Baby Girl Jones is a meticulously-crafted crime thriller that will wow readers with several jaw-dropping reveals.

In Cortney Donelson’s The Billionaire’s List, twenty-nine-year-old recluse Greta Goldman’s life was thrust onto a new trajectory after the murder of her billionaire uncle. Baby Girl Jones begins Greta’s story 17 years earlier, as she struggles with bed-wetting, narcissism and how to handle the smugness of knowing she’s more cognitively brilliant than those around her.

Donelson tells the story along multiple timelines spanning decades. In the early chapters, we also meet eleven-year-old Penny, who has been in the foster care system for most of her life. She was adopted once, but her adoptive parents were murdered. Now a victim of sexual abuse in her own home, she’s a frequent runaway.

Enter Detective Claire Miller, who in 2023 investigates the death of a middle-aged woman who seems to know she’s going to die and seems to be asking for forgiveness for abandoning a baby girl three decades earlier. But did she really write the note, or did someone else? Was this suicide, or murder? And who is the baby?

Donelson has presented us with a cast of emotionally complex characters, each with deep backstories. While writing in the third person, Donelson’s style effectively immerses us in each of the characters’ inner thoughts, fears, traumas, opportunities and dreams. Claire, a former olympic gymnast with exceptional intuition but poor eyesight, has a particularly compelling arc. She displays a stunning range of emotions and capabilities, from the grit she brings into her police work to emotions so overwhelming that she drops a highly sensitive piece of information in public. And Dr. Stone, whose dissertation discusses “society’s glamorization of the fiendishly clever psychopathic serial killers” is fascinating as she tries to categorize and analyze young Greta. Check out Donelson’s notes after the final chapter about the study of a certain real-life killer.

Throughout this tense, high-stakes crime thriller, the book’s primary characters explore fascinating questions of identity. The perceived value of names, of anonymity, and of labels are questioned throughout, creating huge payoffs – and plenty of surprises. While it takes time for Claire (and Greta) to piece the major characters’ stories together – Donelson’s handling of timelines and information release is extremely intricate – readers will be rewarded with several big payoffs in the book’s final third. Book Reviewer2,493 217

Baby Girl Jones delves into the intricate lives of three women, each shadowed by traumatic pasts linked to their adoptions. Claire, a detective, unravels the mysterious overdose of a woman; Mallory, emerging from the instability of dangerous foster homes, finds solace with her adoptive parents; and Greta, adopted early into a home marred by aloofness and abuse, harbors destructive desires that threaten to entangle all their lives.

The narrative masterfully interweaves the distinct paths of Claire, Mallory, and Greta, offering a rich exploration of their backgrounds and how they shape their present. The mystery of Baby Girl Jones’s origin is both compelling and unsettling, driving the plot forward through the perspectives of these three characters. Each narrative voice is fully developed, with Mallory displaying significant growth. Greta and Mallory serve as intriguing foils to one another, while Claire’s investigative thread propels the storyline. As a prequel, the novel skillfully sets the stage for future events, hinting at pivotal decisions and brewing conflicts that promise to escalate in subsequent installments. Particularly notable is the exploration of themes such as adoption, foster care, and the enduring impact of abuse—handled with sensitivity and depth. This balance of thrilling elements with poignant social commentary positions Baby Girl Jones as a compelling read within the thriller genre, offering both suspense and insightful reflections on complex issues.

Baby Girl Jones adeptly mixes suspense with deep social insights, making it a standout thriller that captivates and resonates emotionally with its readers. Through its well-crafted characters and their interlinked stories, the book invites readers to reflect on the profound effects of family dynamics and personal history. The unfolding mystery, combined with the promise of future revelations, ensures that the anticipation for the next book in the series is palpable and exciting. E.A.Author 5 books13

Author Donelson successfully puts us in the shoes of females who start from the same place in life but end in starkly contrasting destinations. Along their journey, we cross our fingers for them, often applaud them, and sometimes hope our paths may never cross. Shifting between a psychological and a crime thriller, Baby Girl Jones elicits a stampede of emotions, from love to pride to fear, never allowing readers to completely relax. The novel satisfies as a stand-alone story, but many will want to read Donelson's sequel, The Billionaire's List, to find out what happens next to the interesting characters of this book. Barbara ZerfossAuthor 1 book24

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