Title: The Mother-in-Law
Author: Sally Hepworth
Publication Date: April 23, 2019
Pages: 352
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Date Started: January 4, 2019
Date Finished: January 6, 2019
Format: Kindle

*I would like to thank the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Mother-In-Law. Not usually a term that brings warmth and rainbows to mind. In fact, this term is often said in hushed terms to one’s closest confidants. But what if you actively despised your Mother-In-Law, would you mourn her untimely passing? Or might you be the one who did it?

In The Mother-In-Law, we have a fairly normal looking family. Lucy is trying to keep her head above water dealing with three little ones while her husband works long hours to support them. But one day, her Mother-In-Law is found dead of an apparent suicide, but details suggest that the simplest answer is not actually the truth. Was Diana indeed murdered? And by whom? Everyone in this family has a motive and something to gain by Diana’s untimely passing.

This was the first book by Sally Hepworth that I have read, and I greatly enjoyed her voice and writing style. It was witty and spunky and had me turning the pages with ease. I really enjoyed this book, though had trouble connecting to the characters as the book got deeper into their motivations. I appreciated that the book provided the view-points and inner thoughts of Diana and Lucy, which showed that neither were bad people, they just didn’t understand each other. I guess where I had my issue was particularly with Diana’s daughter, Nettie. Nettie struggles with infertility and while I connected strongly with her in the beginning, she let her desire for children drive her to be a person I couldn’t respect or really believe as a character. Maybe it is just my personal experiences shaping my perspective of her, but it just didn’t sit well with me.

All in all, this was a quick read that incorporated some intriguing back stories and engaging dialogue.

Overall, 3/5 moose