The Sister-in-Law by Sue Watson is a novel with a very slow start. Sixty percent in the prose and I was still waiting for it to speed up. When it finally did, the twists were mostly average and easily guessable. Even in the narration, when I expected a murder, one was waiting just around the corner.

The act of projecting a character as an antagonist and then flipping the narrative was apparent from the beginning itself. Having said that, the character development is applause worthy. The portrayal of a dysfunctional Taylor family is excellent.

To sum it up, the book is a decent read.

Thanks to the author and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Clare and Dan, along with their 3 children, travel to Italy for a much needed holiday with his parents and brother. They are trying to recover from Dan’s affairs and things start off ok until Dan’s brother shows up with an Instagram model that he has just met and spontaneously married. Ella hates Clare right off the bat and reveals that she knows Clare’s darkest secret and intends to reveal it.

I liked this book. Most of the characters were horrible. Dan was a cheating bastard. Ella was awful. Dan’s mother Joy was like a wife out of the 50’s, except very domineering, utterly ridiculous. I just wanted Clare to pack up and leave her philandering husband and the rest of these loons behind but then there would have been no story. I thought it took a touch too long to get to the what Clare’s secret was, but it turned out to be a major secret and Ella’s reasons for hating Clare, someone she had just met, became clear in the end. Overall a solid read that wrapped up well.

The Sister-in-Law takes mostly over a two-week family vacation in sun-drenched Italy. Clare Taylor, a forty-something-year-old nurse and mother of three is hoping to use the vacation as an opportunity to reconnect with her philandering husband Dan. After her brother-in-law Jamie shows up with his new wife, Ella, a beautiful young Instagram influencer, the vacation dissolves into a whirlwind of tension and accusations that ultimately ends in a tragedy where nearly everyone has a motive.

Sue Watson once again takes her readers into a suspenseful, entertaining read that is easily devoured in one setting. Almost everyone has that relative with the ability to create chaos wherever they go, but few of them have the ability to create the spiderweb of lies and deceit that are unveiled during the annual Taylor family vacation. Watson’s latest novel makes the reader wonder how well we really know our families and just how far we would go to keep them safe and protected. The Sister-in-Law is definitely a book that readers looking for a tension-filled page-turner will enjoy!

Thanks to Sue Watson, Bookouture, and Netgalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Sister-in-Law
Sue Watson
Release date 4-30-20
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

4.5 stars!!! This book is a gripping page turner. I was swept up in the beauty of a holiday on the Almafi Coast in Italy. Clare and Dan have been married 15 years, they have three kids and are looking forward to their annual holiday abroad with Dan’s parents and his bachelor brother Jamie. Here’s the twist — Jamie shows up late and married to a beautiful model named Ella he just met...... Ella may not be who she says she is and this creates a tension so thick. It appears as everyone has a secret - big secrets that could change everything. Will they ever be the same at the conclusion of their holiday??? Well you will have to read it and find out!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and Sue Watson for this early release of such a wonderful book for my honest review. If you love psychological thrillers I highly recommend checking out The Sister-in-Law as it hits the shelves in just a couple of weeks!

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Many Thanks to the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book before being published in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked the cover and the blurb when I first saw it and decided I wanted to read it. It didn´t disappoint me at all.

The sister in Law is about a two weeks planned idyllic holidays in Italy. The parents, owners of the little business where their sons work, always decide where all the family will go and pay for it. Last year was Greece; this year is in a Villa in the South of Italy where Joy and her husband will be joined by his son Dan, wife Claire and their three children. Plus the other son, Jamie, newly married to Ella, a spectacular woman who makes Claire self conscious of the way she looks during that holiday time.

With Ella´s arrival everything will be head over heels.

The book starts from the surprise of Jamie´s marriage to the discovery that Ella knows “the secret” so well kept by Claire, because Jamie and Ella don´t keep any secrets from each other.
The first half of the book is a bit slow, you can see the relationships between Joy and her 2 sons, her husband, always insignificant as Joy always takes care of everything to do with the family. The family customs, Joy and Claire usually get together cooking in the afternoon, and confidence time during the Gin-Tonic time. And how all this breaks up when somebody else, Ella, gets in the middle. Changing what they have thought for cooking that evening, making everybody to eat vegan food, putting words out of context. Changing the meaning of whatever Claire said. You realise how the gossiping put ones against each others in a very twitching atmosphere during the holidays.
The second half is much faster and intense. When Ella and Jamie take their nephews to eat out or to have ice-cream you are always waiting for something to happen. It is like a rollercoaster ride.
I finished the book in 2 evenings. It is hard to put it down. Very interesting and I was very curious to find out what was going to happen at the end, and I didn´t see it coming.
I would really recommend it to people who liked other psychological thrillers like The girl on the train or The woman in the window.

My rating for this book is 4.5 stars.

Totally gripping from start to finish! Sue Watson has done it again a book full of tension, twists and surprises that will keep you enthralled from start to Finnish!
A beautiful Italian villa,a family holiday for Clare, Dan snd their three children, Dans parents joy and Bob and a surprise visit from dans brother Jamie and his very new wife Ella! Secrets, deceptions and intrigue surface as the family attempt to bond in the Italian sunshine, gradually over the holidays the relationships between the family become strained and fraught leading ultimately to a tragic outcome!A great psychological thriller that explores family dynamics, the secrets we keep and the repercussions of these secrets, brilliant characterisation I particularly liked the portrayal of bob!
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

Another thoroughly enjoyable book by this author, who brings a style of her own to the genre. The setting was perfect - stuck in an Italian villa with your in-laws and then your brother-in-law turns up with a new wife nobody knew anything about. And what a bitch Ella is! Don't we all love a bitch to hate in a story? The dialogue crackled with put downs and snidey comments, feathers were ruffled, secrets were uncovered threats were made. Things got very, very uncomfortable and I could not stop reading! Fantastic stuff.

Really enjoyed this book, loved the suspense between all the characters. Great style of writing. Will be keeping an eye out for further books from Sue Watson.

This is an interesting marriage of chick-lit and psychological suspense.

Let me set the scene. This is the annual family vacation at a villa in Amalfi with the parents, older son and his family and the younger unmarried son. Into this placid scene comes the impossibly beautiful, svelte, rich and knowledgeable new sister-in-law who quickly sizes up the power base of her new family and quickly seizes control. Her hubby is the playboy son who simply trots from one exotic locale to another, supported by his parents. He seems to be in awe of his bride and willing to do (or not do) anything that she wants.

The older son is having marital difficulties with his wife due to his unrestrained infidelities. The wife, who has had a fling of her own, is a full time RN working in a hospital, but also taking care of their 3 young children and maintaining a website for the family real estate business.

The real power behind the throne is the mother who is most assuredly the matriarch of this circus – think Downton Abbey.

And of course, there are the requisite “lies and secrets” and backbiting and jealousy and distrust and fighting ultimately resulting in downright blackmail.

The suspense is, of course, that the reader knows there’s much more than meets the eye and the further suspense is why, on earth, can’t the characters see beyond the surface. The readers know that something sinister is afoot and the author, quite deftly, keeps the reader on the edge.

Bottom line is that I didn’t like any of the characters and I really didn’t like the ending. So I guess I’d have to conclude that if you are a fan of chick-lit (which I’m not), you’ll probably enjoy it. For someone who enjoys psychological suspense (that’s me) or stories with believable action (me, again) or stories with sympathetic characters (me), this is not your book.

Well written for what it is. I appreciate receiving the ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Bookouture, in exchange for an honest review.

Sue Watson has once again triumphed with her latest psychological thriller.Sister-In-Law is a cracking read based round the Taylor family,parents the domineering Joy and husband Bob and sons Dan who is married to Clare and Jamie who turns up at their holiday villa with a new wife in Ella,and Ella wastes no time in getting under Clare' s skin through trying alienate her from the rest of the family.It is all played out under the hot sun of the Amalfi coast and as the temperature rises so do Clare and Ella' s dislike for each other,Clare has a secret she has kept from everyone for a few years but now Ella claims she knows what it is and threatening to tell.Full of twists and turns this book is a must read for those of you who enjoy this genre,it is a delight with an ending I certainly didn't see coming ! A superb psychological thriller yet again from Sue Watson.What else but a massive 5 stars from me?
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I really really enjoyed this book and it definitely messed with my mind. It is great page turner to kill time during the quarantine life and keep you entertained. There so many unlikeable characters and that makes this book so interesting. This is my first Sue Watson book, and definitely not gonna be the last!
Highly recommend to domestic thriller fans.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for my advanced reader copy!!

I was really excited to read this book when i pre-ordered it, so i was really glad when i was aproved to get an early copy. Loved it from the start, the prologue just draws you in and makes you want to keep reading. Ella was dislikeable from the very start, and very manipulative. Red this throughout the day and couldn't put it down! would highly recommend it to all fans of psychological thrillers. can't wait for the next book!

This was a great quarantine read. Most of the story takes place during a family vacation to the Amalfi coast and provides a wonderful escapist backdrop to this fun, easy reading novel.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51192924

Wow, wow, wow! Serious book hangover commencing!

This had me captivated from the prologue... what an absolute cracker of a novel.

An amazing psychological thriller that had me constantly guessing throughout, I honestly thought I'd worked it put and then BAM it was all up in the air again and WOWZERS, the ending was 100% unexpected.

Very faced paced with an amazingly strong storyline and I really enjoyed the whole social media aspect, so relevant in this day and age.

The main character Clare held her own the whole way through, showing both her strengths and weaknesses. I liked the fact that she had flaws and was 'real'. I think being a mother of three myself I could really put myself in her shoes which helped me sink into this book even more.

I hugely enjoyed the whole one upmanship and feuding aspects throughout, whether between Clare and Ella, Clare & Dan or Joy with everyone!
I've got to admit I don't think I've ever disliked a character as much as i did with Ella, what a self righteous, self obsessed, manipulative b*tch she was.... fantastically written!

I literally zoomed through this book, it had my interest piqued the whole way through and I'll be recommending 100%

Huge thanks to netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

Slow burner domestic thriller that held me captive!

The last 5% is epic! I knew something big was coming, but damn, that reveal got me good.

I can see this playing out on the silver screen 🤞🏼

That’s all I’m giving away-if you don’t have this on your TBR, add it, you won’t be disappointed.

ARC provided by NetGalley

What a great psychological thriller! This book kept surprising me and trying to figure out the ending the entire time, but I was wrong! Very fast paced enjoyable read. I look forward to reading more of her books. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This book had a very interesting premise and maintained my interest throughout the duration but when unexpected plot twists happened, I didn’t feel that climatic build up and didn’t feel that shock I wanted to. I feel like the writing just didn’t match the plot.

Rating: 3.5 rounded up.

The Sister-in-Law is a gripping psychological thriller by Sue Watson. It is an entertaining read that I found hard to put down!

The story starts with Clare and her husband, Dan on their way to their holiday villa in Italy with their three children. The Taylor family spends their holidays together every year because Joy, the matriarch of the family strongly believes that family needs to be protected at all costs. Dan's younger brother, Jamie arrives at the villa with an unexpected guest—his wife. Ella is gorgeous and flawless and Clare hopes to get along with her sister-in-law. The only problem is that Ella seems to detest her right from day one. And so begins a battle between the two—as the rest of the family are blinded by Ella's perfection, Clare comes across as being jealous of her sister-in-law's beauty. When Ella reveals that she knows Clare's dirty secret, Clare is determined to figure out what the woman who seems to live her life solely for Instagram is hiding and thus prove to her family that their beloved Ella is not what she seems to be.

None of the characters are likeable but Ella was absolutely frustrating. I COULD NOT STAND HER. It was so convenient that everyone else ignored her snide comments to Clare and only seemed to react when Clare did the same. The hints that were dropped a few times helped me guess the 'dirty secret' before it was revealed but that did not diminish my reading experience in any way because a lot of drama followed.

Joy's 'boys will be boys' excuse for her son's affair; her husband, Bob's comment on how the 'Me Too' movement is 'political correctness gone mad' and Dan's 'A man can’t say or do anything these days without some woman threatening the police', subtly show how the idea of not holding men accountable while blaming women for speaking up has been ingrained in the minds of the members of this family which is really sad because it's a reflection of what some parts of society are like, even today.

I liked that Clare was a flawed character who was strong and independent but almost constantly had an inner conflict about her decision to stay married after Dan was found having an affair. Struggling to raise three kids while holding down a full-time job and having to deal with that family—Phew! What a nightmare.

The Sister-in-Law is a fun and fast read and I really liked how it ended. So I would definitely recommend it and I'll be sure to look into Watson's other works.

[I'd like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and Sue Watson for this ARC.]

I zoomed through this book quickly because it kept my interest. Clare and her husband are joining his parents and brother at a villa on the Amalfi coast of Italy for their annual summer trip. They are surprised when his brother arrives with a new wife, who turns out to be a thorn in Clare's side. The interaction between women in this book is especially fascinating. The men, frankly, are somewhat stereotypical. Nonetheless, I kept on reading to see how this would end! And, it was quite an interesting ending. A good summer read!

"Introduce someone new into the unit and dynamics change, allegiances break, secrets are spilled - and people get hurt."

If I could rate this book in parts. I would rate it 3/5 for the beginning and 5/5 for the second half.

Until some incidents happen in the book it is just endless ranting go on and on about some secret. But after that the book grabs you by your hand until the very end.