The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth

The rundown: This book is written from the perspectives of their mother-in-law, Diana, and her daughter-in-law, Lucy. Diana is a strict, no-hands-out mother-in-law and wishes her family would follow her orders, especially her daughter-in-law, Lucy. Lucy doesn’t get much help from her sister-in-law, Nettie or her husband, Ollie on the strained relationship. Only Nettie’s husband, Patrick, understands the difficulty of being under the careful eyes of Diana. However, when Diana ends up dying with a suicide note the detective believes is forged, Lucy finds herself in the middle of the murder investigation, and everyone is diving deep into their complicated relationship. 

The review: This fast-paced book was an easy read. Readers will get sucked into Diana's past and Lucy's temperament and life with her husband and kids. Diana is a misunderstood woman who built walls around herself to be successful and be the family's matriarch. Lucy seeks motherly affection since her mom passed away and leans on Diana for love. The two women are opposites yet find common ground around family, desperation, and acceptance. The book plays into the past when Diana was a young college student, showing readers how Diana and Lucy's relationship became strained and the present of who killed Diana and what led to her death. The "who-dun-it" factor plays well throughout the story, and many readers will be shocked when the killer is revealed. And then the end is happy for no one.

Goes well with: None of This is True by Lisa Jewell, First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston, and Just the Nice Couple by Mary Kubica