The Unwelcome Guest

Caprice is the mother-in-law from hell, but she only really wants one thing. For her daughter-in-law Saffron to go away. And she will make sure that happens if it is the last thing she does. 

Imagine one of those crime scene white boards with lines going from one connection to the other. If there was a white board for this book, the lines would go crazy. No one is innocent, yet no one is really guilty of anything, though they do try. The reader is never quite sure of what is going to happen next, and I loved it. Caprice is just a horrible person, and she is fine with it. She wants the best for her son and Saffron is not it. Saffron, a lawyer, is the breadwinner in the household. She dotes on her husband Miles and two young boys. And then there is the nanny, Hayley, who is, at the very least, unpredictable. The wealthy brother who wants Saffron, not only because he wants to spite his brother, Miles. At some points in The Unwelcome Guest, every character is lying. That being said, this book was hard to put down. 

Caprice Jackson is as devious a character as I have seen in a long time. Her plot to get closer to the Nanny and encourage her to make a pass at Miles and then her plot to have Saffron arrested for the abuse of her children. And then we can’t forget about her confronting one of Saffron’s older clients to persuade him to file a lawsuit against her. Sadly, for Caprice, these all come back to haunt her. While her plots are devious and thought out, she underestimates how smart Saffron is; and also how well liked she is. The one person in this book who didn’t seem to get it was Miles, and I felt his “head buried in the sand” attitude towards his Mother was exhausting and disappointing. 

Amanda Robson offers nothing new in the crazy mother-in-law genre. But what she does is entertain. Because the book is told from all points of view; Hayley, Miles, Aidan, Saffron and Caprice, it can be confusing as sometimes there are no separators. This book has been described as insanely readable and I would agree. This was my first Amanda Robson book, and I really liked it. The chapters are short and fast-paced and The Unwelcome Guest is a twisty tale that keeps the reader engaged.