Like Mother, Like Daughter by Kimberly McCreight
A daughter races to uncover her mother’s secret life in the wake of her disappearance in this thriller.
When Cleo, a student at NYU, arrives late for dinner at her childhood home in Brooklyn, she finds food burning in the oven and no sign of her mother, Kat. Then Cleo discovers her mom’s bloody shoe under the sofa. Something terrible has happened.
But what? The polar opposite of Cleo, whose “out of control” emotions and “unsafe” behavior have created a seemingly unbridgeable rift between mother and daughter, Kat is the essence of Park Slope perfection: a happily married, successful corporate lawyer. Or so Cleo thinks.
Kat has been lying. She’s not just a lawyer; she’s her firm’s fixer. She’s damn good at it, too. Growing up in a dangerous group home taught her how to think fast, stay calm under pressure, and recognize a real threat when she sees one. And in the days leading up her disappearance, Kat has become aware of multiple threats: demands for money from her unfaithful soon-to-be ex-husband; evidence that Cleo has slipped back into a relationship that’s far riskier than she understands; and menacing anonymous messages from her past—all of which she’s kept hidden from Cleo . . .
Like Mother, Like Daughter is a thrilling novel of emotional suspense that questions the damaging fictions we cling to and the hard truths we avoid. Above all, it’s a love story between a mother and a daughter, each determined to save the other before it’s too late.
Review:
I received an advance galley of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts are my own.
Several years ago, I read (and loved) Kimberly McCreight’s “Reconstructing Amelia.” I have (but have yet to read) her other novels, but when I saw this on NetGalley, I scooped it up after reading the very intriguing synopsis, and I wasn’t disappointed.
In this book, Cleo, an NYU student, agrees to meet her lawyer mother, Kat, for dinner. The two have had a very rocky relationship, and Cleo isn’t exactly excited about it. When she arrives at her mother’s Manhattan home, she finds the door ajar, a bloody shoe on the ground, smashed glass everywhere, and her mother missing. Cleo knows that she should let the police do their job, but after finding some questionable clues on her mother’s laptop, she decides to do some investigating of her own. Soon, she will discover things about her mother that she never could have guessed were possible.
Kat wasn’t just a high-powered lawyer – she was a fixer for the firm – saving people’s reputations and companies through whatever means necessary. But when Kat begins to receive threatening messages from an unknown number, telling her that they will expose a deadly secret from her past unless she pays a hefty sum, she may need to pull in a few favors from her connections. The problem is that Kat doesn’t know where the threats are coming from. Are they from the pharmaceutical company that may be behind the death of one of Kat’s acquaintances? Is it someone from her past? Is it the temperamental client Kat has been working with, or is it her estranged husband? Who was threatening Kat, and are they behind her disappearance?
McCreight’s writing is fast-paced and gripping. It pulls you in from the very first page and doesn’t let go until the shocking conclusion. What I especially loved about this book is that there weren’t a bunch of red herrings and ridiculous twists, just a few misdirections that eventually came together. A lot happens between these pages, but it all comes together nicely in the end. It was also nice that I didn’t figure out who was behind everything until a few chapters before the reveal, which made it all the more exciting.
The characters in the book are not just real and complex but also remarkably relatable. Cleo, with her reckless behavior and overflowing emotions, is a stark contrast to her seemingly perfect mother, Kat. As Cleo delves deeper into her mother’s hidden world, she uncovers a web of deception, threats, and long-buried secrets that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Cleo always thought she and her mother were polar opposites, but the further she digs, the more the reader sees how similar they are – especially in their tenacity to discover the truth. What helps is that we get alternating viewpoints from both characters’ points of view, hearing from Kat in the days leading up to her disappearance and from Cleo as she searches for her mother. Peppered amongst the narrative are text strings, journal entries, and a few court documents that help flesh out the story.
At its core, this is a gripping mystery with well-drawn characters and a compelling storyline. It reminded me of how much I enjoy Kimberly McCreight’s writing. She doesn’t rely on gimmicks or far-fetched twists, focusing instead on crafting an intricate story with depth and believable characters. If you are a mystery lover, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.
