When Lucy marries Ollie she is so very happy! She loves Ollie and she is so excited to be part of a bigger family. For years it has been just Lucy and her dad since her mom died. Marrying Ollie she has Tom and Diana her in laws. She wants to be close to Diana but Diana is cold and distant. This story is told by Lucy and Diana, now and in the past, in alternating chapters. When Diana is found dead, did she die of suicide or was she murdered? This was a great story of family drama and secrets and moves very quickly as you want to read and find out what exactly happened. The characters are so real and Lucy could be your best friend. The ending was simply perfect and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Diana. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.

“Sara is the only person I know who adores her mother-in-law. That’s because Marg looks after Sara’s children two days a week while also doing the family’s laundry, ironing and preparing homemade meals for the freezer. (Marg is what is known as a mother-in-law unicorn.)”

I love when a book can make me change how I feel about a character from the beginning of the book to the end. This novel kept me guessing the whole time as to what happened to Diana and I was very pleased that I was wrong in my assumptions. I was also impressed with how smoothly Sally Hepworth was able to alternate each chapter from the POV between Diana and Lucy, while also jumping from the past to the present.

There were so many parts that I could relate to with having my own mother in law. This book was full secrets and it was fun to try and guess each characters. I wish I wasn’t reading this book in between others because I know I would’ve breezed right through it!!

I highly recommend this book and I know it’ll be a huge hit with people who love suspenseful novels!!

I was intrigued by the title of this book-as I am a Mother-in-law 4 times! I am so happy that I can say I am not the Mother-in-law that Diana was. I felt both love and hate for this woman. She was a cold, unemotional woman with her family, but showed love and emotion for strangers that needed a helping hand. The mystery is to find out what happened to DIana, maybe not the supposed suicide of the note left behind. I thank the publisher, author, and net Galley for the opportunity to read this story.

Suspenseful and intriguing. This was a great book. Story unfolded like onion layers. You never know what is going on with some people and especially these people!

A disturbing but compulsively readable of a dysfunctional. I normally criticize authors who create ambivalent characters, but in this case the ambivalence is brilliant. I wanted to hate the mother-in-law.....yet i couldn't.
Surprise ending was fabulous.
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Diana is dead. There’s a suicide note in an odd location, “suicide materials” found near the body, and a host of evidence that the death was not in fact a suicide. What happened? Who is responsible? Did she actually kill herself?

I mistakenly thought this was a thriller when I requested it, but it’s so much more than just the story of a mysterious death. What I got was a layered story about a wealthy, well-to-do, flawed family and their strange and tense dynamics. It centers on the always-complicated mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship and is told through both perspectives, past and present tense. While Diana comes across to the people in her life as cold, distant, and unhelpful, through her side of the story, we learn so much about her complicated life and why she raised her children the way that she did. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I think fans of Liane Moriarty will love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy!

I loved this book. I devoured it in 2 sittings, interrupted only by work and couldnt put it down until I was done in the wee hours of the morning. It wasnt a feel good book by any means, but it was interesting to get to hear the story from the perspective of not just the protagonist Lucy, but also her “evil” mother-in-law who we learn throughout the course of the book is just somewhat socially awkward and strong in her conviction that she won’t let her kids grow up spoiled bu wealth they didn’t earn (what a concept!). The mystery kept the pace of the book moving but what had me so invested was watching the relationship between Lucy and Diana develop into something that you secretly wanted for them all along, even after Diana had crossed a serious line. The story made me laugh, made me angry, made me frustrated and ultimately moved by what developed. But I hate that it wasnt a happy ending, even though that is made clear in the first pages. Great read, and thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!

Just amazing. The Mother-In-Law had me at the first chapter! Sally Hepworth is a new favorite.
I was in the twist and turns and was wrong every time. The family of dysfunction and only the
Mother-in-Law could see it brewing. Absolutely an amazing ride.
Thank you, Sally Hepworth and NewGalley for the chance to read.

Hepworth kept me on my toes. As each character was revealed along with their issues, I kept vacillating between who I believed might have been part of Diana’s passing. I had no idea until the very end what exactly took place with Diana.

The characters were captivating, and with their past and present I found it difficult to stop reading. The potential reasoning of how each could possibly been involved truly snagged my interest and curiosity.

Clever plot paired with intrigue. I felt a kinship with Lucy, her personality, situation and voice. Lucy serving as narrator was smart and a curiosity factor.

Good story with a mighty clever plot. Would definitely suggest this read to all. Very fast paced.

I enjoyed this book. I received and ARC copy and once I started reading, I didn't want to put it down. At times I thought it was a tad slow, but I still couldn't put it down. I'm glad I kept reading. Just when I thought I knew the outcome, it changed!

By rule, mother-in-laws must be complicated. Sally Hepworth delivers an engaging story with family dynamic complications and a twisty plot. What more do you need?
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an interesting book! I loved the alternating viewpoints of Lucy the daughter-in-law and Diana the mother-in-law and the alternating timelines that really help to shape the story and give it depth. It was very eye-opening to see how someone intends one thing and it could be completely misconstrued by another person. Though the book is about a murder I found the end to be very heartwarming!

Another great read from Sally Hepworth! This book is all about family relationships with a good mystery wrapped in. Highly recommend!!

THE MOTHER IN LAW by SALLY HEPWORTH

I started reading this and then when I realized it was set in Australia I was slightly put off reading it. I had read another book recently set in Australia which I didn’t really take to and I find the spelling of words like neighbor a bit annoying. I started reading with some reservations and then found myself thoroughly enjoying the whole book. The characters are believable and realistic, although the emphasis is mainly on the two female characters Lucy and Diana. Both these characters have many flaws bringing them to life and both have likeable qualities as well as some traits that are not so likeable
.
The book moves backwards and forwards in time but it is not too much of a problem to follow the plot. As might be expected, it shows the relationship between a mother in law, Diana and her daughter in law, Lucy. Lucy is looking for approval and love from her mother in law and doesn’t find this until towards the end of her mother in law’s life. Lucy craves the approval of Diana, who comes across as quite a hard woman. As the book unfolds we begin to find out why she has become the way she is, very hard in many ways, but totally generous and benevolent in many others. She is involved in charity work helping refugees find work and gives both money and her time freely to them, while being more critical and unforgiving of her own family and is not prepared to help them out financially, despite being a very wealthy woman.

This is the type of book that I love. The ones that I have low expectations of and end up loving are the best. I would certainly read more books by Sally Hepworth as I found the book absorbing with good characterisations and it was easy to read and told a good story. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first time I have read one of Sally Hepworth's books and I now look forward to reading her earlier novels.

I enjoyed the short chapters told by both the daughter-in-law and the mother-in-law and particularly liked the way the story went backwards and forwards from the past to the present. This can often confuse things but here it was never the case, it always moved the story along. It also gave us the opportunity to understand, empathise and surprisingly in the mother-in-law's case, like, each woman, especially when just a moment earlier we were angry with them. A lesson for us all in never judging someone’s actions, there is always at least two sides to a story.

This was an enjoyable, twisty and engaging read and left me thinking about all the characters long after I had finished.

Lucy knew her mother-in-law, Diana, didn’t fully approve of her or her decision to be a stay at home mom of three, letting Ollie be the breadwinner for the family. Diana was always perfectly polite, but Lucy could sense the coldness. It was somewhat surprising, since Diana’s charity work focused on refugee women who were pregnant, helping them get on their feet, and helping their husbands find jobs. Ollie, of course, never seemed to notice that Diana was less than interested in forging a close relationship with Lucy. Ollie’s sister, Nettie, loved her nieces and nephew and enjoyed spending time with them, while Nettie’s husband, Patrick, spent his time sucking up to Tom, Ollie and Nettie’s father.

But even as the family pulled together after Tom’s death, they fractured after Diana’s apparent suicide. Being part of a homicide investigation is a harrowing experience, with each family member silently questioning which one had had the motive and the means to commit the crime.

Told from alternating perspectives, The Mother-in-Law brings up Diana’s early life, Ollie and Lucy’s courtship, Nettie and Patrick’s rocky marriage, and Tom’s deep desire to have a happy family that has everything they need. I could relate to Lucy and her strange relationship with Diana, that horrible feeling of never being good enough, and then entering the “who cares?” stage. This was a well written story, it flowed smoothly, and I appreciated Lucy being able to adjust to the daily problems with the hassle of the police popping in or calling at inopportune times

This is a well-written thriller that explores the family dynamics in an Australian setting. Having lost her mother at the age 13, Lucy has longed for a mother figure in her life. The Mother-in-Law gives an insight into the complicated relationship between Lucy and Diana, her mother-in-law. The story is told from the perspectives of Lucy and Diana and alternates between the past and the present, finally revealing the truth about Diana's death. Good storyline with interesting characters. Overall a good read.

Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book has everything I love in a book: interesting family dynamics, a mystery and an ending that I couldn’t predict until I was smack in the middle of it. Adding Sally Hepworth to my MUST READ list immediately

From the moment Lucy met her husband’s mother, she knew she wasn’t the wife Diana had envisioned for her perfect son. Exquisitely polite, friendly, and always generous, Diana nonetheless kept Lucy at arm’s length despite her desperate attempts to win her over. And as a pillar in the community, an advocate for female refugees, and a woman happily married for decades, no one had a bad word to say about Diana…except Lucy.

While reading this book, I had a newfound appreciation for my mother-in-law! I feel like a lot of women can relate to this book when it comes to their in-laws. This is a great book about family drama with thrills and twists.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC of The Mother-In-Law
Pub Date: 23 Apr 2019

Mother-in-law drama plus family drama equals so much more! Many daughter-in-laws will be able to relate to Lucy as she tries to please her mother-in-law. A story about a very dysfunctional family with many twists and turns along the way to an unusual ending. Highly recommended!