgan rend visite à sa meilleure amie Claire afin de baptiser son filleul âgé de quelques mois. A son arrivée, Morgan découvre une jeune mère fatiguée et déprimée. Claire fait un baby blues. A la fin du week-end, Morgan quitte, malgré elle, sa meilleure amie et espère que ses quelques paroles l’auront réconfortée. Malheureusement, Morgan est aux portes de l’avion lorsqu’elle reçoit un appel désemparé de Claire. Elle a commis l’irréparable.

Morgan décide d’aider son amie malgré les preuves et l’aveu de Claire. Elle ne croit pas son amie capable d’un tel crime. Néanmoins, si Claire n’a pas commis ce crime, qui l’a commis ? Et qui, ou qu’est-ce qui, aurait pu forcer Claire à avouer un crime qu’elle n’aurait pas commis ?

C’est à ce moment précis, que l’histoire devient intéressante. Tous les personnages sont présentés dans les premiers chapitres, on conclut donc que l’auteur du crime est l’un d’entre eux. On se prend au jeu, on cherche le coupable mais surtout son alibi. Est-ce un membre de la famille, l’ex petit-ami en quête de vengeance ou bien le meilleur ami ?

Aux premiers abords, certains personnages nous semblent aimants et sans secret. On s’attarde donc sur les autres personnages moins stables et sur qui nous avons que très peu d’informations. Mais là est le piège, nous avons tous des secrets que nous sommes plus ou moins enclins à partager.

On plonge donc dans cette enquête menée par Morgan qui est prête à tout pour innocenter son amie que tout désigne comme coupable. Elle est persuadée que cette tragédie en cache une autre. Mais, même moi, je me demande si Morgan n’est pas aveuglée par l’amour qu’elle porte à son amie.

J’ai trouvé le personnage de Morgan attachant. Elle est têtue et courageuse, mais pas téméraire, elle joue avec la ligne rouge. Elle s’immisce dans l’intimité de sa meilleure amie et de son couple afin de la sauver et, ne flanche pas face aux révélations qui lui seront faites. Morgan est très certainement la meilleure amie que l’on rêverait tous d’avoir.

Claire, est-elle la coupable ou bien la victime? Si vous aimez mener votre propre enquête et être au coeur d’un drame familial, ce roman est fait pour vous. Malheureusement, vous comprendrez le dénouement bien trop tard.
Profile Image for Elaine.
2,258 reviews2 followers
August 31, 2016
This fiction has much of what it takes to make a 4 or 5-star read. A great plot, many characters with a motive from an abandoned daughter to a jilted lover, and a decent author. What it has too much of are events which are way too convenient (ie. a door being left unlocked; someone falling so easily for an excuse given; people being available at the drop of a hat…) I would like believability folks and some of this just isn't believable. Too many things happen in Morgan's favor. The prayers of a Christian would not yield such results. Because they do in this book, it insults our intellect.

The revelation about 9/10 into the book was a bit convoluted but a surprise nonetheless.

All in all this felt like a novice attempt at writing.
Profile Image for Glenda L.
544 reviews29 followers
October 3, 2011
A young mother confesses to murder, but did she confess to a crime she didn't commit? Her best friend intends to find out. Morgan and Claire have been friends since childhood, but Claire is suffering from severe postpartum depression,and after her new baby's christening, she is arrested for a shocking crime. The evidence against her is damning, but in her heart, Morgan knows that Claire must be innocent. So Morgan launches her own investigation to unravel this dark mystery. "Taut and gripping, with mind-bending twists and turns."
6 reviews
March 16, 2023
Overrated

Nah,this was pretty highly recommend on kindle unlimited but unfortunately it disappointed 😞why are there so many four star reviews???
Profile Image for Alexis.
411 reviews5 followers
February 22, 2022
The utmost thrilling of psychological thriller! You know it’s a good psychological thriller when you are sure not to read it before bed. I say that because you will want to stay up all night and finish this one! What’s so great about this book is nothing is what it seems. I don’t want to give any spoilers but please pay attention to all of the details and characters at the very beginning. The character development is so expertly done in this novel, it makes putting the pieces of the puzzle together that much more fun. In the beginning it seems like murders are super cut and dry. A mother suffering from post partum is pushed over the edge, but no it can’t be that easy. As you read information is given that links every single person and action together. This book is really the perfect Butterfly Effect of psychological thrillers. With each turn of the page are a flap in the wings of a twisty turny timeline. You truly won’t want to put this one down!
Profile Image for Eileen Patterson.
170 reviews22 followers
May 2, 2021
Ouch, My Heart

This is a difficult book to read. Post partum depression is no joke, and Claire suffers from this badly, and no one seems to realize how serious this is until it's horribly too late, not even Claire's best friend. It's very frustrating, and it seems hopeless a few times, but the book kept me reading and turning pages. I was surprised and happy to find some romance along the way, with someone tough enough to stand up to Morgan's bullheadedness, and there are a lot of mysterious twists along the way, too. Overall this is a good book and well worth checking out.
Profile Image for Nikki .
892 reviews44 followers
February 20, 2023
This one is heartbreaking; a new mother, Claire has PPD and she is struggling. Her husband, Guy, is supportive...sort of.

Her friend, Morgan tries to help, but she has her own things to take care of.
She visits for the baptism of her godson, Drew. She hopes things will be ok, but when they arrive home Guy has a surprise visit from his daughter from a previous marriage. Claire had NO idea! Bad situation.

Morgan has to leave the next day, she is heading to London for 6 weeks.
Before she boards the plane, however, she receives a phone call from Claire. The worst news; Guy and Drew are dead! And she, Claire, has been arrested for their murder. She begs Morgan for help.

ETA: reword a sentence.
223 reviews3 followers
April 25, 2022
This was an ok read, easy reading perhaps for holiday but it wasn't anything particularly outstanding. I pretty much guessed most of it fairly early on and there were no particularly striking twists at the end. I enjoyed it but wouldn't go out of my way to look for more by this author or recommend as really good.
1,513 reviews13 followers
November 29, 2022
Interesting story

This story was at times too drawn out and boring. But I was determined to finish it and find out who the killer was, and was surprised at who it turned out to be. Patricia is a fantastic storyteller and is an awesome writer.
238 reviews5 followers
November 7, 2017
A really good book which I found hard to put down. A gruesome crime is committed and you know Claire is innocent but I could not pinpoint the murderer until almost the end of the book. Thank goodness Claire has one friend who believes in her and helps to prove her innocence.
Profile Image for Caz Freeman.
135 reviews2 followers
July 22, 2021
Great storyline and twist, just felt it was a little sloppy in places
Profile Image for Jenna.
39 reviews
August 31, 2023
Writing style was different than what I’ve been reading so it was a slight adjustment. Very hard topic to read but I enjoyed how it came together at the end.
Profile Image for Nat PlainJanetheBookworm.
548 reviews73 followers
December 7, 2023
A good story but missing something. I couldn’t get into the first third, perhaps because it was on the slow side. I haven’t looked at its genre category but I’m thinking it’s more of a mystery than a thriller. Be warned there’s child, DV, suicide, & rape triggers ⚠️ I wasn’t wholly invested in this story, couldn’t identify or imagine the characters but I did enjoy the ending which I feel hasn’t been a common occurrence this year with stories 😂
Displaying 1 - 30 of 300 reviews

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