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Jesus Creek Mystery #4
All the Hungry Mothers
"This gentle, funny, suspenseful mystery series deserves a huge audience of devoted fans."
Nancy Pickard
Arriving in Jesus Creek, Tennessee, fledgling nanny Janet Ayres is amazed at the hectic atmostphere surrounding her employer's antebellum mansion, which also serves as a secret shelter for victims of domestic violence. The family next door is the kind Janet would like to have one day. But Janet isn't so sure about that, when the happy home seems to have been invaded by demons and the family is scared to death....
Earlier adventures in Deborah Adams' Jesus Creek series include ALL THE GREAT PRETENDERS (an Agatha Award nominee for best first novel), ALL THE CRAZY WINTERS, and ALL THE DARK DISGUISES.
Nancy Pickard
Arriving in Jesus Creek, Tennessee, fledgling nanny Janet Ayres is amazed at the hectic atmostphere surrounding her employer's antebellum mansion, which also serves as a secret shelter for victims of domestic violence. The family next door is the kind Janet would like to have one day. But Janet isn't so sure about that, when the happy home seems to have been invaded by demons and the family is scared to death....
Earlier adventures in Deborah Adams' Jesus Creek series include ALL THE GREAT PRETENDERS (an Agatha Award nominee for best first novel), ALL THE CRAZY WINTERS, and ALL THE DARK DISGUISES.
209 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 2, 1994
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About the author
Deborah Adams
49 books102 followersWriter, naturalist, and yoga educator Deborah Adams is the author of eight novels and numerous works of short fiction. She posts once or twice a month on her blog at www.Deborah-Adams.com
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 9, 2013
All the Hungry Mothers is a cozy style mystery written by Deborah Adams, published in 1994 by Random House/Ballatine. There are 209 pages. This is part of the Jesus Creek series.
Janet longs to be part of family environment. So she signs up for Nanny duty. She lands in the small Tennessee town of Jesus Creek. Her job is to be the nanny for Ariel, daughter of Sarah Elizabeth, a busy young mother that takes in women who have been victims of domestic violence.
Janet soon learns that the folks in Jesus Creek are just a bit off. They see UFO's, do yoga in the park and maybe even have ghost in their homes.
Janet befriends Sarah Elizabeth's neighbor, Mary Ann. Mary Ann is also new to Jesus Creek. She has a young son she is devoted to. But, she's hearing things in her home and has become a nervous wreck. Janet is not sure how to help her.
Meanwhile, Janet gets a crash course in domestic violence. When one of the ladies that had spent time in Sarah Elizabeth's home is accused of murdering her abusive husband, Janet learns some hard truths about the endless cycle these women find themselves in.
I think the author had good intentions with this story. Drawing attention to a something like domestic violence is admirable. However, the mystery part of the book just didn't exist. There really wasn't a mystery. The only murder that happened wasn't really a whodunit. It was pretty obvious who the killer was. So, the story ended up being mostly about domestic violence in all it's forms.
In the cozy tradition, there is very little language, no graphic violence or sexual content.
Over all I give this one C-
Janet longs to be part of family environment. So she signs up for Nanny duty. She lands in the small Tennessee town of Jesus Creek. Her job is to be the nanny for Ariel, daughter of Sarah Elizabeth, a busy young mother that takes in women who have been victims of domestic violence.
Janet soon learns that the folks in Jesus Creek are just a bit off. They see UFO's, do yoga in the park and maybe even have ghost in their homes.
Janet befriends Sarah Elizabeth's neighbor, Mary Ann. Mary Ann is also new to Jesus Creek. She has a young son she is devoted to. But, she's hearing things in her home and has become a nervous wreck. Janet is not sure how to help her.
Meanwhile, Janet gets a crash course in domestic violence. When one of the ladies that had spent time in Sarah Elizabeth's home is accused of murdering her abusive husband, Janet learns some hard truths about the endless cycle these women find themselves in.
I think the author had good intentions with this story. Drawing attention to a something like domestic violence is admirable. However, the mystery part of the book just didn't exist. There really wasn't a mystery. The only murder that happened wasn't really a whodunit. It was pretty obvious who the killer was. So, the story ended up being mostly about domestic violence in all it's forms.
In the cozy tradition, there is very little language, no graphic violence or sexual content.
Over all I give this one C-
April 3, 2019
Unfortunately I did not enjoy this book as much as the others I have read in this series.....I don’t think I will be carrying on with the rest.....
June 16, 2022
All the obvious domestic violent situations made one situation unseen. This is a heart breaking book that could help with awareness.
August 6, 2012
#4 in Jesus Creek series. Some humor in the culture clash between new nanny, Janet Ayres, and the Leach household, but very little mystery and the book is obsessed with preaching about the dangers of domestic abuse.
Jesus Creek, TN series - Arriving in Jesus Creek, Tennessee, fledgling nanny Janet Ayres is amazed at the hectic atmostphere surrounding her employer's antebellum mansion, which also serves as a secret shelter for victims of domestic violence. The family next door is the kind Janet would like to have one day. But Janet isn't so sure about that, when the happy home seems to have been invaded by demons and the family is scared to death....
Jesus Creek, TN series - Arriving in Jesus Creek, Tennessee, fledgling nanny Janet Ayres is amazed at the hectic atmostphere surrounding her employer's antebellum mansion, which also serves as a secret shelter for victims of domestic violence. The family next door is the kind Janet would like to have one day. But Janet isn't so sure about that, when the happy home seems to have been invaded by demons and the family is scared to death....
March 8, 2015
Sara Elizabeth sure needs a nanny, what with her job, her schooling, her crazy mother-in-law and her work with abused spouses. What she gets is Janet Ayres, fresh out of nanny school, a bear for organization and, despite her rather odd upbringing, rather naive in the ways of the world. Between the oddities of Jesus Creek and the incomer next door, who is sure that her house is haunted, Janet has her hands full--but she can still recognize a murderer when she meets one.
April 16, 2012
ok, but not great. You have to like the narrator, a priggish nanny newly trained, who was raised by hippies, and thus seeks organization and rational living, which of course she doesn't find in the lives of the people around her. I don't--like her, that is, so I really didn't love this book, which is really a treatise on abused women.
January 31, 2014
About wife abuse.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews