The Son-in-Law by Ellie Monago

13th October 2025 Books

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AD | book tour – In The Son-in-Law, Ellie Monago delivers a chilling psychological thriller that explores the terrifying collision of past secrets and present danger. When a mother sits down to meet her daughter’s fiancé, she’s expecting polite conversation and hopeful beginnings. Instead, she’s staring into the eyes of the man who knows her darkest truths—the one person who could unravel her entire life.

Tense, twisty, and emotionally charged, this gripping novel asks: how far would you go to protect your child from the truth? And what happens when the past refuses to stay buried? What if your daughter’s fiancé was the one person who could destroy everything you’ve built?

Table of Contents

THE BLURB

“Mom, meet my fiancé.” I look at the man standing next to my daughter and my heart starts pounding. I know him. He is the only person who knows all my secrets.

I play nervously with the white tablecloth in the restaurant my daughter Lise picked out. I want to make a good first impression on her fiancé. I watch as the door opens and a man in a crisp white shirt enters holding my daughter’s hand. The moment I see his face my blood runs cold. Why has he found me?

Lise slips out to take a call, leaving me alone with the man who could tear my family apart. Gavin smiles as he says the words that I hoped he never would: “You know why I’m here and what it will take to make me leave.”

My world starts to spin as my past and present collide. He’s been lying to my daughter about who he really is. But I will do anything to keep her safe.

Because only I know what my future son-in-law is capable of, how far he will go to get what he wants. But he underestimates how far I will go to protect my daughter. Which one of us will make it out alive?

AN EXTRACT FROM THE SON-IN-LAW

I’m alone, and primed to make excuses for my husband. Story of my life.

No, not my life. Just my marriage. Stories have plot twists and marriages end and life goes on. I’m thirty-nine, which isn’t that old, depending who you ask.

“I reserved a table for four,” I say to the hostess ruefully, “but there will be only three of us. I’m sorry.”

“No problem at all!” She beams at me and tosses back her voluminous blonde tresses, so similar to my own. We’re separated by about twenty years, but this is Houston, a town built on oil, gas, and big blonde hair. “Just let me know when the rest of your party arrives.”

My nerves intensify. Will it actually be a party?

I sure hope so. I’d really like this to go well. The last time I saw Lizzie was at her college graduation two months ago, when she announced that she wouldn’t be moving home for the summer. That she’d never live with me again, in fact. She was staying in Austin. “I don’t need your money anymore,” she said. I asked why, did she have a plan? Because she didn’t have a job. “I’m figuring it out” was her curt reply.

Has she figured it out? I don’t know, she’s barely texted me back since then, and when she does, she skirts even the most direct questions. How’s she paying her bills? Is she still in the same studio apartment?

Tonight, it should all become clear. I’m about to meet her fiancé.