“Wright has become a master of the psychological thriller. Her characters are totally recognizable people whose actions are the result of complex motivations and who strive to rebuild their lives on the rubble of too many demolished dreams. Powerful reading for all readers, not just mystery fans.”—Booklist

“A psychological novel in the tradition of P.D. James.”—Books in Canada

From the doyenne of detective novels and the inspiration for the major TV series Murder in a Small Town (starring Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk), the eighth Karl Alberg detective story—is he the detective or the suspect?

Maria Buscombe was a housewife living in Sechelt, British Colombia, until seven years ago when she suddenly abandoned her family. Now it seems she has returned—just in time to be murdered. What made her leave? What made her return? And who was sending her money and photographs of her daughter all that time?

These are the questions nagging at Sergeant Karl Alberg as he searches for Maria’s killer. Meanwhile, Alberg’s longtime romantic interest interest, Cassandra Mitchell, is doing some nagging of her own. Alberg had promised, after all, to hang up his Sergeant's hat.

Deftly weaving past and present, Mother Love lays bare the deep secrets hidden in all human relationships, winning Wright her second Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel of the Year. Mother Love was also the first mystery novel ever to win the Canadian Authors’ Association Literary Prize for Fiction.