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DI Turnbull #1
Mother Be The Judge
Two young girls have been murdered in the town of Elisworth and Detective Inspector Todd 'Todger' Turnbull is determined to find the killer before he strikes again. Elsewhere Jocasta Brown suspects it could be her very own son who has committed the terrible crimes. When faced with the decision of how to deal with her situation Jocasta faces one of her biggest challenges as a mother. Mother Be the Judge is a psychological thriller with a truly chilling protagonist. As chilling as it is thought provoking, you don't want to miss this read.
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 18, 2014
14 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 25, 2014
Excellent plot, I was gripped from start to finish. However, I was slightly distracted by the grammatical and punctuation errors that ran through it.
January 3, 2018
I thought this was a really good read.
At first, I thought that it was an alright start. But when I read further into the book, I began to feel sorry for Adrian. However, the more I read further into the book, the more Adrian had changed.
Adrian may have been a criminal for what he did, but he was also a victim. His mother only wanted to make sure he was safe, but it wasn't enough. He took two victims he knew in a short amount of time. It wasn't fair for them or their families.
By the end of the book, I felt sorry for Adrian, even though he was a killer, he was a victim at the end of the book.
Overall, this was a really gripping read. The book was written well and I would like to read this again.
At first, I thought that it was an alright start. But when I read further into the book, I began to feel sorry for Adrian. However, the more I read further into the book, the more Adrian had changed.
Adrian may have been a criminal for what he did, but he was also a victim. His mother only wanted to make sure he was safe, but it wasn't enough. He took two victims he knew in a short amount of time. It wasn't fair for them or their families.
By the end of the book, I felt sorry for Adrian, even though he was a killer, he was a victim at the end of the book.
Overall, this was a really gripping read. The book was written well and I would like to read this again.
July 19, 2017
Wow! This book's subject made me feel so uncomfortable I almost stopped reading it about 4 times.
Sally O'Brien hooked me right at the start of her novel. I have been reading crime for over 40 years. This book is amazing.
I felt sympathy for Jocasta. I thought I was reading a novel not a crime story. This book kept me reading till the end.
I rarely give a 5 star rating to someone I have never read before. This novel deserves it. its subject matter may upset or offend you. It is psychological rather than gruesome. please read.
Sally O'Brien hooked me right at the start of her novel. I have been reading crime for over 40 years. This book is amazing.
I felt sympathy for Jocasta. I thought I was reading a novel not a crime story. This book kept me reading till the end.
I rarely give a 5 star rating to someone I have never read before. This novel deserves it. its subject matter may upset or offend you. It is psychological rather than gruesome. please read.
March 8, 2019
I’m finding this book very difficult to review. At times I really liked it and I think the whole book was very well written. However I cannot get past the main topic of the book, and it was a real struggle to read it.
I did however really enjoy reading about Jacosta’s battle in her mind over how best to deal with what her son was doing. I think this made the book for me.
I wish I could give this a higher rating, but I just have to lower it for the graphic detail of such a horrible topic.
I did however really enjoy reading about Jacosta’s battle in her mind over how best to deal with what her son was doing. I think this made the book for me.
I wish I could give this a higher rating, but I just have to lower it for the graphic detail of such a horrible topic.
January 1, 2025
Good start but not an easy read, by the end I was frustrated by the mother. A bit disappointed as it was first of a series with the detective but he didn't seem to be a big part of the book maybe the next one will be better
December 9, 2014
I gave up on this and packed it in at 27%. Too many mistakes, too little time, I'm afraid-one of those. A pity as the story was getting interesting but the errors throughout way too distracting for me. I did try sticking with it.
She spelled wont as want and babygros as babygrows THEN Adrian as Arian which was pretty terrible !! There were apostrophes missing as well, of course. Comes with the territory in any e-book, it seems. I'm pretty sure she probably meant Campbell's Electrics and not Cambells as well but could be wrong there.
My biggest gripe were the lack of commas or them being wrongly placed. Such as "..found it hilarious bursting out into uncontrolled laughter" or "I'm not a criminal PC Judd" and "...Charmaine was taken out of class and her form teacher spoke to her privately Adrian"......makes for dodgy reading.
I gave up when Ads was capitalised for no reason whatsoever mid-sentence. I'd seen enough by then. I did like the quotation used about new mothers and kept that to share with an impending first-time mum so thankyou for that.
Hopefully one day the author will get a proper proofreading done and I can revisit it.
She spelled wont as want and babygros as babygrows THEN Adrian as Arian which was pretty terrible !! There were apostrophes missing as well, of course. Comes with the territory in any e-book, it seems. I'm pretty sure she probably meant Campbell's Electrics and not Cambells as well but could be wrong there.
My biggest gripe were the lack of commas or them being wrongly placed. Such as "..found it hilarious bursting out into uncontrolled laughter" or "I'm not a criminal PC Judd" and "...Charmaine was taken out of class and her form teacher spoke to her privately Adrian"......makes for dodgy reading.
I gave up when Ads was capitalised for no reason whatsoever mid-sentence. I'd seen enough by then. I did like the quotation used about new mothers and kept that to share with an impending first-time mum so thankyou for that.
Hopefully one day the author will get a proper proofreading done and I can revisit it.
August 15, 2014
Review of Mother be the Judge.
This story, about a single woman who has a child, a son. The mother is unattractive, and has no relatives or friends, gets pregnant on a trip to Greece. The child has a medical emergency that effects him his whole life. The story was easy reading, and no grammar, or punctuation was found (a cardinal sin in my eyes). The son grows up to be a sexual divient. Therefore, if you have an adverse reaction to the subject content you should probably not read the ebook. I thought it was different from most stories and thoroughly enjoyed it.
This story, about a single woman who has a child, a son. The mother is unattractive, and has no relatives or friends, gets pregnant on a trip to Greece. The child has a medical emergency that effects him his whole life. The story was easy reading, and no grammar, or punctuation was found (a cardinal sin in my eyes). The son grows up to be a sexual divient. Therefore, if you have an adverse reaction to the subject content you should probably not read the ebook. I thought it was different from most stories and thoroughly enjoyed it.
December 30, 2014
This is not the kind of book I would normally read, and only read it because it was free on Amazon at the time. However, it was a great book.
The subject matter was dealt with very sensitively too.
I got more and more frustrated with the Mother and wondered if she'd ever face up to things and in the interest of NO SPOLIERS I wont elaborate on that.
Great book, which I have recommended to others.
The subject matter was dealt with very sensitively too.
I got more and more frustrated with the Mother and wondered if she'd ever face up to things and in the interest of NO SPOLIERS I wont elaborate on that.
Great book, which I have recommended to others.
July 8, 2014
Easy to read enjoyable book. Liking the perspective being from the mother.
Jocosta is a lonely person with no history of being parented herself.
When she falls pregnant on a holiday to Greece, this results in a rather interesting parenting journey for her.
Although I felt sorry for her, I also started to feel irritated by her, especially after she left her job, hence 4 stars, not 5.
Jocosta is a lonely person with no history of being parented herself.
When she falls pregnant on a holiday to Greece, this results in a rather interesting parenting journey for her.
Although I felt sorry for her, I also started to feel irritated by her, especially after she left her job, hence 4 stars, not 5.
June 11, 2016
Mother Be The Judge : Sally O'Brien
Riveting!! Ms O'Brien really made me feel for everyone in the story. This book is for every Mother, we don't know how our children will turn out, no matter what we do for them, it's a difficult job as Jocasta soon learned.
Riveting!! Ms O'Brien really made me feel for everyone in the story. This book is for every Mother, we don't know how our children will turn out, no matter what we do for them, it's a difficult job as Jocasta soon learned.
February 24, 2014
Really great book. Written from a different view point to most books I have read. Controversial topic, but handled well.
January 3, 2015
A very disturbing book about insane mother love and a wicked paedophilic monster of a son with great insight in both of their minds.
September 11, 2014
This book is an easy read that draws you in.
September 9, 2015
Quite a strange story really and is more of a diary of events. It is not a police procedural as I expected so maybe that has soured my view.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews