The Mother-in-Law by Karen King

It’s been a looooong time since I’ve reviewed a book, so forgive me if my thoughts come across as being a bit disorganized. To say my review skills are rusty is a big understatement! All right… here we go…

This was a compelling read, even though I knew exactly how it was going to end.

Well… I thought I did, at least.

What I assumed would be a fairly straight-forward story ended up surprising me by throwing a few unexpected twists my way. Even though I’d repeated rolled my eyes at Dana’s inexplicable (to me) confusion and second-guessing herself about the maliciousness (or not) of certain events, and her uncertainty over who was responsible for them, I found myself feeling the same way as the story neared its conclusion. The tables had turned: I wasn’t simply seeing things through Dana’s eyes anymore, I was basically living in her head, rather than my own, as I tried to make sense of all the doubt I was suddenly feeling about everything I thought I knew up to that point.

Well done, Ms. King. Very well done!

As I got closer to the end, I started feeling more suspicious about a certain character. I (mostly) disregarded them, however, because (a) certain things just didn’t add up, and (b) I’d reached the point where pretty much everyone was suspect in my eyes, so even if my suspicion was correct, it wouldn’t be anything to brag about because I was mentally pointing an accusatory finger at almost everyone involved in the story.

I don’t want to give anything away (including whether or not I was right to feel suspicious about the unnamed character above), so I’ll just say that the Big Reveal proved to be very satisfying in more ways than one.

Highly recommended. If you haven’t read this book yet, check it out. I think you’ll enjoy it.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Author: Karen King
Title: The Mother-in-Law
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publication Date: July 29, 2022 by Bookouture
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About the Book

Today is my wedding day. And I don’t know if I’ll make it out alive…

As I put my beautiful white wedding dress on, I try not to ignore my fears. I look in the mirror and feel more beautiful than I ever have before. I know marrying Sam is the right choice. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.

I reach for my bright yellow roses, and I force myself to be as cheerful and sunny as those flowers. I won’t dwell on everything that’s happened recently – ever since we agreed to stay with his parents for the weeks ahead of the wedding.

Glancing down at my sparkling engagement ring, I pretend to myself I can forget about the ‘accidents’ I keep having, that I can’t believe are coincidental. Or about his mother’s barbed comments, and the dark looks she gives me.

And, just for today, while I walk down the aisle towards the man of my dreams, while I say ‘I do’, I’ll try to put the secret I know about the family I am marrying into right out of my mind.

Even though that’s one secret that – if I was my soon-to-be mother-in-law – I might just kill to keep…

An absolutely thrilling and gripping psychological suspense novel, perfect for fans of Shalini Boland, Shari Lapena, and The Woman in the Window.

About the Author

KAREN KING is a multi-published bestselling author of fiction for both adults and children. She has also written several short stories for women’s magazines.

Currently published by Bookouture and Headline. Karen writes about the light and dark of relationships. She is presently writing two more psychological thrillers for Bookouture, and a romance for Headline.