The Daughter-In-Law

by Diana Diamond

In the latest thriller from New York Times bestselling author of the Good Sister , trouble with the in-laws is taken to the extreme - with deadly results. From the steamy Caribbean tropics to the penthouses of New York City, dark secrets and bitter rivalry push a new bride and her mother-in-law to the very edge in this gripping novel of seduction and murder

The oldest son of the rich and powerful Donner family, Jonathan, prefers to remain a playboy, rather than take over the financial and social responsibilities of his family's business empire. But in a near fatal skydiving accident, Jonathan saves the life a radiant young woman, Nicole Pierce. Like no one else he has ever met, she is confident, independent and seemingly impressed by his fortune. Captivated by her beauty and intrigued by her mysterious past, Jonathan is determined to make Nicole his. After a whirlwind romance, the two lovers elope and begin a long honeymoon in the Caribbean.

Returning to the Donner family estate, Nicole is immediately embraced by the family. For John's younger sister and father, she is a breath of fresh air. But not everyone has fallen for her. Jonathan's dominant and powerful mother, Alexandra Donner, believes the newest member of the family is more interested in money than in her son.

Then, tragedy strikes and Jonathan is killed in a scuba diving accident, leaving Nicole to return to the family's compound, a young and tragic widow. But her mother-in-law thinks her son's death was no accident. Was he murdered? Could Nicole be behind the accident? Or, is Alexanrda jealous of her daughter-in-law? Alexendra sets out to prove Nicole's guilt and begins to uncover a web of lies and secrets. Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law come face to face in a gripping climax. The truth is far from clear as this gripping thriller twists and turns to its shocking conclusion.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller

304 pages, Hardcover

First published August 18, 2003

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! After reading the reviews here, I almost returned it to the library without starting to read it. I'm glad I listened to my own intuition and started reading it anyway. Its a Great book! Diana Diamond has a way to make you, the reader, believe whatever she wishes you to believe. I love a good 'who-done-it-book'. The author subtly gave very good reasons as to why any of the characters could have been the killer....or the hiree of the killer. The character of the daughter-in-law had me believing she was villian, then victim, then innocent bystander......to....-how was she in the end? The book is an easy read - with only 2-3 pages each chapter which means inwardly you feel - - I can easily read the next chapter before I go to sleep. The characters are so real, they feel like your next-door neighbour and the author's writing has you understanding why they behave the way they do. Great book - highly recommend it.

[Nicole Young · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐⭐
Not a book for me and not one I would recommend. It didn’t hold my interest, and probably felt more of a chore to get through. Not completely terrible, but I didn’t have a good experience. This book was an enjoyable read, but there are several things I wish were done differently.

2.5 Stars

I found this book to be a very slow burn At some points is would just drag on and lose my interest. This was more of a family
drama story than a murder thriller story. I had to push my was through and it did finally get good around the last 50 pages or even less. The story has so much potential and just fell flat.

This was the first book I’ve read by this author and it will not discourage me from reading others by her.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blah. I tried, I really tried, to get into this book as I have read previous works by the same author. I just couldn't do it. I read over half of it, then just couldn't bring myself to go any farther as I had figured out pretty much the whole thing. I read the last chapter (awful habit--if you don't like the book read the ending to see if you want to figure out how the story gets to the end from where you are). Anyway, read the last chapter or so and yep, had all the players in the right place and the right ones guilty. So that one word kind of explains the whole thing--Blah.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book on the discount table at Chapters for $2.00 so I thought what the hell. I'm glad I picked it up. I'm not normally a big fan of mysteries but this one was great.

A young wealthy man meets a beautiful young woman during a skydiving jump. After a few weeks they elope and become man & wife. His rich family, especially his mother believes this wasn't a chance meeting and she is out for his money.

While looking at property, he dies while scuba diving and his mother believes that she murdered him. Did she have something to do with the murder?

Now somebody is trying to kill the 'Daughter In Law". This list is long and you really have to wait until the last couple of chapters to have everything wrapped up but it's worth the wait.

Enjoy

[Lois Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is what is referred to as "a summer beach read." Enjoyable way to pass the time if you have nothing better to do, but certainly not a gripping read. Two things in particular were an irritant to me. (1) The author kept switching viewpoint within the same chapter. That should only be done at chapter breaks, as it creates a feeling of jerkiness; (2) the copy on the jacket was a dead give-away as to "who done it." So there was no mystery. If you read this book, don't ruin it for yourself by reading that copy first. It's a total spoiler.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a great read. I love Diana Diamond novels and they never fail to give the reader a fun ride. I agree with other reviews that you do not need to read the back cover of synopsis...it just basically ruins part of the mystery. So open the first page and don't fall to the temptation to take a peak at the synopsis!

[Brenda Klaassen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came to me through my trading group. I enjoyed the story. There was enough thouch of mystery that the story really held my attention. This author developed the characters well. I will seek out this author again in the future.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book about Nicole an average girl and Jonathan a millionaire, there were a lot of twist and turns in this book you never knew who to suspect. It was great trying to determine who the villain was.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought for the TITLE, as my daughter will assume that role in September! It turned out to be a fun summer read! Author is a pen-name, so there is intrigue there as well as the twists of the plot.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a lightweight book, but very enjoyable. It took me until almost the end to figure out who was really bad and who was good!

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty gay. But at least I read the whole thing, haha.

[Bluestarart Race · Rating 1 out of 5]

All of the books are confusing at best.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good at all.

[Gael · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Rosalie Carlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed. Will be looking for her other books now. Wondering WHO D.D. really is.

[Marca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did she or didn’t she? A fun summer read.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Available on Hoopla

[Plum-crazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this was a nice surprise! For some reason (possibly the cover!) I was expecting this to be more a glitzy Jackie Collins type tale but what I found was quite good gripping thriller.

Nicole & Jonathan have only been married a matter of weeks before he dies in a tragic accident....& with no prenuptial agrrement signed there's big bucks at stake. As Mother-in-law Alexandra is convinced that Nicole is a gold-digger & never loved her son, she has her investigated & Nicole's past comes back to haunt her. But Nicole has other troubles too as someone would appear to want her dead...

Is Alexandra right about Nicole? Did Nicole truly love Jonathan....or was she just after his money....

Nicole says that it's Alexandra who wants her dead. Will her Mother-in-law stop at nothing to protect her sons memory...& his money?

Bet you change your mind a few times before you get to the end of the book!

R

[Patti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan is a rich son of the Donner family and is more of a playboy than being involved in the family business. He saves the life of Nicole Pierce when they were skydiving. They have a seductive and steamy relationship and quickly run off and get married. Needless to say, Jonathan's mother is not very happy and feels her new daughter in law is more interested in the money than in her son. It all starts to become this thriller with twists and turns which might surprise you at the end. This was my first book by this author. It is a quick read and doesn't drag throughout the book.

[Katrina Balle · Rating 3 out of 5]

😹 this book was silly.
Naive girl with luck snags a rich man.
Her mother in law is sus of her and does a background check.
Her husband 👻 and the mother in law thinks this girl is after the family Fortune.
We never really find out of the naive girl did work her way into family.
Her past catches up with her.
The plot twist at end of book was hood.

[Kira Swidzinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author has a way of telling the story that makes you believe either side, I was torn about how it was gonna end and was completely surprised. Super easy read (I binged it on my flight to and from Nashville). Unfortunately for me there was just something missing to tie it all together

[A Literary Wanderlust · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Nancy]

Audio

[Diane Becker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ending was a surprise

[Rose]

F Dia

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read and I didn't suspect the daughter until toward the end, but I thought the ending was flat.