And the battle lines are clearly drawn: THE MOTHER-IN-LAW.

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars


Lucy was so excited to meet Diana, the mother of her boyfriend, Ollie. Lucy's mother died when she was a teen and she hoped for a good relationship with her hopeful mother-in-law. But Lucy and Diana don't get off to an easy start--Diana has a rigid set of views formed by her own life experiences. From simply co-existing to arguing about parenting to eventual fisticuffs, their relationship is volatile. Then, one night, Lucy and Ollie hear a knock on their door. The police arrive and tell them that Diana is dead in an apparent suicide. But as the investigation progresses, it looks as if there is more to the story. Everyone in the family has history with Diana; but did someone actually kill her?


"'Then I'm very sorry to inform you,' the policewoman starts, and I close my eyes because I already know what she is going to say. My mother-in-law is dead."


This was my first Sally Hepworth novel, and I have heard good things, so I was excited to read some of her work. I found it to be a fast read, with a set of engaging characters. The book alternates between Lucy and Diana's point of view, with much of the story being told in the past. I found the format to be very effective; it worked very well at drawing you into the story and keeping you guessing at what was going on. Many parts of the story were told twice, in some ways, as both women told their side of the story, yet it never felt repetitive.

The main characters in this one are Lucy and Diana, but we have strong appearances from Ollie, his sister Antoinette "Nettie, " and Tom, Diana's husband. I can see why people enjoy Hepworth's novels--I felt very much a part of the story, and I was certainly stumped along the way. Sometimes there was a little too much rumination about mother-in-laws and the meaning of families for my taste, but oh well. I was too eager to find out what had happened to Diana.


"More importantly, you don't choose your mother-in-law. The cackling mercenaries of fate determine it all."


Overall, I really enjoyed my first Hepworth book. It was a quick, engaging, and interesting read that kept my interest. 3.75 stars.

I received a copy of this novel from St. Martin's Press and Netgalley in return for an unbiased review (thank you!); it is available everywhere as of 04/23/2019.

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