It’s a rare treat to discover a book with an unusual plot twist. This is such a rare treat. Twists that kept proving my assumptions wrong and characters that kept me burning through the pages. Put this book high on your “to read” list.

I love Sally Hepworth's novels and have anxiously awaited her newest book "The Mother-in-Law." I am fortunate enough to have a great MIL, but I have heard the dreaded stories about infamous MIL's. This book was totally different from what I expected it to be!
The book is about the relationship between Lucy (daughter-in-law) and Diana (Mother-in-Law) and their differing view points during their entire relationship - this book will have everyone examining their opinions on how they think other people view them to be. Hepworth did a great job appealing to both sides of the relationship - while it wasn't friendly, it wasn't meant to be hurtful. I enjoyed watching the story develop and the mystery surrounding Diana's suspicious death - the ending will have you re-reading the entire book all over again to see what you missed!

Why did I let this hang out in my Netgalley for almost 4 months before I read it‽! I loved it, and read it all in one sitting. So fun! Liane Moriarty fans will love this one.

Magnificent book that I could not put down. This book kept me guessing until the end. It was interesting to see the relationships between the characters change. I loved seeing the relationship between Lucy and Diana change. At the beginning I just thought Diana would be the mother-in-law who would never get along with her daughter-in-law. At times I thought their relationship would improve early on. I was surprised that it took so long for them to develop a more positive relationship. This is a book I would highly recommend to anyone.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"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"

I think all women have a hard time living up to the expecations of their mother in laws. Especially those who may not feel that their son's spouse deserves their son.

Lucy was young when her mother died. She never had that woman bond or guidance growing up. Enter Ollie who wants to Lucy to his family. Of course Lucy is nervous (who wouldn't be) but she's excited at the prospect of the empty hole being left by her mother, getting filled with Ollie's mother.

Entire Diane. She comes from a difficult background and has worked her but off to get to where she is and because of that she has gotten some pretty strong opinions about handouts.

A majority of the book is the interaction between Lucy and Diane. You get both points of views (Lucy and DIane) although Diane's delivery is extremely rough and down right rude. As predicted, something happens that causes Lucy to basically lose her cool and stops trying so to speak.

I don't want to give away too much more because I don't want to spoil if for the readers. I highly recommend this book and think it would make a great book club discussion.

Sally Hepworth has done it again! I was a bit worried about this one because the synopsis didn't sound like something I would like. But it's Sally Hepworth, so of course I'm going to read it. Oh man, was I wrong! This is the perfect blend of thriller and more just general fiction. I had so many theories about what happened, but I ended up never guessing the end. I loved the characters in this book-even though they were all very flawed. It's just such a good story! Highly recommend!

Brilliant!! My first thought as I read the last page of this book. How have I never heard of this author?? I don't know, but I'm now about to go look up everything she's ever written. That much I'm certain of!
This story... these characters were compulsively readable. I could not stop. reading. this. book. I literally fell asleep last night with my phone in hand reading it with one eye open. It was that good.
At some point in this story, every character was suspect to the murder of the mother-in-law, well everyone except the children. And truly, almost every chapter my thoughts on who done it changed. This is the best kind of suspense novel. Not a moment of boredom and constantly digging deeper and deeper into the minds, lives and relationships of the characters. I can't wait to read more by Sally Hepworth!!

When Lucy falls in love with Oliver (Ollie) and things get serious, he takes her to meet the family. Ollie's family is very rich and Lucy immediately feels intimidated when she meets his cool, reserved mother, Diana. Diana treats Lucy well but they never develop the fuzzy relationship that Lucy had longed for. Ten years later, Diana is found dead of suspicious circumstances and that is where this book takes on some captivating twists and turns. There are several story lines going on and the author does an excellent job tying everything together in the end. This is a gripping addictive read and it is a real page-turner. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read an ARC of this very compelling book.

I really enjoyed this book! It was suspenseful but not overly so to the point that my life had to stop for me to finish the book. It was a story of a family’s relationship with each other and also a “who-dun-it”.

I found myself really loving the daughter in law Lucy and the Mother in law Diana. It’s usually hard for me to like both of the main characters in a book but this one did a great job!

I would recommend this book to anyone!

Thank you to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for this ARC.

Wow wow wow. I absolutely loved this family drama, not so much a thriller. The writing! The characters! The plot! I fell so in love with Diana. What a strong, misunderstood woman. Told in alternating narration, Diana's got me to the core. The way she responded, the way she rationalized things, made me scream for Lucy to just try to understand. But the dynamic between Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law was so touching. I absolutely could not put this one down. I recommend it with all my heart.

I really loved this book. It was so much more than I expected, which was your typical 'evil mother-in-law' story. It's definitely not that. They way the other author writes from both Lucy and DIana's point of view is intriguing. You often see the same scenario, but in different perspectives that do more to explain Diana then to really add anything to Lucy's character. I enjoyed all of the interactions between the different family members with their constantly shifting dynamics. There are plenty of Aha! moments throughout, with a little bit of mystery to figure out and I kept turning page after page to see what would happen next. I definitely recommend this story and I can't wait to read more from this author.

So much depth in this story! I expected a fresh spin on the ol’ Mother-in-Law story (with ice in the veins, an immature sense of competition, dirty tricks, relationship warfare and Mean Girls behavior) but am SO happy the author chose instead to create a quiet sense of tension that energizes the mystery here. She’s painted characters to love AND hate, which is quite an achievement. I couldn’t put this one down and actually woke up VERY early while reading to continue on. I’ll definitely pick up more of this author’s additional titles. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy for review. This is a great one.

Families can be complicated; add in money and unrealized dreams and it can get ugly! This is a domestic thriller about a family, a dead mother/mother-in-law, and the events leading up to her death. It’s not an edge of your seat thriller, but it was thoughtful and kept me guessing till the end. I especially like how the characters grew and changed throughout the story. I’d recommend this one if you want a mystery with developed characters and family relationships.

This ended up being a pretty decent read. Although I'll be honest, for the first half or so of this book, I was a little bored by it. The tension between Lucy and Diana wasn't so terrible (I mean, it was pretty tame as far as mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts go). I honestly wasn't a fan of Diana's, until right before her death--- her flashbacks did little to make me like her or understand her actions. However, she became more likable as her and Lucy's relationship improved.

The latter half of the book really where the story really came together. The mystery of Diana's death exposed the conflicts between everyone, and the ending sufficiently tied together all the loose ends of the storyline.

I did end up enjoying this book, and I feel like many people will love it, but I really wanted more in-law drama with a book about the relationship between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law.

Well, well, well, isn't this just an interesting take on a very complicated relationship between daughter in law and mother in law?

I had a hard time putting this book down and it sure did not turn out the way I thought it would.

My thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for this advanced readers copy.

3.5

The Mother-in-Law had me happily engaged, but then the end got kind of weird. At the beginning of the book, Diana is found dead. Diana is Lucy’s mother-in-law. The story goes back and forth in time, and back and forth between Diana and Lucy’s points of view. Their relationship is fraught from the beginning. Diana and her husband Tom are very wealthy, but Diana is determined that her children should succeed on their own, without the help of her children. She comes across as judgemental. Lucy is married to Diana’s son Ollie, and she finds Diana hard to take. Hepworth does a good job of giving both Diana and Lucy personalities and back stories that are somewhat more complex than they first appear. It’s hard to like Diana, but she isn’t unidimensional. But, to me, the resolution didn’t really fit with the build up. I won’t say anything to avoid spoilers, and plenty of readers have loved this book — although some have really disliked it — so you’ll have to judge for yourself. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy.

On the whole I enjoyed this book but it’s a pet peeve of mine that so many books now are labeled as suspense when they are not. I hate false advertising. It’s setting up readers to be annoyed. We find out right away what the description already told you. The mother-in-law is dead and the question is how and then quickly who but the conclusion is not told in the matter of a suspense novel or really the meaning of the novel. This is a novel about family and the complicated relationships therein.

This novel is told in a way that constantly jumps around between the last and the present. At first it’s mostly told by Lucy, the daughter-in-law, with time jumps between the present, where Diane the mother-in-law is dead, and the past where the women first meet. The past when we visit it moves forward chronologically as Lucy becomes a mother and highlights the relationship mostly between the somen and the family as a whole. Eventually Diane gets her own chapters, also with time jumps between past and present and also her long ago past as a young woman. I generally hate flashbacks and alternating POVs but it works well here. As a reader you are in the dark about the big picture as the information slowly unfolds.

I think the biggest mistake was making us care about the narrators. It’s makes the inevitable difficult. As the reader we know how it will end and that fate is sad. Again it’s not suspenseful but it is well written. It is a very well written sad family play. Honestly that’s not my favorite type of book, I started reading because I like suspense, so it is a credit to the author that I liked it. In many ways I liked her last novel, The Family Next Door, more because it was more suspenseful and intriguing but as a writer she has really improved. This novel was more concise and I enjoyed the tighter writing that moved the story forward. Despite a lot of time jumps the novel was paced very well. I read it quickly in about two sittings because it was so well done. Again it’s not action packed but very well written and never slow.

I do recommend this book if it sounds interesting. Just be aware that it won’t unfold like a who done it or be very suspenseful. It is an excellent paced well written family drama however.

The Mother-In-Law explores the family dynamics between mother-in-laws and daughter-in-laws, but also mothers and sons, mothers and daughters, and spouses.

The story is told in alternating viewpoints and timelines: the past and present by both Diana (the mother-in-law) and Lucy (her daughter-in-law). It deep dives into the intricacies of their interactions, and also shows how two people can often interpret the same conversation or decision in different ways.

I found the relationship between Lucy and Diana to be very interesting as they grew to understand and trust each other over time. I also liked the evolution of Diana’s character as more of her backstory was revealed. She initially seemed very cold and detached, but learning what she had been through in her past made her much more relatable and likeable to both Lucy, and the reader.

While I feel like this novel was predominantly about the dynamics of the family, there was also a potential murder mystery element. I would have liked to see this explored a little more, as I didn’t feel like there was as much suspense and build up towards the reveal as I normally crave.
I enjoyed this one overall! I’m a little torn on my score between a 3 (I liked it) and a 4 (I really liked it), so I think I would rate it as a 3.5.

The Mother-in-Law surprised me. In a great way. The twists and turns were definitely not what I was expecting. I really came to love Lucy, Ollie and even Diana. Families are complicated. This family was more complicated than most. My biggest learning moment- never assume you know why a person is behaving a certain way. I loved that the story was told from multiple perspectives so you could piece together real motives. A great read!

Loved this Australian domestic suspense novel! Told in alternating point of views between Anna, the daughter-in-law and Diana, the mother-in-law, it makes you realize how misunderstandings can breed a life of their own. The characters were well developed, likable or not, and the story sucked the reader in quickly. Easily my favorite book by this author. Kept me reading late into the night and on the edge of my seat.

Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC. Definitely recommend!

Goodreads: Claire Shield
Amazon: Cfrances (didn’t allow reviews because it hasn’t been released yet)

My only other comment is I wish there was a little more about how Diana and Tom jumped to the elite very rich. I think there was a comment about Tom being in the right place, right time - but I also though there was reference to the money being Diana’s. I was expecting something more around this... and maybe more about how Diana and Tom fell in love. The love they had was so well developed and awe-inspiring.