The Sister-in-Law by Pamela Crane.......We all have them. Family gifted to us by our own flesh and blood. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. Harper is no exception. She loses her youngest child in a tragic accident and next she loses her husband in a crazy suicide. And she had to be the one who found him. Then her husband marries a girl he barely knows and expects everyone to get along like nothing has happened. Lane and Harper are siblings that always shared a special connection but now something is off. Candace has made her way into their lives and threatens everything this family holds dear. Who is this woman?! I don't want to reveal any more than that. Too much might ruin this for others.
Pamela Crane writes an incredible thriller. So many twists and turns, I had to keep reading! This was my introduction to Crane and I fully intend to watch this writer and read her future work. I will also be recommending her to others, especially if they enjoy a book that keeps you on your toes guessing! Special thanks to NetGalley, Pamela Crane, and William Morrow and Custom House, William Morrow Paperbacks for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. 5 stars for me.
#TheSisterinLaw #NetGalley

After I read <em><a href="http://cmashlovestoread.com/2020/11/28/review-little-deadly-secrets-by-pamela-crane/">Little Deadly Secrets</a></em>, Ms. Crane was instantly added to my "authors to read" list. I just knew that her books would be the perfect match for me and I was right!!!!

The narrative alternates between Candace, Lane's wife, Lane, and Lane's sister Harper.

I was hooked on page one and this book had a vice grip on me until the final word. If it wasn't for adulting, it would have been read in no more than 2 sittings.

When reading suspense thrillers, I always try to figure out the plot but after a few chapters, I threw that idea to the wind because there was so much happening with twists, turns, murder(s), red herrings, lies, secrets, and betrayals that I was afraid I would miss something. So I just went with it and enjoyed the ride. And it was one heck of a ride!!!!

The cast was three-dimensional and believable. With each new chapter and the character's account of their POV, my suspicion would be with that person. After multiple chapters going back and forth, my head was spinning. I didn't know who to believe, who to trust, and who to be fearful of.

The crafting of the profound plot and the descriptive writing style made this book exceptional!!

What's next? I need to get my hands on her next book, <I>Little Does She Know</i>!!!!

<strong>I received a complimentary copy from William Morrow Books via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.</strong>

Wow this one started off with a chilling bang and did a great job continually sustaining momentum until the very end! It was such a page turner and I finished it in a day!

I found it to be such a fun and twisted domestic and thriller as I always relish in a good dark past plot full of juicy secrets and toxic characters! I also really enjoyed the alternating perspectives between Lane, the husband, Candice, the wife, and Harper, the sister-in-law!

I never quite knew who to trust and I absolutely loved that! If you’re looking for an entertaining read with a dysfunctional cast, this one is for you! I’m excited to check out more from Crane!

This domestic suspense novel explores motherhood, family, and the power (and danger) of secrets. [TW: abuse, miscarriage, toddler death]

I have three sisters-in-law and thankfully none of them are like Harper or Candace! Both women are linked by Lane, Harper’s beloved brother and Candace’s new husband. After Harper’s husband is found dead in their home, she and her children move into Lane’s house and abruptly end his honeymoon period with Candace.

And there are so many questions. How did Harper’s husband die? Why did Lane and Candace marry so quickly? What secret is Harper’s 6-year-old son keeping? Is Candace who she claims to be?

This was a quick and fun read, but the pacing is more suspense than thriller, the twists aren’t so twisty, and the ending felt anti-climactic although fairly realistic.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for the review copies.

Not even one chapter in and my antennas are up because there is definitely some shady business afoot. Harper and Lane seem to be partners in literal crime. Also, the tension between Candace and Harper is downright real housewives level toxic. Bravo would eat this drama up.

*Fast forward to a couple of hours later when I finished the book*

Ya'll there is so much deranged behavior and wild character interactions that one more chapter turned into me finishing the book. I loved every minute of this wild ass ride. The ending is truly like wait...what?! However, in the best possible way.

The Sister-in-Law by Pamela Crane is a mystery/suspense novel about two women who hate each other. One night, Harper Paris comes home to find her husband, Ben, with a knife in his chest and a sketchy suicide note on the counter. She calls her best friend—her brother, Lane—to try to help her figure out what to do. Fast forward a couple of months and Harper arrives at Lane’s house to find his door answered by his new wife, Candace, whom Harper had only met once, didn’t know he married, and hated. The two women go head to head for Lane’s affection and as the investigation into Ben’s death continues, tension runs high at the house they are now sharing.

I liked the plot of this book but unfortunately, I absolutely hated the characters. It made it hard to read and so it really went slow for me. The ending was ok but not really surprising. The book wasn’t bad and I’m sure many people will really enjoy it because the overall premise was good. 3.5/5 stars from me

When Harper Paris walks into her home and finds her husband Ben dead, she is in shock. When she finds his suicide note, she is beside herself. She calls the only person who could help at that point, her brother Lane.

A couple of months later, the police investigation into Ben’s death is ongoing. Harper’s bank accounts are frozen, and there is no insurance payment in sight. Ben’s company had been in financial trouble, so there is no savings for her to draw on, and she and their two kids need a place to stay. Again, Harper calls her brother.

Lane is more than welcoming to Harper, understanding how difficult her position is. He as a house with several bedrooms, so there is a place for her and her kids, Jackson and Elise, to sleep. He helps her unload baggage and boxes from her car into the spare bedrooms.

There’s only one problem, really.

Lane had fallen in love, quickly and thoroughly. He’d gone so far as to marry his new love, Candace, in a small private ceremony. And Candace really doesn’t like Harper or her kids. She’s not a monster though, and Lane is her brother, so Candace decides to try to make the most of her stay. It won’t be for long, right?

But as the days go by, the women get more and more on each other’s nerves. Candace isn’t interested in housework, she can’t cook, but she has a lovely freedom to her life. Harper is a devoted mother, is a painstakingly careful housekeeper and good cook, and she worries that Candace is taking care of her brother.

And as the weeks roll on, the sisters-in-law learn more about each other. Candace learns about how Harper had lost her husband, and Harper learns that Candace is pregnant. Candace learns more about Harper’s kids, and Harper learns about Candace’s volatile ex. But there are still secrets between them, which just adds to the push and pull of their relationship.

As the lies pile up between these women, as Harper learns the truth about Ben’s business, as Candace starts to feel like someone is following her, as a possible witness to Ben’s death comes forward and then gets killed, the awkward relationship these two women find themselves in gets more and more off balance. Lane is caught between them, between his loyalty to his sister and his love for his new wife.

And when all the secrets are loosed and all the lies revealed, will there be anything left of the family to save? Or will the sisters-in-law destroy them all?

Pamela Crane, author of Little Deadly Secrets, is back with a new domestic thriller fraught with greed, lust, revenge, and decorative pillows. All the expectations of family relationships are put under the microscope, examined, and turned upside down in The Sister-in-Law.

I had trouble putting this one down. As the layers of the story peeled away, I was kept hungry for more and kept those pages turning until all was revealed. It was a pretty quick read for me because of that, and lots of good vengeful, passive aggressive, family fun.

Egalleys for The Sister-in-Law were provided by William Morrow through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Wow this book was filled with all sorts of twists and turns. The Sister-In-Law by Pamela Crane was a very good thriller. This is one of my favorite genres, and this book certainly didn't disappoint. All of the characters in the book seem to come alive as I was reading the book, I certainly would recommend this book to others.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher William Moore, in exchange for my fair and honest review.

Book Review: The Sister-in-Law by Pamela Crane

The Sister-in-Law is an contemporary domestic thriller about two sister-in-laws with radically different personalities locked in a battle.

When the novel opens Harper finds her husband dead on the couch with a knife in his chest and a suicide note nearby. Afraid of a future as a widow and with no life insurance Harper (with her brother Lane’s help) stages the suicide as a murder. Months later when she can no longer live in the house and moves in with her brother she finds him married to free spirit Candace and the two women quickly begin to fight...over everything.

Candace has her own dark backstory and will do anything for a fresh start with a husband that adores her. But, the appearance of Harper with two bratty kids in tow could be the end of Candice’s happily ever after. War is waged, red herrings flung about and secrets will be revealed.

My biggest issue with The Sister in Law was unrealistic way everyone spoke. None of the dialogue felt natural for any of the characters and it was just all so DRAMATIC. The characters were extremely unlikable and there would be moments (very brief seconds) where the reader would relate to one of them and then they would say or do something over the top or villainous. Most of the novel felt like a bad nighttime soap opera or Lifetime Movie with the last 10% being the most over the top ridiculous.

Overall this was a mildly entertaining book with bad dialogue, zero world building (was it really set in Durham, North Carolina??) and characters that were both terrible and unsympathetic.

3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Harper Paris finds her husband, Ben, of twelve years on the sofa with a knife in his chest. She has just returned home, in shock after finding Ben, she also finds a note left for her placing blame for taking his own life. Rather than call the police first, she calls the one person who she knows will know what to do, her brother, Lane. He is her lifeline.

Ben's suicide has left a problem of no payout from the life insurance. Harper and their two children rely on Ben for everything. Lane has a solution.

Months later, Harper shows up at Lane's home with her two children in tow. Her assets are frozen, she has no job, and decides to rent her home to help pay for the mortgage. In the meantime, she needs a place to stay and heal. Harper's life has a lot of heartaches. Unknown to her is the woman who opens the door is Lane's new wife, Candace.

There is an intense dislike of both women to each other immediately. Harper is suspicious of how fast the two got married and doesn't see what Lane sees in the woman. Candace wants Harper and the two children out of the house. Candace has also had a lot of heartaches in her life and Lane is her lifeline. For Lane's sake, the two women try to form a relationship. Harper can't help squelch her curiosity after not being able to find a trace of Candace anywhere on the internet. Harper also observes some odd behaviors of Candace, but after snooping and finding a bombshell Harper decides to fill Lane in.

Lane is angry, but realizes that he loves Candace and returns to make her promise that if they are to start over Candace must be truthful from here on out. Candace knows her response is a lie.

Harper won't let her suspicions drop and searching social media locates someone from Candace's past. She immediately realizes her mistake in reaching out to this person for information.

The problem is everyone is hiding dark secrets from the other while each justifies their positions.

This was an edge-of-your-seat read! Right from the beginning, I had first pegged Harper as conniving and heartless because she seems to be more concerned about getting money. Then Candace was introduced and she appeared worse than Harper after her lies kept piling on top of one another. More and more twists were revealed making me feel both feeling sorry and disliking the two women. Lane seemed to be a good guy caught in the middle. The real tearjerker was the son, who at the heart of an accident felt his mother's lack of love and acted out for attention. Great thriller, I highly recommend reading!

I received an ARC from NetGalley via William Morrow and Custom House and I voluntarily reviewed this book!

Enjoyed the multiple POVs in this one, but didn't care for any of the characters and found myself a bit uninvested. It was not a surprise nor a storyline I would recommend.

This who done it/how did they do it did not hold my interest. The characters were too flawed and the story too unbelievable. I found myself skimming chapters after I was about 25% into reading it.

When Harper finds her husband’s body and a suicide note she calls her brother rather than the police. A suicide would invalidate Ben’s insurance and leave Harper with two children and no money so they stage his death as a murder. Six weeks later, Harper and her children find themself at her brother Lane’s door, confronting Candace, the woman that Lane has secretly married. With her accounts frozen and the insurance on hold during the investigation, Harper has come to temporarily live with Lane and his new wife. From the moment they set eyes on each other, Harper and Candace display nothing but animosity. Harper is neat and organized while Candace is a free spirit who does not see the laundry piles, unwashed dishes or the dust that surrounds her. Lane is deeply in love with his new wife though they have only known each other for a month. Harper finds this unacceptable and spends her time planning how to get Candace out of their lives.

Harper had lost Ben long before his death. When one of their children died the previous year it left Harper wrapped in her own grief and Ben found someone to console him. As the investigation continues, it reveals a Ben that Harper never knew.. Candace lost her parents at the age of ten. After living with her grandmother for a time, she met Noah. When their relationship became abusive, she stole his money and ran away. When Lane offered her love and stability she vowed to become a better person, but their relationship is based on lies. Harper discovers that Candace is pregnant and that her pregnancy pre-dates her meeting Lane. It seems like the perfect lie to break them up but Lane isn’t ready to let go of Candace. Then a possible witness to Ben’s murder steps forward and Harper and Lane fear the consequences of what they have done.

Pamela Crane has written a story that drips with sarcasm and animosity. Every time that Harper and Candace show any sign that they may attempt a reconciliation it is quickly dashed by another revelation, working up to the final scenes that are jaw-dropping. There are constant twists along the way that will have you reading well into the night and I would not hesitate to recommend this book. I would like to thank NetGalley, William Morrow/Custom House publishers and Scene of the Crime for making this book available for my review.

Pub Date: TODAY!

Thoughts

The book starts off with a bang when Harper finds her husband's dead body in their home. Then she finds the note. Panicked, she calls her brother Lane, and together they stage the scene to make it look like a burglary gone wrong because life insurance does not pay out for suicides. Unable to afford her current lifestyle, Harper and her two kids move in with Lane and his new wife Candace, and this is where the story really begins.

What a fun rollercoaster of a ride this book was! I like how the chapters alternate between Candace and Harper with random chapters from Lane's perspective. I thought for awhile that the feud between Candace and Harper was taking away from the investigation to figure out if Harper's husband really committed suicide or not, but it all comes full circle. I wouldn't say there are any likable characters, and I'm including Harper's creepy children, but that's what makes the story great!

If you like books with family drama, creepy characters and BIG secrets then this one's for you!

Thank you William Morrow Books, Author Pamela Crane and NetGalley for my #copy!

Book Rating: 4/5

Wine Pairing: 19 Crimes Cabernet Sauvignon

This was a great who-dun-it, psychological thriller of a ride. There were so many layers to both of the sister-in-laws who are dealing with loss--whether it is a husband, child, abusive relationship, past traumas, uncertain future. Are these women going to be friends or continue to be enemies? Plus, there is the issue of how the husband died. Was it a suicide or was he murdered? This one really kept me guessing until the end.

Sister in Law:

“I didn’t believe in therapy, but I believed what my court-mandated therapist once told me: You are what you leave behind.” Okay, Pamela Crame, that’s one way to start a ride!

Buckle up y’all, we’re on the highway to OMGville, and we’re flooring it in our jacked up blue truck. I found this book to be predictable. I saw all of it coming a mile away. But, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t good! I was turning these pages just soaking in that toxicity. It was definitely a “this is my theory so I’m going to gloat when I’m right” kind of thriller. I loved the red herrings and different POVs. I (of course) like the supporting characters (#teammom) I also love a bow wrapped ending, which I got!

I do want to warn you, if you are sensitive to child’s death, you may want to stay away. Harper loses her husband, but she also lost her child very recently in a tragic accident. It was brought up a lot and I ended up clutching my kids a little tighter when I read about Kira. I think Crane does a wonderful job of explaining grief and how it affects us all differently, and how really, we all just want to be loved and accepted.

Thank you so much William Morrow for the gifted copy. The Sister In Law is out today! I’ll leave you with one of my favorite mom quotes:

“Tell him I said hi. Or go to hell. Whichever suits you.”

“Love is a dangerous weapon, and it robs us blind. It makes us weak, because when we’re in love, we live in glass houses where everything feels open and shiny and clean. But all it takes is a tiny crack and the whole house shatters.”

Harper, a stay at home mom who has both recently lost a child and discovered that her husband Ben is cheating, comes home to find him dead on the couch with a knife in his chest. Next to him is a suicide note. Thinking quickly, Harper realizes that if the police deem this a suicide she will not get any life insurance money. She calls her brother Lane for advice and they hatch a plan, quickly moving Harper and her kids in with him. Upon arrival at his house, though, Harper finds that Lane has gotten married, his wife Candace is pregnant, and she very quickly 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 Harper and her intrusion on her newlywed life. While a murder investigation is launched, can Lane, Candace and Harper find a way to get along before another tragedy strikes?

I am feeling very generous with my stars today 🤗. This twisty turny psychological thriller had me mad and frustrated and wtf’ing it all the way through. It is told from multiple POV, but predominantly from the ladies. There were so many moving parts that I was initially unsure how they would all fit together. But fit together they did! In the last 30% of the book I got annoyed anytime anyone interrupted my reading…and if that isn’t the hallmark of a good book I don’t know what is!

Thank you to Netgalley, William Morrow, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Sister-in-Law by Pamela Crane

Harper is dealing with the mysterious death of her husband. She is unemployed and can’t afford her bills so she moves with her children into her brother, Lane’s, house.

Harper and Lane have always been close, but when she moves in, she finds out Candace also lives there. Harper thought they were just dating, but Lane and Candace recently got married without telling anyone.

Harper and Candace openly hate each other. What is Lane to do? Will he choose his sister or new wife?

Told through the multiple POV’s of Harper, Candace and Lane, this is domestic thriller filled with secrets and lies. I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, but the rest of the book fell flat. The beginning was filled with suspense and animosity between Harper and Candace. As the story continued, I just got bored with the characters, and I felt like there was a lot of things mentioned that wasn’t resolved.

I absolutely loved this author’s book Little Deadly Secrets, but this one was just okay.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/5

This was my first book by the author and right when I started I was immediately curious, it definitely began really strong and had a great hook. I was drawn into the lives of Harper, Lane and Candace and knew there would be much more to all three of them than meets the eye. Flipping back and forth between all three characters in each chapter was fun, you get to see the inner thoughts and secrets from everyone which just added to the tension and secrecy. As much as I was hooked in the beginning, the middle was drawn out and I felt the pacing could have been a little faster and more exciting. I was compelled enough to keep reading as the author was revealing the secrets everyone was hiding very slowly, but it was a little frustrating to be spoon fed things so very slowly. By the last quarter things did pick up and overall I was satisfied with how it all wrapped up, I just wish the middle matched the strong opening and closing. Overall a decent thriller, I would read more by the author for sure. I think anyone who doesn’t mind a slower burn would like this, especially if you enjoy unlikable characters and devious behavior.

I absolutely loved Little Deadly Secrets (5 stars for me!) when I read it earlier this year, so I was super pumped for The Sister-in-Law. I found this one to be an interesting domestic suspense but it fell a little short for me. It started off with a bang (which I loved!) but then most of the story was about how much these sisters-in-law did not get along. I did not like one single character in this book so that made it a little hard for me to stay engaged. Overall, I liked this book, I just didn't love it.