Moms: The Good, the Bad, the Homicidal

Moms love us, nurture us and drive us crazy. Sometimes quite literally. Enjoy Mother's Day and be glad some of these moms are only fiction:

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. Reporter Camille Preaker returns home to cover the deaths of two pre-teens. Once there she reunites with her mother and half-sister and begins to revisit a dark and disturbing past.  A chilling page-turner that will keep you riveted.

Carrie by Stephen King. An absolute classic of smotherly love. A highly religious mother becomes convinced her daughter's budding paranormal talents are sent by the devil. The stage is set for a bloodbath.

The Boy in the Suitcase by Lene Kaaberbol and Agnette Friis. When an estranged friend asks for help, Nina Borg goes to a public locker to retrieve a suitcase that turns out to contain a little boy. Horrified, she struggles to find out where the boy came from. Meanwhile a terrified mother searches for her child and so does a cold, calculating criminal.

Catch Me by Lisa Gardner. Charlie Grant suffered a rocky childhood, but her problems are about to get worse. Each January 21, one of her hometown friends dies, and she's the last one left. Charlie asks D.D. Warren to investigate her future murder, but the Boston homicide detective is skeptical and the book becomes a race to keep Charlie alive. Detective D.D. Warren is smart and tough, but struggles with her life as a new mother. Although it's part of a series, the books can also be enjoyed as stand-alones.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunne. Although it's not a crime or suspense novel, this one wins for sheer weirdness. Oly is part of a carny family whose parents purposely doused themselves with chemicals to produce their own traveling freak show. When Oly becomes a mother, she struggles to save her daughter Miranda from the people who want to "help" her. The book explores how fluid the definition of normal can be and the meaning of family.