An award-winning journalist recreates the shocking story of the murder of "Bridgewater's daughter," Karissa Boudreau, in this riveting work of true crime.

On January 29, 2008, just days after a bitter winter storm, Nova Scotians watched with breaking hearts as a young mother in the small town of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, pleaded on the supper-hour news for help finding her missing twelve-year-old daughter. For thirteen days, the country held its breath as the search for Karissa Boudreau continued. When, finally, frozen toes were found poking out of a snowbank, police confirmed Karissa was dead.

Shock quickly turned to anger when Karissa's mother, Penny Boudreau, was arrested for the murder of her only child. A year later, Penny sat in the prisoner's box in Nova Scotia Supreme Court. The moment seasoned journalist Sherri Aikenhead heard Penny confess to the killing, she knew she would write this story.
Aikenhead scoured official Bridgewater Police records, RCMP investigative records, court records, and Penny Boudreau's Parole Board of Canada decisions to recreate what happened fifteen years ago. Through interviews with Karissa's circle of family and friends, and including a first-hand account from a key undercover agent who reveals how the Mr. Big operation extracted Penny's confession, Aikenhead skillfully builds a powerful and intimate narrative of what really happened to "Bridgewater's daughter." With fifteen black-and-white photos, some provided by Karissa"s family members, Mommy Don"t takes readers on a heart-pounding journey into the unfathomable question: how could a mother murder her own daughter?

Sherri Aikenhead is an award-winning communications professional and former journalist who has worked at newspapers and magazines in Halifax, Toronto, and Edmonton. A mother of three boys, she is a recipient of a Canadian Progress Club Women of Excellence Award for her work in public affairs communications and volunteering. She was the communications director at the Nova Scotia Department of Justice in 2008 when Karissa Boudreau was murdered. This is her first book.

Sherri Aikenhead's profile page

An impressive debut: well-researched, fast-paced and compulsively readable. I devoured it in one sitting. Aikenhead deftly balances the emotion, science, and details of a complex case, never losing sight of the victim and never dehumanizing the perpetrator.

— Debra Komar, author of The Bastard of Fort Stikine, Black River Road, and many more

Things like this never happen in small town Nova Scotia. In a community where people know their neighbours, even the idea that a twelve-year-old would run away was hard to fathom. To take off from her mom's car on a Sunday evening in late January without a winter coat or boots was even more upsetting. By the time Penny Boudreau stepped in front of the cameras to plead for her daughter's return, everyone was talking about or searching for Karissa.

Speculation and rumours swirled. But the truth was far more disturbing than anyone could have imagined. Mommy Don't uncovers details of the elaborate RCMP operation that netted a confession and a guilty plea that shook the community to its core. Sherri Aikenhead meticulously chronicles the impact of Karissa's death and the dogged work of investigators and undercover agents who fought for justice. And as Penny Boudreau gets closer to her release date, Mommy Don't spells out what we all need to know about the parole process and the Faint Hope Clause. A riveting telling of an unimaginable crime.

— Sheldon MacLeod, former CKBW news director