The Daughter in Law-Boland-Psych Thriller-Available Now

I like a good psych thriller where there are multiple suspects for whatever trickery is going on. The Daughter-in-Law by Shalini Boland falls squarely in that category.

The story starts with a prologue (as these often do) and then jumps to the current time. This prologue is one of the ones that you know involves the main characters – you just don’t know who or why.

I thought the premise was good, maybe a bit unbelievable, but that’s the way psych thrillers go. In this case, the cleverness of the author is that the characters are written in a way that makes the reader unsure of who to trust.

For example, alternating points of view between Caroline and Lillian give us the plot and tell us the story. However, it is difficult to get a handle on both of them. Caroline is off on the wrong foot, and Lillian seems overbearing.

But are they actually in the positions they seem to be in?

I know that sounds convoluted, but (as always) I don’t want to give anything away.

After their roles are (somewhat) clear, a third perspective appears. At first, those brief chapters seem disjointed. But a little more information appears each time.

It’s up to the reader to put 2+2 together, and some readers may come up with 5. I did figure out one twist, but the author had a couple of others I did not guess. Some of my guesses were wrong. I appreciate a plot that makes me change my mind about the characters.

A psych thriller is difficult to write about because a small slip could ruin the experience for another reader. However, I will say that you can read this quickly. I read it in one sitting. It clipped along at a good pace, and I was never bored.

Shalini Boland has become a favorite psych thriller author, and The Daughter-in-Law is a perfect example of why I will continue to look forward to her novels.