The Mother-in-Law

Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Type: e-book
Source: NetGalley
Publisher: St Martin's Press
First Published: April 23, 2019
Opening Lines: "I am folding laundry at my dining room table when the police car pulls up. there's no fanfare - no sirens or flashing lights - yet that little niggle starts in the pit of my stomach, Mother Nature's warning that all is not well."

Book Description from GoodReads: Someone once told me that you have two families in your life - the one you are born into and the one you choose. Yes, you may get to choose your partner, but you don't choose your mother-in-law. The cackling mercenaries of fate determine it all.

From the moment Lucy met Diana, she was kept at arm's length. Diana is exquisitely polite, but Lucy knows, even after marrying Oliver, that they'll never have the closeness she'd been hoping for.

But who could fault Diana? She was a pillar of the community, an advocate for social justice, the matriarch of a loving family. Lucy had wanted so much to please her new mother-in-law.

That was ten years ago. Now, Diana has been found dead, leaving a suicide note. But the autopsy reveals evidence of suffocation. And everyone in the family is hiding something...

From the bestselling author of The Family Next Door comes a new page-turner about that trickiest of relationships.

My Rating: 4 stars

My Review: The Mother-in-Law is a family drama that focuses on the evolving, complicated relationships in one family that are brimming with secrets, misunderstandings and omissions. The story is compounded when the mother-in-law is found dead, adding a twisty murder 'whodunnit' that readers can sink their teeth into.

The story is told in two different time frames using the POVs of Lucy and her mother-in-law, Diana. These two women have a complicated, often territorial relationship that is fraught with misunderstandings. It's through these two points of view, that readers witness their often differing perspectives, the assumptions they make and how the omission of their true feelings lock them, as well as others in their extended family, in persistent emotional conflicts.

Readers will be able to sympathize with many of the issues and feelings raised and some may connect with the ever-present tension of family members fighting for emotional territory. The characters, which include several extended family members, are a well-rounded bunch and you may be surprised at which characters you sympathize with.

Extended family can be complicated, often messy and sometimes filled with different battles being fought behind the scenes. With The Mother-in-Law, Hepworth provides readers with a thought-provoking, multi-layered and character-driven story that will provide substantial fodder for book clubs - especially those that include readers from different generations.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to the publisher, St Martin's Press, for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.