THE MOTHER-IN-LAW

When Diana, the matriarch of the
Goodwin family, unexpectedly dies soon after her beloved husband’s death,
suicide seems the logical explanation. But the circumstances of her death
quickly point to homicide, and too many family members seem to have motives.

When Lucy first met Diana, 10 years
ago, she had desperately hoped to find a warm, loving future mother-in-law. And
while her fiance, Ollie, adores his mother, his sister, Nettie, and her
husband, Patrick, wryly warn her that Diana has always been more practical than
sentimental. Aloof and absorbed with her volunteer work with refugees, Diana is
an elegant woman of few words but lots of money. Although she is devoted to
helping others navigate childbirth and the job market, she is loath to give her
own children any money because she is convinced that they should have the
opportunities to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, as she and her refugee
clients have had to do. Frustrated by their mother’s financial indifference to
their troubles, Ollie and Nettie long ago learned to turn to their soft-hearted
father, Tom. Yet as Hepworth (The Family Next Door, 2018, etc.) shifts
perspectives, chapter to chapter, we discover that Diana’s emotional reserve is
actually secretiveness and uncertainty grounded in her own traumatic
experiences. Her every attempt to show she cares is fraught with second-guessing
how others might misconstrue her meaning. And it is this careful shifting of
perspectives and time periods that exposes the sense of loss haunting the
family, keeping the reader questioning who might have murdered Diana. Was it
Lucy who finally snapped after Diana snubbed her one too many times? Or maybe
Ollie, whose shady business partner may have pushed him into a desperate
financial spot? Or perhaps Nettie and Patrick cannot wait for Diana’s estate. But
why was the suicide note left in a drawer?

A mesmerizing domestic mystery.