The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

Hello everyone.

I have to give you a bit of housewife trivia. Our daggum (insert swearing like a sailor here, although I've known several sailors that never swore but do your best...make it really profane) ....as I was saying our daggum dishwasher is broken again. Of course, it was right after we cooked a whole bunch. We took several meals to a friend who doesn't cook, then there was Easter which we cooked for at the same time. End result, a kitchen that looked like a bomb went off. Actually, that would have made for a tidier kitchen! We made ham, turkey, boiled eggs, egg salad, chocolate cake, roasted carrots, my grandma's green bean casserole, and the always pain the butt sugar cookies complete with royal icing piping. But wait there is more...that is on top of the normal dinner dishes, errant bowls, and of course endless array of coffee cups. We just had the dishwasher fixed; they installed a new brain/control panel. That was short lived. The problem is that I love this dishwasher. I know there are people that have real problems, I get it, honestly, I do. But I love my dishwasher, like I love air conditioning, heating and skipping through commercials on the heaven-sent DVR machine. Sadly, hubby has informed me that he has figured it out that my beloved scouring friend is 14 years old and not worth sinking any more money into. Hold on, still more.... he has had some big system conversion thing followed by being on call. I don't understand it, all I know is he works 16 hours days and dishwasher mania must wait until the work load lightens.  You guessed it, leaving me with chipped nails and very dry hands and I still can't get dishes done faster than we use them.

During one of these silverware scrubbing sessions, I was thinking about sayings. Just little things people say, usually specific to their geographic region or age. The south is great for these types of things, like "tripping a$$ over tea kettle" or "slicker than cat s$#t on linoleum."  My mom had one she said often, I have no idea where she got it from. If Mom had to go out of her way, she'd say she had to go "round Robin Hood's barn." Now, I don't know about you but I never knew Robin Hood had a barn. Maybe all that take from the rich and give to the poor thing left him in need for storage for his ill-gotten gain. Perhaps Robin Hood's barn was a storage unit. Maybe before donning tights, he was a dairy farmer and housed his cows in the previously mentioned barn. I don't know, honestly..."round Robin Hood's barn." I'm shaking my head at the thought.

I recently read The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth. This is kind of billed as a thriller, but it is really a flat-out mystery. In the book we follow an extended family, but the story is told from the perspective of the two main characters, Lucy and her mother-in-law, Diana. Now despite Diana and her husband being well off financially, she refuses to help her family, yet has a charity that helps others. Hmmmm, curious.  She is cold and uncaring, sometimes completely apathetic. One day, Diana is found dead. A suicide note is found in the drawer of her desk. If you're committing suicide, wouldn't you leave the note in a more prominent place? Then there is the group she is a member of, where they discuss taking certain kinds of poison to end their own life. Diana is found with her mouth full of such a liquid. However, the autopsy reveals that she had no poison in her system and appears to have been smothered. Then why the note and mouth full of bleck? This is the mystery that this book explores. As it does, a saying came to mind.... for Diana "there is a method to my madness".  Ever hear that one? You'll understand by the time you solve this mystery. Yep, that is what ran through my head as I read this book. Read is too normal of a word, I flew through this novel. Two days, start to finish and that is with my constant mountain of dirty dishes beckoning me. Obviously, the pacing of this is fantastic or a pokey reader like me would still be on chapter five.

Don't wait, get yourself a copy of this book, a cup of coffee, and prepare to be dazzled.  I suggest a paper cup. I've got enough to wash!