I was enjoying this one at first but it lost me very quickly. It started to get a little predictable around the middle and I felt like I needed to keep skimming. Not a mind-blowing read but it might definitely appeal to other fans of the author.

Not good. Not good at all. The main characters were so not likeable. They were judgey and problematic in the worst way possible. None of them had redemption. There were weird random story arcs. I spent the last half of the book skimming through rather than reading the same inner monologues over and over again.

A spine-tingling thriller about family and how far two women are willing to go to protect the family life they've always dreamed of.

When Candace fell for Lane, she didn't fully realize that a life with him meant a life with his possessive live-in sister Harper and her creepily watchful son. And when Candace's new place in Lane's life threatens Harper's lifestyle, she puts plans into place to make sure that doesn't happen. All Lane ever wanted was a quiet, happy, family life, but he may just have to choose between his wife and his sister.

This is one thriller that disturbed me in the most delightful ways and had me white-knuckling the pages late into the night. A perfect book recommendation for fans of domestic thrillers and family dramas!

This is your typical domestic thriller with a fantastic, eye-catching cover!
There are, however, way too many twists thrown in that make the pacing haphazard. The plot itself is hard to follow. But nonetheless, it is still a satisfying read that held my interest. I think this will make a good book club pick.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this title.

In this domestic thriller there were too many twists thrown in so that the pacing uneven and, at times, that made the story hard to follow. That aside, it was overall a satisfying read that held my interest despite the occasional head scratching moments.

Harper returns home to find her husband with a knife through his heart. One's first reaction should be to call 911, right? Nope! Harper finds a suicide note and realizes the insurance company won't pay out unless it looks like murder so she calls her brother Lane to help her stage a break-in. Flash forward a few days and Harper and her two children show up at Lane's house, suitcases in hand, ready to move in. Imagine Harper's surprise when she finds out her brother is now married. After a whirlwind courtship, Lane marries a newly pregnant Candace whose background is shrouded in mystery. Harper is shocked and the two women at the center of Lane's life take an immediate dislike to each other. Harper is determined to dig up her newly acquired sister-in-law's secrets and Candace is equally invested in ousting Harper from her life. Cat fights ensue that are some times funny, but mostly hurtful.

My biggest problem with the book is that I didn't find any of the characters worth rooting for, including the dead husband. Lane is a doormat caught between the two women in his life and trying to placate both of them. Both Candace and Harper have secrets that are a slow reveal. Both have tragic backgrounds that make them scratch and claw for any happiness they can get. Overall, I liked the book. I did think it wrapped up too quickly and glossed over some emotional scars suffered by the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for an early copy of this book. The publication date is August 10, 2021.

This is a crazy family drama thriller book! Harper finds her husband dead and her brother Lane sets the scene as a murder so Harper can receive the life insurance. Harper and her children move in with Lane and his new wife Candace. Then the craziness begins! This story is told from multiple POV's so the reader gets a lot more each of person's thoughts and feelings. I honestly didn't care for any of the characters as to me they were all awful people! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

The Sister-in-law pits two women against one another. One the newly married bride to the brother of the newly widowed sister. The Widowed sister takes an instant dislike to her new sister-in-law for seemingly petty reasons. The first two-thirds of the book plays like a bad episode of Housewives of you fill-in-the-blank (city). Drama and conflict for no reasons. When a reason is found for the discord, it mostly just fades and they try to be friendly again.
Set this into the backdrop of the sister and her children moving in with the brother and new sister-in-law while waiting for insurance funds from the death of the husband. There really are not any likable characters which bogs down the reader. Secrets about for all involved to include the children. However, before all the conflicting issues start to gel and collide, the reader is no longer invested in the story.
This was a miss for me.
Thank you to Scene of the Crime Facebook group and Netgalley for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! From the book's cover copy, I expected Candace to have difficulty with her new sister-in-law. I didn't expect the conflict to be so immediate or both women to be so nasty. These two aren't even going to try to get along. I was never sure which of them I was supposed to be siding with. The plot is fast paced and entertaining an although I found some parts unbelievable, I had fun reading it.

The Sister-in-Law is the third book that I've read by Pamela Crane and I found it to be very enjoyable. Told from multiple perspectives, The Sister-in-Law is filled with plenty of twists and drama. Full of suspense and great characters, this is a great summer thriller to add to your tbr!

This was definitely a crazy, twisty book. This is the second book I’ve read by Pamela Crane and although I loved Little Deadly Secrets more, this was still a fun read.

This story was told in three perspectives, switching between Lane, the husband, Candace, his wife and Harper, the sister in law. Harpers husband has just died and Lane has offered to let her and her children move in with him and his newlywed wife, Candace. The gloves come off at the beginning between Harper and Candace, each taking jabs at each other and seeing who can dig up the most dirt. They both have some pretty unbelievable secrets and the revelation at the end was so unexpected. There was a lull about halfway through this, but overall I really liked it.

Harper wakes up to her husband dead from an apparent self-inflicted knife wound to the chest. She calls her brother Lane asking for help. Together they cover up the suicide and make it look like a break-in so the insurance will pay out. While her husband's death is being investigated, Harper surprises her brother by asking to move in with her two kids. Lane has a surprise for Harper. He's a newlywed of only a week and Harper meets his wife/her sister-in-law for the first time. This is a compulsive read and sort of a hot mess all at the same time. There is A LOT to unpack here but less is more when talking about mystery/thrillers. I did not feel that every plot point brought up was fleshed out by the end.

I really tried to like this book as I have read the authors prior books,I had just read Dirty Little Secrets by her and loved it! The characters to me were not very likable and the ending to me was predictable as I had it figured out!

Pros :: When you read a sentence like “ Empathy was for the weak because compassion requires trust, and trust got you killed.” (21%) you know it’s going to be a bumpy, twisty read! Excellent job on the flawed characters. I was “team Candace” until the ending when I had to switch because of her actions. Great job on the 3 main characters of Harper, Lane and Candace. Interesting supporting characters of Harper’s two kids, Elise and especially Jackson. Even Harper and Lane’s mom was well developed. Excellent twists at the end. Will look for authors other books to read.

Cons :: Candace readily being able to forge Ben’s handwriting was a bit of a stretch. It was explained how/why Candace needed the skill growing up, however a bit too easy.

Cover art :: 5 out of 5. So wonderful to see a female face and not the back of their head. Great use of colours, too

This book focuses on a family - a brother, sister, and the brothers new wife. After a tragedy with the sisters husband she is forced to move her and her two children in with her brother and his new wife.
And that’s where the drama starts - the two women do not get along, and the sisters children have some residual behavioral/psychological concerns which manifest in strange ways throughout the book. The plot was solid, but you could see the twist coming a mile away! I did like how it unfolded though, and I kept wanting to read more to learn the whole story behind it.
The characters were engaging, although I don’t know that I connected with any one of them. I do wish some of the weird things with the kids were expanded upon, and even the ending could be more detailed, have a bigger follow up. I do also think the plot line with the new wife’s ex husband was silly and didn’t need to be included. It didn’t really add anything, and was just a quick tangent.
Overall, a solid thriller.
There were a few spelling errors in the book that should be corrected before publishing.

Thanks to the publisher for this arc.
It kept me wondering who the hell did it...time and time again i tried to figure it out but couldnt. I shuddered a bit with the creepy kid. Good one there.
Pamela did a great job of keeping me on my toes the whole time.
Im pretty sure I will read more of her work soon.

Pamela Crane's new novel The Sister-In-Law takes us to a domestic chaos between a wife and an overly protective sister-in-law.

Harper has always been there for her brother (Lane). He is also there for her that is why when her husband died he took her in his house together with his niece and nephew. But not everyone is happy about this, specially Candace... Lane's wife.

Candace and Harper are the two women in Lane's life who never fails to be on each other's throats. Each women hold a secret against each other and they will use every tactic to play the dangerous game they are playing.

The first few paragraphs of the novel set the tone and story right away and it showcased already how the characters are flawed. The book was told in 3 different POVs (Lane, Harper and Candace). In each chapter, the characters tend to redeem themselves but turns out to be disreputable after a few sentences which made me want to read fast so I can go to the next chapter and KNOW THE DAMN TRUTH!

I grow tired of domestic thrillers and constant bickering of characters in them but this novel was something else! I actually enjoyed the drama that the two ladies were involved in and as if I am watching a housewives reality show.
The book can be quite slow for others but personally i find it quite fast, probably because the author made sure that the twists and animosity of each character is always present in each chapter so I can't help but flip one more page just to see how things will turn out.

Frankly, I was surprised with the ending. The story was well written and you just don't know who to believe. I highly recommend this engaging novel who wants a good thriller beach read.

Definitely 5 knives rating!

I did not enjoy this book. It was full of horrible people which usually doesn't bother me but the writing wasn't great and it was really hard to get into.

Thank you to William Morrow Books through the Scene of the Crime Book Club for making this selection available to its members.

This book is alright I suppose for the right reader. Unfortunately, that reader was not me. Beyond a compelling plot and good pacing, I need characters that I can root for and believable, realistic dialogue. Right off the bat, Harper, Candance, and Lane are all just so unlikable, and I had a hard time getting past the over-the-top interaction when Harper and Lane First met.

The book starts with Harper finding her husband dead on the couch. So does she call the police, no she calls her brother to help her stage the scene to look like murder because of what happened before. Intriguing to say the least, but the what happened before is only a small detail that doesn't get mentioned again for over half of the story and then it's relatively anticlimactic.
The rest of the story is about Harper moving herself and her kids into her brother's home, uninvited of course, which creates animosity with her new sister-in-law. The relationship between Harper and Candance flips from friendly confidants to hatred in a moments notice then back again. It is a strange dynamic.
Harper's kids are a little strange too, with talks of murder, death, and ghosts. Sadly Harper is too busy trying to find out about Candance's secrets then trying to be a good parent who helps her grieving children.
As you can tell, this story is all over the place. Harper has secrets, Lane has secrets, Candace has secrets, and even Harper's mom has secrets.The story grabs your attention int the beginning, then gets repetitive and slow in the middle. The ending would be twisty and surprising if the blurb tag line doesn't give it away.
I hated all the characters. I liked trying to figure out all the secrets, even though I thought there were too many of them. I am giving it 2.5, rounded up to 3 stars because I enjoyed reading it but I was wowed by the story. Perhaps you will like it better.

Thanks to Netgalley, William Morrow, and the Scene of the Crime Early Reads for the advanced copy. The opinions are my own.

Harper comes home one night to find her husband dead on the couch in an apparent suicide. In a panic, she calls her brother Lane, who suggests that they stage the scene to look like a break-in/homicide, knowing that Harper and her kids will not receive the insurance payout to live on if the death is ruled a suicide. Cut off from her financial resources while his death is being investigated, Harper and her two kids, moved in with Lane and his new wife Candace. Harper is critical of Candace, and possessive over her brother. In addition, Candace just finds Harper's son, Jackson, creepy. Tensions rise as the two women in Lane's life battle over his attention, and the secrets that all of them are keeping that must eventually come to light.

"The Sister-in-Law" is a fast-paced thriller, told throughout from the differing points of view of Harper, Lane, and Candace. Though predictable, it was none-the-less a fun, fast-paced read. Although this is the first book I have read by Pamela Crane, I am definitely looking forward to reading more by her!

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchnage for an honest review. "The Sister-in-Law" is scheduled to be released on 8/10/21/