Mystery• Thriller

Review: The Stepmother by Sheila Bugler

September 24, 2026

Synopsis:

It is a day like any other when Sarah arrives at the school gate to pick up her two stepchildren, Izzy and Patrick.

But when the twins don’t run out to meet her like normal, Sarah knows something must be wrong.

Sarah can’t believe what she’s hearing when the teacher informs her that their father, Mike, removed them from school earlier in the day. All of Sarah’s calls to Mike go to voicemail.

Worse is to come when Sarah is told by police that as she and Mike are not legally married, and he is the children’s father, there is nothing they or Sarah can do.

Then she receives a text message from Don’t go home. It’s not safe.

What has Mike been hiding? Where are their children? How can Sarah get her family back? Before it’s too late…

Review:

This one started out strongly by immediately setting the tone. We get a glimpse into the past of a woman being abused and trying to escape. The urgency of the situation came across very well, and I was rooting for her to get away from him.

In the present, we meet Sarah, who is in a happy relationship with Mike and his two children. When she arrives at their school to pick them up, she learns that her husband has already collected them. When she cannot reach him, it quickly becomes clear that something must have happened for him to run away with them.

Sarah also has a past of her own, having left her old life behind to start over somewhere new. The early chapters leave it unclear whether she is the same woman we met at the beginning. As Sarah begins to uncover things about her husband, I really felt for her. Not being the children’s biological mother put her in a situation where she legally could not do anything, and her helplessness resonated with me. When the pieces finally came together and we learned what had really happened, I was eager to see how everything would unfold. Once I understood what was going on, I had a suspicion that it could only end one way.

Were some things a bit unrealistic for me? Yes, but that did not take away from the fact that this was a very entertaining read.

🌙 Recension: The Stepmother by Sheila Bugler
📚 Genre: Mystery, Thriller
📅 Release Date: September 24, 2026
📖 Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
📱 Read as: Kindle
📗 available in various formats
💸 I received an advance review copy, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
🗣️ Language: English
📆 Pages: 325
⭐️ 4/5