The Mother-in-Law

Sally Hepworth has written an intriguing novel that grabs your attention and keeps the suspense going all the way until the end.

So many of us have a mother-in-law.  It is the age old joke about how hard it is to get along with your mother-in-law.  I remember my grandmother, my mother's mother never thought any of the spouses of her children were good enough for her son or daughter.   Now I have mothers-in-law and I have become for the first time a mother-in-law.  This book does capture some of the thoughts that go through your mind as both the mother and child that are the in-law.  How will we get along, not to step over and invisible boundaries, not to insult one another, not to offer unsolicited advice, not to meddle in the marriage or with the raising of the grandchildren, but yet to be apart of their lives

This book does invoke many of those feelings.  Lucy marries Oliver and is looking forward to a mother-daughter bonding relationship with her new mother-in-law, Diana.  Diana comes across as cold and reserved.  So the relationship seems strained.  Lucy and Oliver have three children in quick succession, but Oliver's sister Nettie and her husband are unable to conceive.

Oliver is having trouble with his business and finances are tight.  His father Tom has helped his children in the past but when he dies suddenly, Diana the mother has not been as generous.  She feels that you should work hard for what you want and things should not be handed to you.

Flipping back and forth between the past and the present and hearing the story mainly from Diana and Lucy's points of view we learn Diana has been found dead in her home and the police are investigating.  Learning about each character we learn that each has a secret that they have shared with the other family members.  As the secrets are revealed and the police all each character down to the station for interviews we unravel how a family can end up in such a precarious position.

A good plot that is not much of a thriller but does do the slow reveal of information that leads to satisfying conclusion.