Review: The Mother-in-Law

Title: The Mother-in-Law
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Psychological Suspense
Publication Date: April 23, 2019
Recommended If You Like: character-driven suspense, family stories, surprising plot twists, good use of flashbacks

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself. 

The Book:

Lucy has always wanted to be loved by her mother-in-law, but has never been able to reach that point with Diana, and now it is too late. Diana is dead, having left a suicide note behind, blaming her death on the cancer it now turns out she never had. When the police suspect it's a homicide, Lucy and the rest of their family must look back on Diana's life and her death to find the truth.

The Good:

I could not put this book down. This year is already full of great family-driven psychological thrillers and suspense, and this book adds to that.

The characters are really well-developed. Hepworth does a great job of playing around with the idea of trope characters that, in her hands, subvert expectations, upping the suspense and surprises.

Plus, the ending left me completely surprised. I really loved how what I thought I knew wasn't true at all-I always appreciate a book that can truly have a conclusion I don't see coming.

Anything I Didn't Like?

There really wasn't anything not to like about this book. It more than met my expectations based on all the raving I had been hearing about it.

So...?

I would definitely recommend this book. This is a gripping, quick, highly suspenseful and surprising story.