Rating: 
Summary: Teetering on the Brink of Caricature
Review: A rollicking, slapstick story of four absurdly awful mother-in-laws and four put upon wives. On an evening of low spirits and hard liquor, the ladies conspire to "accidentally on purpose" knock off the old girls. The delightful Ellie Haskell, loving wife to the handsome Ben, mama to the darling twins Tam and Abby, and mistress of Merlin's Court gets the action going when she plans an anniversary celebration for the in-laws -- only to find out that the actual wedding never happened. Set in the charming English seaside town of Chitteron Falls, this story is action packed, completely over-the-top, full of delightfully eccentric characters and wickedly witty dialogue. Accidents begin to befall the mother-in-laws, and when one of them dies exactly as dreamed up by the quartet, the saga goes into high gear. A delightfully far-fetched cozy mystery sure to charm.
Rating:
Summary: Teetering on the Brink of Caricature
Review: A rollicking, slapstick story of four absurdly awful mother-in-laws and four put upon wives. On an evening of low spirits and hard liquor, the ladies conspire to "accidentally on purpose" knock off the old girls. The delightful Ellie Haskell, loving wife to the handsome Ben, mama to the darling twins Tam and Abby, and mistress of Merlin's Court gets the action going when she plans an anniversary celebration for the in-laws -- only to find out that the actual wedding never happened. Set in the charming English seaside town of Chitteron Falls, this story is action packed, completely over-the-top, full of delightfully eccentric characters and wickedly witty dialogue. Accidents begin to befall the mother-in-laws, and when one of them dies exactly as dreamed up by the quartet, the saga goes into high gear. A delightfully far-fetched cozy mystery sure to charm.
Rating: 
Summary: Obnoxious mother-in-laws nearly become extinct.
Review: A smart and funny cross between a comedy of manners and a murder mystery, Dorothy Cannell's How To Murder Your Mother-in-Law is a true delight.
The heroine Ellie Haskell has a sensual and handsome husband, adorable two-year-old twins, a fashion disaster for a housekeeper who is well-meaning albeit always slightly tipsy, and a cousin who enters through the windows -- never the doors -- of their English mansion quaintly named "Merlin's Castle."
Into this charming mix arrives her straight-laced mother-in-law and mostly deaf father-in-law who have their own surprises in store for Ellie and her husband.
After one extremely frazzled dinner party that goes awry, Ellie marches down to the pub where she comes upon the local rector, the daughter-in-law of the local patroness of the arts, and another friend who are all having mother-in-law problems.
Their fantasies of "doing the old girl in" begin to be realized much to these ladies' horror. Ellie must move swiftly to unravel the mysteries of these deaths to save her own mother-in-law
Rating:
Summary: Side Splitting
Review: Absolutely the funniest book I have read in a long time. If anyone has had to deal with a Mother-in-law then this has to stike a cord. Even if your mother-in-law was one of the best. An excellent book, one you can recommend to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: The Universal Problem. . . .
Review: I found this book very funny and entertaining. It really kept me guessing until the end (and that's hard to say about many mysteries these days). I like the characters' dry, wry senses of humor.The story was very well-crafted up until the end, where the solution is sort of dumped on the reader with lots of side explanation to make it seem more believable. It was a bit on the far-fetched side, and in a weak sort of way.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to Cannell's usual standard
Review: I had read two other Cannell books about Ellie Haskell, _The Thin Woman_ and _The Spring Cleaning Murders_, and liked them very much; however, I didn't think this one got going until the middle of the book. Ellie has always had self-esteem problems, but here she is a limp dishrag, letting all and sundry wipe their feet on her while she simpers martyred phrases and puts up with it. Her husband is a bit of a dimwit too, which wasn't the case in the other two books. Once Ellie leaves the house, though, encountering the mysterious Mr. Savage and travelling on to the neighborhood pub, immediately the action picks up and Ellie becomes truer to her previous character. Then it is Dorothy Parker meets Donna Reed, as Ellie gives as good as she gets, and Cannell can keep us smiling with her witty rejoinders. "He's round the bend, he is!" Jonas bent to pick up the dropped spoon and stood wagging it at me. "Mr. Savage is a musician," I reproved, closing the door. "By gum, you can say that again." Perhaps Ms. Cannell is such a nice person that she is unable to write believable nastiness. Whatever the reason, the first half of this book falls flat, but the second half is quite entertaining, including a very sweet scene between Ellie and the mother-in-law of the title as they begin their reconciliation.
Rating:
Summary: Another fun read with Cannell's Ellie
Review: I've only recently discovered Cannell's Ellie Haskell series and am quite thrilled with the find. I've just finished this one (How to Murder Your Mother In Law) and was again wildly entertained. At times while reading, especially during the coversations between Ellie and Mrs. M (a character introduced in earlier books), I laughed out loud (much to the amusement of my son). And the interactions between various women in the town and their mothers-in-law will strike a cord with many a reader. I can't wait to dive into the next adventure of Ellie (and her wonderful husband, adorable twins, and faithful cat).
Rating:
Summary: The Universal Problem. . . .
Review: The elder Mrs. Haskell is back, only we've just discovered that legally she has no claim to the name, having never actually married Ben's Jewish father due to religious differences. Now she's determined to stay with her son, Ellie's husband Ben, until the elder Mr. Haskell makes up with her - which doesn't seem to be about to happen in a hurry. Ellie is neigh driven to distraction by Ben's martyred mother and finds out to her surprise that she isn't the only one suffering from a severe affliction of Mother-in-law. Three other women in the town have similar problems and when they meet up (quite by accident) at a local pub after Ellie had stormed from husband and home, they fantasize over how to murder their mother-in-laws to let out the tension that had built up within them. When they finish their make-believe plotting they disperse, feeling the better for it, though somewhat guilty. However, when not long afterwards the first mother-in-law dies by the method determined safest by the bitter daughter-in-laws, they are guiltily horrified. Worse, relations between Ellie and the senior Mrs. Haskell had just begun to show promise when her life is suddenly endangered! More fun with Ms. Cannell! This is another great Ellie Haskell book.
Rating:
Summary: Lesson: never plan your mother-in-law's murder in public
Review: The elder Mrs. Haskell is back, only we've just discovered that legally she has no claim to the name, having never actually married Ben's Jewish father due to religious differences. Now she's determined to stay with her son, Ellie's husband Ben, until the elder Mr. Haskell makes up with her - which doesn't seem to be about to happen in a hurry. Ellie is neigh driven to distraction by Ben's martyred mother and finds out to her surprise that she isn't the only one suffering from a severe affliction of Mother-in-law. Three other women in the town have similar problems and when they meet up (quite by accident) at a local pub after Ellie had stormed from husband and home, they fantasize over how to murder their mother-in-laws to let out the tension that had built up within them. When they finish their make-believe plotting they disperse, feeling the better for it, though somewhat guilty. However, when not long afterwards the first mother-in-law dies by the method determined safest by the bitter daughter-in-laws, they are guiltily horrified. Worse, relations between Ellie and the senior Mrs. Haskell had just begun to show promise when her life is suddenly endangered! More fun with Ms. Cannell! This is another great Ellie Haskell book.
Rating:
Summary: Silly yet fun!
Review: Well, darn; bought this book hoping for ideas! Kidding; however they did come up with some goodies with naughty results.
This mystery cozy is set in England and has the funny sign-song style I love.
When four "ticked-off" daughters-in-law, get together, they find they have much in common and chat about ways to get rid of their acquired Mothers-in-law. The end result is funny, but has a scary moment or two. Plus I was guessing up to the end, which is pretty unusual, as I'm really Sherlock Nose in disguise!
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