The Mystery of the Missing Mum

by Frances Moloney

Overview

An anxious boy searches for his missing mum in this heartfelt, funny and unique ode to perfectly imperfect families

One day, Jake wakes up to a different world: his mum seems to have vanished into thin air! With his Grandma snoring in the kitchen and older sister Rose spending hours getting ready, Jake starts the search for his mum by making a list of places she might be: Tesco? The EU? Hospital? The Bahamas?

Being a detective turns out to be quite hard work and everyone Jake turns to for help seems frustratingly busy. Life at home wasn't perfect, but he can't understand why she would simply run off like this. And why doesn't everyone else seem more concerned?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782693529
Publisher:	Steerforth Press
Publication date:	11/08/2022
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.58(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Frances Moloney was born and raised in London, where she now lives having spent brief stints in Cornwall, where she studied English with Creative Writing at Falmouth, and Sweden. She has worked in the world of stories for over ten years and loves reading, running and yoga - though not all at the same time! The Mystery of the Missing Mum is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

"A child launches into detective mode after his mother goes suddenly missing in Moloney’s London-set, character-driven debut... More family story than whodunit, the plot turns toward emotional discoveries via an arc of maturation and finding hope despite life’s uncertainties."
—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2022-10-27
His mother’s sudden disappearance just 10 days before Christmas adds extra suspense to a young London sleuth’s investigation.

Not a conventional whodunit, though it opens like one, Moloney’s debut tucks in clues aplenty to what’s really going on so that alert readers should have little trouble staying ahead of mercurial, stubbornly obtuse Jake—whose narrative, liberally punctuated with words in bold capital letters, chronicles sudden violent mood swings; strange behavior from his Polish best friend, Lukas, and others at school; frustratingly evasive answers to his queries from grown-ups; and the sudden arrival of his crusty grandma to watch over him and his excessively dramatic teenage sister. And, by the time Jake has crossed off his list every possible place his mum might have gone—except the hospital—his own selective amnesia has faded enough to allow him to accept what he, like everyone else, really knew all along: that she’s had another breakdown and been checked into a psychiatric facility. Though even mum, during a visit, can’t tell Jake for sure when she’ll be coming home to stay, the author closes on a hopeful note with hugs, tears, and two festive multifamily Christmas dinners. The conversational tone and authentically childlike voice add humor and reader appeal. Jake’s mum is cued as White; his father, who lives in a different flat on the same housing estate, has knee-length locs.

Starts out light, but the plot definitely thickens as the story explores relationships and mental health. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews