I was hooked on The Mother-in-law from the very beginning. A series of awkward moments and misunderstandings stop aloof Diana and daughter-in-law Lucy from getting on. It is easy to dismiss Diana as cold, but she is much more complex than that.
At the start of the mystery, Diana is found dead. What initially looks like suicide begins to look more like murder. We are told there is no love lost between her and Lucy, but there are no easy answers. This book cleverly reveals the truth about these two flawed people, and how things went wrong between them. Four stars.

Thank you to Sally Hepworth and St. Martin's Press for this ARC..

I enjoy all of Sally Hepworth's books, and this was no exception.. Very well written, and interesting story.

I have read every one of Sally Hepworth's books, and I have really like all of them- this one blew me away.
I loved it, it amazed me. I felt every word that was in here between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law.

I could not stop reading once I started. I was so invested in their story, it is my story.

Everyone no matter how old, wants mom's approval
and EVERYone no matter who they are, wants their mother-in-law's approval.

I recommend this book!

Relationships with your in-laws can be complicated - especially a mother-in-law. Lucy definitely has issues in her relationship with her mother-in-law, Diana. Diana is very poised, generous and a well-respected member of the community - yet no matter how hard she has tried, Lucy cannot seem to get close to Diana or earn her respect. Five years after meeting her, Diana has tragically taken her own life and a suicide note uncovers a battle with cancer as the reason. When an autopsy is performed, however, it shows no sign of cancer - yet it does show traces of poison and suffocation. Who would want Diana dead? And why was the will amended at the last minute to disinherit her children and their spouses?
This was definitely a page-turner with twists and turns around every corner! I enjoyed how the book switched back and forth from Lucy's POV to Diana's POV. I loved every minute of it and didn't want it to end!
Thank you to Sally Hepworth, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this fantastic book!

This book was hard to put down. The story is told from multiple points of view and goes back and forth between past and present. The mother-in-law, Diana, is a difficult and complicated woman. Everyone in her family has a reason to want her dead. After she is found murdered, the race is on to find out who killed her. It was fun to follow the clues and try to guess who the killer was but I honestly didn't know for sure until the reveal. I'm looking forward to checking out more Sally Hepworth novels.

I loved this book. I loved the mystery of Diana's death, but I really enjoyed the look into Diana and Lucy's relationship. It was so interesting to see both sides of situations where Diana was trying to reach out and do something nice but had trouble explaining it so it came off as mean or passive aggressive and vice versa. I found Nettie's story heartbreaking, but it was easy to see how she alienated herself from everyone in her baby craze.

The Mother in Law is the perfect mix of family drama with real world situations. What lengths are we willing to go for the ones we love? And what happens when the love has limitations? This book is sure to be a best seller.

There was no question that Lucy's relationship with her mother-in -law, Diana, was strained. When Diana was found dead, the police start asking questions of the family. Told in the past and the present, secrets are uncovered and the real dynamics of this family are revealed. The well drawn characters are complex., as are their relationships. Could one of them have killed Diana?
I found The Mother-in Law to be an excellent psychological thriller. It is well crafted, profound and engrossing. The narrative totally held my attention to the very last page. Well worth reading!!! Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from St. Martins’s Press through NetGalley .

I was SO excited to read this especially because I am engaged at the moment and do not know what it will be like to have a mother-in-law! Hopefully mine will not be like the one Sally Hepwroth portrayed in this novel... but WOW did it make for a great story! A must read... I loved the characters and the way this book was written.

This book caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did, but I thought it was a fantastic domestic mystery/family drama.
At the beginning of the book, we learn that Diana, the mother-in-law has died suddenly from a supposed suicide. We soon find out that the circumstances surrounding her death are suspicious and it appears that Diana has been murdered. All of her close family members-her daughter and son, and their spouses are questioned and as the story unfolds, we discover that each of them could have had a motive. The story is primarily told through the point of view of Diana, as well as her daughter-in-law Lucy and it jumps back and forth between the past and the present.
When I first started reading, I found myself liking certain characters and disliking others. As I progressed through each woman's story, I began to warm up to some characters and form a hatred for characters I had liked in the beginning.
This was such a compelling story about family, money, relationships, and motherhood, I wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen to these characters and in the end the author didn't disappoint. I would highly recommend this book!

The title alone will make you pause and realize that you have a decision to make. You think you will need to either side with the mother-in-law or the daughter-in-law because how can you choose both? I appreciated the complicated relationship that Lucy had with her mother-in-law. Getting some of the backstory into Diana helps you understand some of her quirkiness and decision-making. I felt the novel lost a little steam as it was trying to conclude the story and solve the “whodunit.” But overall I enjoyed this novel.

Wow! Th Mother-in-law had me hooked just in the first chapter! This book is now my top book I have read in a long time. The Mother-in-law is about a girl named Lucy and her mother in law Diana. To say they do not get a long is an understatement. I loved how their relationship evolved through out the story. I have recommended this book to everyone I know that loves to read, even my mother in law :).

HUGE thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the early e-galley of The Mother-in-Law. How have I missed this author? Are her other books this great, too? [Adding backlist to TBR...] Due out in April, I’m encouraging everyone to pre-order and put in their library holds NOW for this 5-star suspense!

The story begins when the police arrive at Lucy’s door to announce the suspicious death of her mother-in-law Diana. The book is a little tricky to follow with chapters shifting both past and present, as well as POV (Lucy and Diana). In the present we follow the search for who is responsible for Diana’s demise, in the past we learn the ups and downs of Lucy and Diana’s complicated relationship.

Author Sally Hepworth creates a bounty of suspects and a bevy of motives to take out charitable do-gooder Diana. Every few chapters another layer is added to the family drama, keeping you guessing where the book will end up.

There’s some implausibility to the ending, but even so it is enjoyable as each character is served their appropriate measure of justice. The book leaves a few loose ends trailing, but this is such a well-crafted suspense I can’t give it any less than the 5 stars it deserves

O - M - G! WOW! This was an incredible book told from both sides of the she said, she said centuries old argument of the daughter in law versus the mother in law. There are 2 sides to every story and it was so jarring to see the simple things that kept these women apart.


I received an Advance Review Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. :-)

Thanks so much for the complementary ARC provided by Netgalley, the publisher, and the author.

This is an absorbing domestic thriller told from different POVs and alternating time lines between past and present, thus shedding more insight on the backgrounds of the characters and the events unfolding.

The pace is gripping and the characters are complex and mysterious adding further dimension to the growing suspense.

Sometimes we all have a strained relationship with our Mother in Law like Lucy did with hers, but did that lead her to murder? When Diana is found dead, the police look into all the family members and question everyone. Was it murder or suicide? When I wasn’t reading I was always thinking of the who done it and why. I also found myself changing my mind often. This book will lead you on a thrill ride of an adventure.

I received an advanced copy and all opinions are my own.

3 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Who killed Diana? The cops say suicide, but every member of the family certainly has motive in The Mother-in-Law.

Maybe I missed something, but this book didn’t live up to the hype for me. There weren’t really any shocking moments, but I did enjoy the reveal and the story. Hepworth did a magnificent job of keeping me guessing throughout the book. I was suspicious of every single person. The characters, especially Diana (mother-in-law), were not likable people. Diana is bitter and unloving towards her children and doesn’t support them in any of their endeavors. She also found ways to belittle and be passive aggressive towards Lucy prior to and during the marriage to her son, Ollie. I did feel for Lucy a little bit because I know from experience how challenging a mother-in-law can be (my husband hit the mother-in-law JACKPOT with my mom)! 😊

While I wouldn’t call this a domestic thriller, I will say that it is full of family drama and a lot of mystery! The ending was a nice surprise that I really didn’t expect!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Sally Hepworth for my advanced copy!

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From the moment Lucy met Diana and they both found it was dislike .
The day Diana met her death and the post Morton does not mention the word cancer .
Who has killed Diana
I had an ARC from St Martins press

(I received a complimentary ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

I love psychological thrillers, so when I heard about "The Mother-in-Law" by Sally Hepworth, I was intrigued. The story jumps back and forth between past and present, as well as different accounts from (primarily) Lucy and Diana. The story opens with a visit from the police - Diana (Lucy's mother-in-law) has been found dead. As the story progresses, we quickly realize this isn't a cut-and-dry case, and we begin to question everyone's motives.

Sally Hepworth did an incredible job of capturing the reality of many familial relationships. We often leave so much unsaid, and as a result, our family/family-in-law members don't always have a full understanding of what makes us tick. They may attempt to fill in the gaps by making assumptions, which can lead to further misunderstanding and conflict. We long for reconciliation and acceptance, and hope to achieve this before it's too late.

I had never heard of Sally Hepworth prior to reading "The Mother-in-Law" (I live in the United States, so I don't think she's as well-known here), but you can bet I'll be keeping an eye out for her future books, especially if they're as thrilling as this one was! I give it a solid 5/5 stars. Readers in Australia and New Zealand can pick up their copy later this month (January 2019), while readers in the United States will find it available toward the end of April 2019.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

The Mother-in-Law was fantastic. I was absolutely obsessed with reading this book. Perfectly executed story told in multiple points of view and in different periods of time. This book flowed so wonderfully which made it hard to put down. The ending was unexpected but wrapped up nicely, with no remaining questions.

It is safe to say that I will certainly be reading more Sally Hepworth! READ THIS BOOK!