"The Mother" by T.M. Logan

An audio book.

A mother attends her own funeral.

Heather, a mother with 2 sons aged 4 or under, is grumpy when her MP husband Liam comes home late again. His parents own a big company. He's been talking to women on his phones. He hints that there's a whistle-blowing situation at work. He sleeps downstairs. Next morning she finds pills and alcohol by her bed. Her murdered husband is downstairs. She remembers nothing, but on her phone are pictures of a dishy blonde sent from her husband's burner phone. She's convicted of murder. She spends 9 years in prison during which she doesn't see her sons. She wasn't allowed out for her mother's funeral. When released, she befriends Jodi in a half-way house. Heather wants to clear her name so she can see her sons. She gets in touch with Owen (ex-Guardian) who's written articles online about her innocence. She collects from storage a box left by her mother for her. She meets her sister-in-law Amy, who's not too against her. She's being followed by thugs. She tracks down her case's main detective - he's in a hospice. She manages to access his e-mail account, discovers that he was writing a book. She breaks into his house to get a draft. There are clues that a US company, North Star, exploited a corrupt MP to gain access to the UK.

She's kidnapped in a van, the draft and her phone taken, and her life is threatened. She's released. Amy is threatened and released. Owen takes Heather and Jodi to stay in his house. Safer. Heather wonders how the thugs knew where she'd be. Had they paid Jodi? A bank statement shows that £75k was paid by North Star not long before her husband's death.

She gets an emergency call from Jodi and finds her dead - overdosed. She exchanges IDs with her. Amy's in on the trick, identifying the dead body as Heather's. She attends her own funeral. She lies low, hoping that Owen will present the evidence to the poice. He doesn't. Suspicious. She's sent a photo showing Amy dead from overdose and is told to give herself up or her sons will die too. She arrives at the family residence as ordered. Amy's ok. Actually she's planned everything. Heather's father had been leaking info to the family company and was about to confess when she threatened him, accidentally killing him. She told her father the truth only 2 years later. She fabricated the conspiracy evidence. Heather's about to die when Owen and her sons save her.

I enjoyed reading this. Lots of plot. At the end though, through the misted clear-plastic bag over her head she sees a surprising amount of detail.