3 stars: Missing a cock-a-doodle-do!

Didn’t hear a cock-a-doodle-do with this one; more like the splashing of a lounging hippo—which is weird for a supposed thriller. Sigh, yes, another pedestrian read.

The truth is, I own real estate in blah-ville. And apparently it’s a buyer’s market so I’m stuck here. My pogo stick languishes in the closet and I must finally admit to myself that I don’t get to hop yet again. Where are the books that knock my socks off? I can’t find them!

This is a mystery about who killed the mother-in-law. The story is mostly from the point-of-view of the daughter-in-law, Lucy, and her mother-in-law, Diana (in alternating chapters). The mystery didn’t really interest or excite me. There was a little twist, but I wasn’t invested enough to get all wired about it.

Surprise surprise, the mother-in-law is a bitch. It’s infuriating that she doesn’t support her kids in an important way (vague here on purpose), that she chooses to support strangers instead. Her back story doesn’t justify her decisions. The daughter-in-law ends up catering to her, which annoyed me—and it isn’t believable if you ask me.

I would have a lot to say if they asked me to edit this book. (Ha, and you’re going to hear all about it!) It was okay grammatically, but there were logistical and structural problems. Here are some of the things that bugged me (the first item actually entertained me):

-Really? A cop bearing bad news will load your dishwasher? Right off the bat, the author has one of the COPS loading the daughter-in-law’s dishwasher! I can imagine the cop saying, “Oh, sorry to tell you that your mother-in-law is dead. Say, I’m going to help out and load your dishwasher since I realize you’re in pain and shock over this sad news.” WTF?? The most helpful, thoughtful cops ever! The writer is Australian. Is it common there for cops to load dishwashers when they come to give bad news? I even question that the cops would come to the house to notify someone of a death. Wouldn’t it have been a phone call? Maybe this is like the early 1900s when doctors made house visits, though I can’t see a doctor loading anyone’s dishwasher either.

-Mighty precocious 4-year-old. The kid uses the phrase “gathering information.” Yes, I know, this 4-year-old MIGHT say that, but I have a hard time believing it.

-Mighty strong 2-year-old. She throws a ball over a fence. Really? Maybe a future NBA player? Or maybe the fence was just a foot or two high? Get real.

-Bragging parents from another book? Lucy is talking about how a mother-in-law is allowed to say things that aren’t true. All the sudden, I read these sentences, all of which were in quotes: “Richard took his first steps at three months old.” “Mary never cried. Never!” “I started feeding Judy solids while she was still in the hospital.” And a couple more sentences about kids I’d never heard of before.

Wait just a minute. The mother-in-law doesn’t have any kids named Richard, Mary, or Judy. She only has two—Ollie and Nettie—who have major roles in the story. Who are these unknown kids? The quotation marks led me to believe that the sentences spilled out of the mother-in-law’s mouth. Does she have secret children? What the hell is happening here? I was convinced that a paragraph from another book had been dropped into this one by mistake. I was so confused. Yes, of course I had to reread—three times. It was only then that I realized they were SAMPLE brags from imaginary people, not real brags from the mother-in-law here. If I were the editor, I would have killed those sentences in a New York minute. The style is clean in this book and there aren’t random musings, so these “sample” sentences stood out like a sore thumb.

-Uh oh, don’t get sloppy now. The book is very organized and consistent, and transitions are clean and understandable. But there is one time when it isn’t: Diana (mother-in-law) is talking about a time she met with her daughter, Nettie, at a café. Suddenly Diana takes a side trip for three paragraphs and talks about a conversation she had with Lucy (the daughter-in-law) a couple of weeks earlier. Then she switches back to the scene in the café, without any indication that we’re going back to the café with her daughter. Don’t switch to another scene and then return to the first without any transition. Better yet, don’t work in that second scene at all. Find another place for it—it probably warrants its own chapter. Just sloppy, is all.

-The biggest crime: Please please please don’t describe your own death!! This absolutely drives me nuts. Hey, you can’t describe your own death, really you can’t. You can’t describe anything when it’s lights out. (The one exception is when the narrator is already dead and is looking back. We know the setup there; we know it’s not realistic fiction.) This book, however, is totally realistic, so to have a person describe the pillow going over their face just doesn’t work. Author, I repeat: a dead person cannot tell you how they died or how they were feeling as they died, sorry. PLEASE get another person to describe the death. Or even bring in an omniscient narrator for that part. Geez.

Okay, I have really gone cuckoo with the red pencil. If you’re not an editor, I know I’ve probably bored you to tears and for that I am sorry. But it does describe how I was all cringe-y and unchy while reading this.

Title talk: Can’t we please keep “mother” out of a title? Granted, here it’s “mother-in-law,” but I I’m still completely sick that any mother would make an appearance in the precious title. At least it’s a variation on the zillions of insanely boring titles that have “mother”, “wife,” “girl,” or “child” in them (and don’t get me started on the million books that have “she” or “her” in the title!). Argh!

Despite all my editor discomforts, it was a decent read. (I know—hard to believe, huh?). Really, I was mildly entertained. The writing was okay, the plot decent, the characters okay—and I didn’t hate picking the book up. A lot of people loved this book, so check out their reviews for sure.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I thought I knew what to expect with The Mother-in-Law – a woman who loves her husband in spite of any faults he may have, and another woman who makes her life miserable. Cold, demanding, never satisfied, no one is ever good enough for her son, certainly not her daughter-in-law. A lot of that was true, but very early in the book I was surprised. I expected to thoroughly dislike Diana and to feel nothing but sympathy for Lucy. However, it turned out they both had similar, difficult pasts. I often liked Diana and disliked Lucy, and at times identified with both of them.

The story felt like real life. People are not as one-dimensional as the view we have of them, and we can never know everything that has happened to them to shape their behavior and their motivations. This story does an excellent job of exploring misunderstandings and looking at the way we interpret (and misinterpret) the actions of others and are quick to jump to conclusions.

The plot moves along quickly and smoothly, pulling you right along with it. Diana does keep Lucy at arm’s length, but she also seems to be a good woman, a pillar of the community and an advocate for social justice. Lucy just wanted to be part of what seems like a close-knit, loving family, something that really never happens. Then Diana is discovered dead, with a suicide note. But a closer look at the family makes you wonder if that is what really happened. Did she ask Lucy to help her die? Did someone kill her? Ollie and Nettie haven’t been the perfect children, but would they kill their own mother?

The Mother-in-Law was a very enjoyable read, with tension building to a peak at about the ¾ point and not letting up until the very satisfying ending. The writing is solid, at its best when there is action in a scene rather than when a character is ruminating about his or her past.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a copy of The Mother-in-Law for my honest review.

So many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Sally Hepworth for the opportunity to read and review her latest novel. I'm a huge fan of Hepworth's but this may be her best yet. 5 glowing stars to this read!

Lucy's mother died when she was a teenager. So when she falls in love with Ollie and meets his mother, she has dreams of having that close mothering relationship she has yearned for in her life. But Diana is not the warm and fuzzy type. She keeps her emotional distance and tries to instill values in her children. Very well to do, Diana believes money should go to help those truly in need, not to bail out those who have been born into every advantage. The story starts with Diana's murder and then takes the reader into the past, where we learn Diana's back story as well as the events leading up to the murder. Everyone in the family has secrets.

The best part of this book to me is the mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationship. Such a slippery slope between good intentions and how things are perceived. The chicken story in this book is priceless to me and shows how little we communicate those feelings that would make these relationships so much better for all sides. A great read - highly recommended!

I was given the opportunity to review this book by Netgalley and the publisher. This is my honest opinion.

This started out as a “who done it” murder mystery but was so much more. I loved the back and forth between characters and time periods to find out about the family. My views towards each character was constantly changing throughout, and the ending was such a surprise. This was my first book by this author and it has me wanting to read the all! Highly recommend this one!

The Mother-in-Law is a book that will suck you in and you may find yourself running late with a case of “just-one-more-chapter-itis” - this definitely happened to me!! And when I had to put it down for a few hours, I found myself thinking about it a lot. For me - that’s a sign of a great read!

Right at the beginning of the book, Lucy learns that her husband’s mother is dead - looks like suicide but the police are treating it as a potential homicide.

From there, we get alternating perspectives and timelines - Lucy present, Lucy past and Diana (her mother-in-law) in the past. I loved the way we got to see the same events from both of their perspectives and that Diana wasn’t just the typical caricature of the evil MIL.

I think this would be a perfect book to read on vacation - sitting by the pool or the beach - but maybe not if you are there with your mother-in-law! This was my first book by Sally Hepworth but it definitely won’t be my last. I highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review!

I absolutely loved this book! Super fast paced and addicting, I read it in one day, I loved the dual perspectives and it goes to show there are always two sides to every story. I loved that this book really focused on the female relationships and how complicated the MIL/DIL relationship can be. This isn’t a thriller but I really enjoyed that it was less of a crazy who-dun-it and more of a domestic mystery. I’ll definitely be recommending this to my friends/family!

I worked hard for everything I ever cared about. And nothing I ever cared about cost a single a single cent.

4.5 stars!

The Mother-in-Law was a surprisingly refreshing story. I was expecting a thriller, but what I got was so much better. This is the story of family relationships...their joys, their heartaches, their triumphs, and their failures. And while there is a murder mystery, it becomes relatively secondary to the living these characters were doing.

Speaking of the characters...wow. They were all relatable. I wouldn't go so far to say they were all fleshed out (for example, I would have like to have known more about Tom, and how/why he fell in love with Diana), but I felt, at times, I was reading about my own family members. I even found myself enjoying the more complicated, difficult characters, and sometimes empathizing with their perspectives. That, my friends, is talented writing.

Told from both past and present time frames, with alternating points of view, this is a quick, riveting read that's truly hard to put down. And although I was able to determine the killer very early on, it honestly took nothing at all away from the story.

My only negative, and it's a small one, was one character whose personality seemed to go from normal to lunatic in 2.4 seconds. It just didn't seem believable, especially in the face of such true-to-life characterization from the rest of the cast.

This is my second Sally Hepworth novel, the first being The Family Next Door, but I enjoyed this one so much more. I'll definitely be checking out more of her writings.

Bottom line, this one definitely causes some reflection about the relationships in the reader's own life. Highly recommended for one and all.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Sally Hepworth, for the advanced reader's copy.

4 This was NOT what I was expecting BUT I LOVED it stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Diana was a complicated woman. Her outward appearance depicts a wealthy, strong and even altruistic woman. Yet we instantly come to see that her family had a vastly different view of her and it wasn't all positive. Thus, when the story opens and we find Diana dead we are easily enveloped by the questions - was her death a case of suicide or murder?

The story is told from multiple view points as well as alternating timelines, filling in the blanks of Diana's life and leading us to the circumstances surrounding her death. I was expecting more of a thriller but the story ended up having more of a domestic mystery vibe. It definitely worked within the plot and allowed us to get a feel for the family dynamics between the characters.

There has been quite a lot of commentary about Diana and her actions in other reviews. I personally felt that Hepworth did an amazing job of explaining why she was who she was and ultimately acted the way she did. She was a very guarded person, rarely letting all her walls down. Tom, her husband, was by far one of the only people that truly knew her. They were definitely a yin and yang relationship, each providing the other with what they needed most. Their relationship, as well as the parts told from her point-of-view helped me warm to her character and have empathy for her. Hepworth has talent for developing multi-layered characters. Things are not as cut and dry as they seem. Her writing evoked many different emotions in me as I read through the story and came to know and understand each character.

So much of what tales place between the family ultimately involves miscommunication and misunderstanding. You can't help but feel for where they ended up and wonder how different things could have been, if they had just taken the time to honestly communicate with each other and connect about the things that were important to them versus suffering through them alone.

Overall, this one drew me in immediately and kept me engrossed throughout. It wasn't so much about the whodunnit as the complicated family dynamics that kept me turning the pages.

After loving Hepworth's The Family Next Door last year, I couldn't wait to dive into this domestic suspense featuring a very complicated mother/daughter in law relationship. When Lucy marries Ollie, she had already received many red flags that her future mother in law Diana wasn't her biggest fan. Hepworth introduces us right away to Diana, matriarch of the family, who's married to Tom, big softie that he is as well as their other child, daughter Nettie who's main focus in life is to get pregnant. WE're introduced to all of them in the opening scenes when we're thrown into the drama surrounding Diana's death. Her death is initially suspected to be a suicide but the police aren't so sure. Cue the drama.

The plot unfolds from here with alternating perspectives of Lucy, Diana, and later on Nettie. Through each perspective we go back to the beginning of the relationships, slowly weaving our way back to the opening scene and what actually happened to Diana. I have to say, I think the structure of the plot, having us know right in the opening scene that Diana is dead, took away a lot of the suspense and intrigue for me. I was, however, compelled to find out what happened but I easily put the book down several times and didn't rush to get back to the story. There were times the pace was very fast and others where it felt like it dragged. In terms of character development, I thought Diana was by far the most well developed character and I found myself looking forward to getting back to her sections. Lucy, Ollie, and Nettie however seemed like flat characters to me. As for the ending, it wasn't at all what I expected and left me scratching my head as to what the author"s motivation was in creating such out of left field behaviors for characters that we'd come to know in other ways. It just didn't ring true to me. I know I'm being vague, but read for yourself and see what you think. Overall, this was an average read for me.

Title: The Mother-in-law
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Domestic suspense
Rating: 4 out of 5

When Lucy married Ollie ten years ago, she couldn’t wait to become part of his family. But his mother, Diana, had other plans. She kept Lucy at arm’s length, always said exactly the wrong thing and made Lucy feel never-good-enough, and prioritized her job aiding refugees. Who could compete with that? Not stay-at-home mom Lucy.

Now Diana has been found dead of an apparent suicide, a note beside her blaming advanced cancer. But the police aren’t so sure. There are traces of poison in her system—and no trace of cancer. Things aren’t adding up, and every member of the family is under scrutiny—especially Lucy, whose tumultuous relationship with Diana is no secret from anyone.

I was kind of on the fence about this one. I know every mother-in-law isn’t evil—they’re just typecast that way—and I wasn’t sure I wanted to read something predictable. This was not a predictable read. It’s told in alternating viewpoints—Lucy and Diana—then and now, gradually revealing the truth of the relationship between the two—and what drove someone to kill Diana.

Sally Hepworth is a bestselling author who lives in Australia. The Mother-in-law is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)

I did not enjoy this book as much as the hype led me to believe I would. I saw many people who loved and raved about this story, so I was very excited to finally pick it up. While I liked the story line, I found the writing fell a little flat, it seemed long, and I had trouble grasping at what was happening as the story bounced around from the past to the present.

4.25 stars.*

The Mother-in-Law is the second book by Sally Hepworth that I've read. I really enjoyed The Family Next Door so when I saw this as an option on NetGalley I jumped at the chance to review the ARC.

I was definitely not disappointed. I really enjoy Ms. Hepworth's writing style. She is both conversational & modern, while giving detailed descriptions and not coming across like she is writing a blog or personal essay.

The Mother-in-Law is told from various viewpoints and alternates between the timeline of "Past" and "Present". The first narrator is Lucy (in the past), a young woman whose own mother passed away when she was a teenager of cancer. As she preps for her first dinner with her fiance, Ollie's family, Lucy waxes hopeful about meeting the woman who could fill the hole left in her life at the death of her own mother. The meeting goes poorly. Ollie's mother, Diana is a cold woman not prone to emotion nor giving any outward signs of her reactions. Lucy overhears her tell Ollie that she thinks Lucy is "fine"-setting the tone for what will be a difficult relationship.

Diana takes turns narrating, both in past and present timelines, and the reader comes to understand the events of her life that lead her to become who she is and why she isn't more demonstrative.

The story jumps forward as police arrive at the front door of Lucy & Ollie's home as the attempt to corral their three small children for dinner, with the news that Diana has been found dead in her home of suspected suicide. Ollie & Lucy are shocked, but share with the police that Diana had recently learned she had breast cancer and since the loss of her husband had been struggling. Until the autopsy comes back indicating that Diana had not committed suicide, rather, she had been murdered.

Side storylines including Ollie's sister Nettie and her husband Patrick, as well as Ollie's business partner all add depth to the mystery of who might have killed Diana, and why.

This one kept me guessing with many plausible options for who might have killed Diana and why.

Not overwrought nor overdramatic. It falls short of literature, so I can't give it a 5, but it's a solid 4.25 stars. I'd definitely recommend it!

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley for the chance to read and review this novel early.

What a relief, not only to read a great book which kept my attention from beginning to end but also broke my book slump. I started this in need of a change of genre from the usual romance I’d been reading and found The Mother-in-Law to be exactly what I was looking for, reading the majority of this book today in one sitting.

Much to my surprise upon starting this book, I found myself instantly relating to the mother-in-law, Diana. I was sure this would be the type of “Monster-in-Law” story that had me rooting against her and feeling relieved my own mother-in-law was nothing like her. As I read, however, I kept thinking, Diana is probably similar to how I’ll be toward any daughters-in-law I might have someday. Of course, reading from Diana’s perspective helped in understanding her intentions in the role she played. Had we not seen that side of her, it would have been much easier to side with her daughter-in-law in believing she was cold and distant, when actually she had a big heart and put other’s needs above her own. In that respect, I think this book made it clear how careful we should be in interpreting the actions of those we love and care about. Things can easily be misconstrued even when people mean well. Sally Hepworth did an amazing job of conveying not only the mother/daughter-in-law dynamic but an entire family’s relationship in a realistic way. I really enjoyed feeling like a fly-on-the-wall as we witnessed the changes and unraveling of certain aspects of this family’s relationship.

Even though I predicted the “who-dunnit” aspect of this story early on, I still didn’t find the story to be overly predictable. I enjoyed every page and was constantly eager to see what would happen next. I definitely recommend this to fans of domestic thrillers! Pick up your copy this Tuesday – April 24th.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The Mother-in-Law is another homerun for Sally Hepworth. It is a character-driven story with a diverse cast. It is told from various points of view, intertwining the past and the present. I found The Mother-in-Law to be very well-written and hard to put down.

The story begins with the death of Lucy’s mother-in-law, Diana. While at first it appears to be a suicide, as the story progresses it becomes a homicide investigation that involves the members of her family. At the heart of it all is Lucy and the complicated and evolving relationship she had with Diana. The way the author weaves past and present, using different points of view, makes the story engaging and memorable. The Mother-in-Law had moments that made my heart happy and there were other times when it made me sad for what could have been. For me, this is one of the hallmarks of a good author and a good book.

I heartily recommend The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth is very interesting family drama mystery. This book is told from two points of view, Diana, mother-in-law, and Lucy daughter in law. When I picked up this book, I was immediately drawn right into the story and felt like I was right there with the characters. The mystery was well-written, and I was surprised at the ending. I found this book unique compared to other Mother-in-law books. I recommend this book for an interesting read.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. Thank you.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this was decent, but never really connected with the characters. I have enjoyed her other books a lot more.

Lucy has always dreamed of her mother-in-law. After losing her own mother too soon, she lived in hope that getting married would bring her a new mother who could offer the security, guidance, and love that her own mother could no longer give her.

What Lucy got was Diana. Perfectly fine, but not particularly warm, unwilling to lend too much of a helping hand to her own kids, and not interested in being a replacement mom to Lucy. When Diana is found dead, it initially looks like a suicide. But evidence starts to show that maybe it was more sinister than that.

The story is told from Lucy’s POV and Diana’s POV, sometimes in the present and also filling in gaps of the past. The story reveals the developing relationship between Lucy and Diana, which was often painful in the misunderstandings that came between them. I loved reading about it as it happened, and I stayed intrigued while I waited to see what had happened to Diana.

I definitely recommend this book!

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth is a thriller with a contemporary feel. There is an interesting mystery surrounding the mother-in-law’s death. However, the book also digs deep into the lives of the main characters, Lucy and Diana. The twist at the end is one that I didn’t see coming at all.

Character-driven books are always favourites of mine. Lucy and Diana are both enjoyable characters to read about. Their personalities are quite different, although they both have a strong commitment to family. Hepworth gives readers the perspective of both characters, which adds to the plot and gives a deeper understanding of their motivations.

❀ KEEPS YOU GUESSING

As the story moves along, it flips between the past and the present. More and more little details are revealed about each of the women. This really adds to the mystery of what happened to Diana and keeps the reader guessing. It isn’t until the very end of the book that things become clear.

❀ STRONG FAMILY THEME

What is most interesting about the novel is its insightful look into the relationships we have with our family. Lucy and Diana have a typical mother-daugther-in-law relationship, and this is what moves the book blog. However, both women go through a process of realization that is really lovely to read about.

The Mother-in-Law is an amazing mystery novel that engages and entertains. The mystery aspect is both surprising and thrilling, while the contemporary side adds meaning. This is my first Hepworth novel and I am excited to read more of her work.

The Mother In Law by Sally Hepworth. The book was very well written and bought tears to my eyes. Killing someone for any reason is never the answer. I did not exactly expect the ending.

Sally Hepworth knows just what buttons to push to bring tears to your eyes and contentment to your heart. Set in Australia, The Mother-in-Law is a compelling tale of family, all the things that draw a family together, and those missteps that pull them apart. Told in the first person voices of Lucy Goodwin and her mother-in-law Diana, with traveling snippets from the past interposed in the present, this is a story that is very difficult to step away from.

The protagonists in this novel aren't all compassionate, or empathetic, or even honest. But they are all captivating and flaws are what makes us all human. Tom started his adult life as a plumber and as soon as he begins pulling in cash with realty investments, Diana set up a charity to help unwed mothers bear and keep their babies, and fit into their world as a self-sufficient single parent. She also works with refugees who need help with medical care and midwifery. The elder Goodwins have had a full life, been very lucky in their choices and live very comfortably. Tom loves to tease the second generation about what they will do with that fortune in time. Diana insists passionately that the kids must make it on their own, that they have to learn to depend only on themselves. Tom often loans them money behind her back.

Their son Ollie is married to Lucy and with his partner, Eamon, has a shaky headhunter business, a modern but middle-class home, and three children. Despite an IT degree and experience in the human resources field, Lucy is a stay at home mom.

Daughter Nettie is married to Patrick and despite years of miscarriages and expensive IVF, Nettie is not able to carry a child to term. It has become an obsession with her. She does not see that her husband Patrick is a lazy womanizer, just hanging on until Nettie comes into her half of the Goodwin fortune. Diana sees it all too well.

And then Tom is diagnosed with advanced ALS. He is gone much too fast. Eamon is siphoning cash out of Ollie's company, so no matter how hard he works he can't get ahead. And Nettie's doctors tell her that with her history and the fact that she will soon be 40 there is no sense in more in-vitro fertilization. Nettie decides to go with a donated egg and surrogate mother - she WILL have a child. It is all she ever wanted. If Diana will just loan her the massive piles of cash that will cost.

Everything could end differently if Diana were able to show affection or explain her harsh decisions to the kids. But she can't seem to do that. If something doesn't change and fast, this family will fall apart. Or maybe it is already too late...

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Sally Hepworth, and St. Martin's Press. I have read and reviewed this novel of my own volition. This assessment of this work reflects my honest opinion.