The Vindictive Mother-In-Law

Oh my what this mother-in-law would do to ruin the life of her daughter-in-law. She was just pure evil. This character was one of the evilest characters ever.

Kelly recently lost her husband, she was arrested for his murder and put in jail. She was released when it was found that the cause of death was from a food allergy. Her mother-in-law doesn't believe it and is convinced that Kelly killed her son.

Kelly's son Dan see's a psychologist because he has a mental behavioral problem. So when Dan's girlfriend goes missing after they spend a night drinking at the lake everyone assumes that it is Dan's fault and he is arrested.

The town along with the mother-in-law make life miserable for both Dan and Kelly. Kelly knows her son is innocent but no one else believes it except for her.

Kelly must face down her mother-in-law and she is willing to do anything to save her son from his sociopathic grandmother without a conscious.

What a wild story. This is the most evil mother-in-law and grandmother ever. You will not believe what she is capable of doing. You also will not believe how fast friends turn into enemies when they think you or your son have committed a horrible crime, even when you have not been convicted of it.

If you like wild psychological thrillers than you will definitely like this one. I listened to the audio book and the narrator did a fantastic job. Very clear enunciation, a lovely voice to listen to and perfect tempo.

Thanks to Cole Baxter for writing a great story, to Dreamscape Media for publishing it and to NetGalley for allowing me to listen to the audio book and review it.

This is my second book by this author and I feel very much the same about this one like I did the first. It was a good story but I wasn’t blown away by the plot or conclusion. I was a little disappointed to not know how certain things played out, but I’ll live!

I will def keep reading books by this author, they make for enjoyable car ride audiobooks!

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I ended up liking this book so much that I bought it right as I finished.
I figured out part of the twist, mostly because I really wanted it to end up the way I was hoping it would end.
I liked the character i was supposed to and hated the ones I was supposed to dislike.
The narration was very good. It kept me hooked into the book along with the story.

This story was way too unrealistic for me. But, to its credit, I was interested enough to finish it.

The books begins with Kelly's sociopathic mother-in-law, Mona, getting Kelly jailed and tried for the "murder" of her husband. He died of a formerly unknown food allergy at a restaurant, but Mona is convinced that Kelly poisoned her son for no reason. The fact that it was obviously an accident, as neither Kelly nor her husband knew about this allergy, does not deter Mona in the slightest. Kelly sits in prison while awaiting her court case while her son, Dan, is sent to live with Mona, who (for reasons unexplained) realllyyy wants to raise Dan. While he is under her care, she refuses to let him see his therapist, take his medications, go to school, AND she locks him in the attic if he angered her. When Dan and Kelly are reunited, Mona vows to get her revenge (for what??).

This book is highly entertaining, and will keep you engaged. However, I had several big issues with it. Kelly and Dan both face serious murder charges for almost no reason. In Kelly's case, her husband died in public of a food allergy he was unaware he had. For Dan, his girlfriend goes missing and immediately he is accused of murder by her parents, even through no body has been found and he doesn't have a motive. Dan is also a diagnosed sociopath, which made very little sense to me as he was easily the nicest, most caring, and and most empathetic character in the book... not quite sociopathic behavior.


SPOILERS BELOW:
When Kelly decides that she needs to get Mona out of the way in order for all the craziness to stop, she accidentally finds Shelley in Mona's attic. Mona had kidnapped Shelley and kept her as revenge on Kelly for not letting Dan live with Mona, which was a weird reaction, but ok. Shelley has not eaten since being kept in the attic because Mona is clearly trying to poison her. Because Shelley has refused to eat the poisoned food, Mona gets a gun and conveniently returns right after Shelley had finished explaining everything that had happened. They fight over the gun and Mona falls to her death. Even though Shelley is a witness who had been kept hostage by Mona and happily explains this to the police, KELLY IS AGAIN SENT TO JAIL FOR MURDER. This was weird because not even did Kelly not murder Mona, but even if she had it was a clear case of self defense WITH a witness. But alright. Kelly's name is cleared and Dan is super loving and grateful to be reunited with his mother after she is released from jail, which again is simply not how sociopaths function.

Thank you to Netgalley, Cole Baxter, and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a really good book. It had a couple of good twists that I didn't see coming. Thrillers tend to be so predictable anymore that it was refreshing to listen to a good and unique story. This was the kind of book that had you guessing who was the "bad guy" throughout. It all culminated into an ending that left me wanting a little more.

Kelly loses her husband in a tragic accident and is accused of murdering him. After being acquitted of all charges, she tries to start her new life. She has a teenage son who's been diagnosed with a personality disorder and a mother in law who is evil incarnate. One night, her son's girlfriend goes missing and he's accused of her murder. The rest is a twisty thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. How far would a mother go to protect her child?

I've never read anything by Cole Baxter, and this won't be my last book of theirs. Four stars! Great audio too. The narrator was good with the different character's voices. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a good domestic thriller.

3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC copy of this book to read. This is my 2nd Cole Baxter book and I feel sort of the same about this one as I did the other that I read. This was good, but not mind blowing and I really wanted just a little bit more. It's a little simplistic and a big twist in the plot in the end and a little bit more realistic plot points would've made this great for me. This is about a mother named Kelly who is put in jail when her husband dies of anaphylactic shock. It is known that he is allergic to peanuts so her sociopathic mother in law accuses her of intentionally poisoning him and she's put in jail before any conclusions are made. After the autopsy we find out that he was also allergic to shellfish and that is actually what he died of-- his own decision to go to a seafood place not knowing he was allergic to shellfish. Kelly is very eager to get released and go back to be with her son. He's a diagnosed sociopath as well but he fights hard against it and tries to make sure he doesn't do anything wrong. But he starts having blackouts and his girlfriend disappears-- we are left to wonder-- did he kill her? The police seem to be after her family and automatically arrest him with no evidence and I thought the way the police targeted them so much got old. Our main character was just okay. Overall, I liked the ending of this book (though its not hard to see coming) and I liked the pace, I just didn't love some of the unbelievability and the lack of draw to the main character.

SPOILERS AHEAD:
The mother in law kidnapped the girlfriend and was hiding her in the attic as a punishment to the mother for not letting her raise the son (which I didn't really understand why she wanted that so bad?). The mother in law dies in the big show down by falling down the stairs. The girlfriend is rescued and Kelly's name is cleared.

I enjoyed this story. At times it seemed far fetched, like whose MIL is really that vindictive? but it was enjoyable. The mother in the story seemed to get a bit whiny halfway through, but rightfully so! The last 25% had me on the edge of my seat, until the big reveal. The audio version of the book was quite enjoyable as well!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Cole Baxter for the ARC of this audiobook, in exchange for my honest review.

This audiobook was sent to me by Netgalley for review. A mother and her mother-in-law at odds throughout the book...one thing after another...taking care of her own son...her husband dead...the book moves slowly, but it is an enjoyable read. The characters are not lovable...but pragmatic...the mother-in-law is someone we don't want to know at all...what really happened to the woman's husband? The main character...the son of the mother-in-law....??? What is going on with the main character's son? What will happen next...listen/read and determine the outcome...some red herrings throw us off track. I liked this audiobook.

From the first pages of the book, I felt nothing but pity for Kelly. Her life went down the hill the day her husband passed away. But the sudden death of the husband was only the beginning of the horror of a life that Kelly will live throughout the novel.

Although I liked the idea of the plot, there was something about Kelly's character that bothered me to the core. My compassion for her has changed about halfway through the novel as I found her character whiny and cross. The plot itself had great potential, but it took a long time to develop and unfortunately didn't stand up to the thrilling synopsis.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

What She Witnessed by Cole Baxter
-Expected Publishing Date: 5/3/22

(Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review)

I admittedly had a bit of trouble rating this one, bouncing between 3 and 4.

There was a lot going on here. A mother being declared innocent after being imprisoned for the murder (via ingestion of allergens), her angry rich mother-in-law intent on revenge, and a son with a personality disorder and a missing girlfriend.

What was leaning me towards 4 stars was that I really wanted to keep listening all I could to unravel this whole mystery and find out what was really going on. I loved the "boy blacked out and doesn't actually know if he committed a crime" did he/didn't he storyline. And the author discusses his psychological disorder along with him being in therapy, on medication, etc. and I appreciated the very therapy-positive plot points. And I adored this child. And as a mom, I super loved the mama-bear unrelenting desire to prove a child innocent.

But then there's the 3 stars. Sadly I figured out what happened early on. So a twist or big reveal wasn't one for me. I hoped I was incorrect and would be stunned, but I was right so it kind of was a let-down that it really wasn't as big a mystery as I expected. And I found the grandmother to just be way way over the top. Almost comically.

But overall, I enjoyed listening to this one and I will definitely keep up with this author.

The premise of this listen was a good one, but the main character was not particularly likable - she hit as very entitled in some ways. Despite that, this was an enjoyable listen with a good plot and good narration.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read What She Witnessed By Cole Baxter in exchange for my honest feedback.
Mrs. Karlson had finally been released from jail after being accused of murdering her husband. Mrs. Karlson joe faces the many challenges of keeping herself and her son protected from her mother in law who has a vendetta against Kelly and Dan. Mona Has made it very clear that she will do anything to hurt both Kelly and Dan no matter what it takes. This psychological thriller will take you through many emotions as people go missing and the wrong people get accused.

What She Witnessed
Cole Baxter
Three years ago Kelly Carlsen’s husband died of a severe and unknown allergic reaction to shell fish or nuts. After her wealthy and influential mother-in-law, Mona contacted the police insisting her son was murdered. Kelly was arrested and charged with murder. She was incarcerated until the autopsy deemed her not guilty. Dan, Kelly’s fifteen-year-old son was sent to stay with his grandmother, Mona. After Kelly was released from jail, she was reunited with Dan however, Mona was determined to get full custody of him. Dan was diagnosed with a mental disorder perhaps he inherited it from his sicko grandmother. He has been in therapy and on medication for quite sometime and seemed to be improving. When his girlfriend, Sherry disappears, he is charged with murder although there is no evidence, no body. His grandmother wants Kelly punished and will do anything to chastise her including destroying Dan. The whole town turns against Kelly and Dan. Kelly will stop at nothing to prove her son’s innocence. Evil Mona brings lawsuit after lawsuit in an effort to destroy Kelly.
The plot was surprising and while not realistic it was interesting and entertaining. However, author Cole Baxter needs to hire a good proofreader, the grammar was atrocious, word usage was terrible. All books MUST be proofread. While I am not a proofreader or editor mistakes, like in this tale jump out at me. I always suggest an author find ten friends and give them each a printed copy of the book, a red pen and pad of paper, ask their friends to read the book, mark and record any errors or questions. The author needs to carefully examine each questionable part and decide whether to make changes. THEN hire a really good proofreader to proofread. I am suggesting this to Cole Baxter. Mistakes distract from a good plot. I am subtracting 2 stars for proofreading.

What She Witnessed by Cole Baxter is a mystery/thriller quite unlike any I have read.

This poor woman!! What Kelly Carlsen goes through is the stuff of nightmares!

***************spoiler alert*************************

She is first accused of killing her husband and jailed for said offense, unjustly I might add. Her mother-in-law, Mona, starts an evil smear campaign against her and starts gaslighting and baiting her. Next. Mona sues for custody of Kelly's son. Dan. Then. Dan's girlfriend goes missing and the whole town turns against the family while Dan goes to jail with no hard evidence of a crime, just speculation.

Mona is a true sociopath. In her mind, it's all about her and the imagined evils others have perpetrated against her. She has been holding Dan's girlfriend in the attic all this time, trying to poison her! Kelly saves the girl. Mona accidentally falls down the attic and dies. What the heck! The evil police charge Kelly with Mona's death and she sits in a jail cell at the end of the book!

I would have liked a more satisfying ending for Kelly. This poor woman has been through enough.

Thank you Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this advance audio book in exchange for my unbiased review

3.75 ⭐ rounded up

How is your relationship with your Mother-in-law?

Unbeknownst to both, David and Kelly, David had a shellfish allergy and was unable to be revived during one date night. 3 years later, Kelly was acquitted for his murder, a murder that, Mona, her lovely MIL, accused her of. I did struggle with how she could be accused of poisoning him when they were at a seafood restaurant that he chose, and he ordered his own food?
Now, Mona is bringing lawsuit after lawsuit against Kelly since money is no object for her. She is a manipulative, impulsive sociopath and an all around nightmare to deal with. Guess what ~ she even knew about her son's allergy and never told him ~ mother of the year there.

Soon after being released from prison and trying to get her life back on track, Kelly's son, Dan, is accused of killing his girlfriend, Sherry, even though there is no body. I don't think we ever even got any evidence of why he was accused, except for Sherry's parents placing the blame. I wasn't expecting the twist in this part of the story.

Chelsea Stephens did a great job narrating and showing proper emotion when needed. I 2x'ed it, so it made for a pretty quick listen.

I didn't care for all the teenage drinking.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media LLC and Cole Baxter for the advance audiobook. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

While listening to the first half of the audiobook of "What She Witnessed" I wondered how one family could meet with so much tragedy. While I understand that this was the ideal set-up for the action of this book, it was still rather depressing. I liked the protagonist, Kelly, and her son, Dan, but the constant barrage of bad things that happened to them was a bit unrealistic, as were some of the details regarding legal matters and Mona's influence (yes, she has money, but she is so unlikeable that I found it hard to believe that she could sway public opinion to her side to such an extent). However, I didn't give up on the story, in part because I kept waiting for a moment when something shocking would be witnessed (re: the title) and that took a long time. I also kept hoping that Kelly and Dan would find their problems resolved. For that reason, I didn't love the ending, but I admire the structure of the book that brings us back to the beginning. Overall, this is an entertaining audiobook, but not totally satisfying.

3.5-3.75 stars

Wild, intensely dramatic, unbelievable, fun…how else can I describe the story? It was a good little mystery, although the ultimate culprit wasn’t super surprising. I did expect a few revelations that never came, so that was interesting. Partway through, the protagonist’s choices started making little to no sense, and she missed some very obvious clues. I realize she was dealing with a lot, but regardless, I wasn’t totally convinced by her. Either way, it’s a fun thriller type, and I’ll keep requesting books from this author as it seems they’re releasing audio versions of more and more of them. Fun stuff.

Kelly's husband dies accidentally and his mother does everything in her power to get Kelly convicted of his death. After being freed mother in law, Mona, tried to take her kid from her then sues her for wrongful death. You can't help but hate Mona right off the bat. All the things the mother and son had to go thru at the hands of Mona was horrible. This author is new to me and this book was a very good start from him. I plan to check out his other books. I recommend this to the thriller/suspense lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media and Cole Baxter for an ARC audiobook copy to review. As always, an honest review from me.

3.5/5 stars

Trigger warning: physical and emotional abuse, gaslighting, prison

Like:
- Likable main character and that’s key for me to connect with a story
- The cover art
- The villain in the story being a member of the family- very realistic and relatable for so many people


Love:
- An engaging plot from the beginning- lots of intense drama but the author makes it believable. I definitely wanted to keep reading, right from the first chapter
- Talks about APD, anti social personality disorder, in a non judgmental way that doesn’t dramatize or catastrophize this condition. I appreciate books that discuss mental health in a realistic meaningful way and don’t just use it to make the characters seem more interesting.
- The plot twist!!!!

Wish that:
- The middle of the book was more interesting. There’s lots of drama happening but it didn’t pull me into the story as much as I wished.


Dislike:
- The grandmother’s actions, but they also drive the story so it’s a necessary evil
- Watching the mom have emotional meltdowns/mental breakdowns due to all the stress in her life - very uncomfortable and painful to watch and to be honest got annoying to read real quickly.


Overall, an enjoyable page turner of a read with lots of drama and twists and turns. The middle got a little repetitive for me but the rest of the book definitely made up for it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first novel by Cole Baxter. That being said, I am looking forward to looking into more of his writing.

Kelly Carlsen has lost her husband, Dave, and is now being tried for his “murder”. Their son, Dan, also ends up in some serious trouble with the law. And who is at the center of it all but Kelly’s crazy and wealthy mother in law, Mona? Dave cut Mona out of his life when he was a teenager, now that he’s gone, she feels she has the right to interfere with Kelly and Dan’s lives…

What She Witnessed was a good thriller. I enjoyed the storyline, my only complaint is that it was a little predictable. But overall, very good. The narrator was great too!