Aimee Molloy’s debut novel “The Perfect Mother” is a successful movie thriller in the making. (Harper, 317 pages.)

The plot centers around a group of New York City new mothers whose babies have been born in the month of May, hence the name of their support group, the May Mothers.

Besides receiving regular text messages regarding child care, the mothers meet regularly in a Brooklyn park where they share birth stories and the ups and downs of caring for their newborn babies.

On the 4th of July, on the eagerly awaited “girls’ first night out,” the unthinkable happens — one of the babies disappears from the care of his babysitter.

The mothers band together to find baby Midas, but their search is hampered as long buried secrets of each member of the May Mothers are revealed and suspicions grow among the group.

Molloy’s novel reads a little like a very sleep deprived “Bletchley Circle” meets “Parents” magazine in a page-turner that will keep the reader’s attention in this riveting twist on modern parenting.