Shari Lapena does it again! Not A Happy Family is unputdownable! As always, I was hooked from the first page. Loved that Lapena had me suspecting every character until the very end and I can honestly say I didn’t have it figured out.

Not A Happy Family is deserving of all of the raving reviews it’s been receiving. I look forward to every new Shari Lepana release and will be counting down until the next one!

Highly recommend to my fellow thriller lovers. Fans of Riley Sager, Ruth Ware, Mary Kubica and Fiona Barton will love this.

I really enjoyed how easy this was to read and how easy it was to get into it. Shari’s books have this formula for events that just work! I’m always a terrible guesser in murder mysteries and thrillers so I’m not sure if it was predictable or not, but she did frame everyone in the novel to be a suspect really well! While there was a lot of jumping back and forth between characters’ perspectives, it didn’t feel too abrupt or awkward. It actually added as nice divides in the story and made everyone more suspicious.

4 STARS

The Mercers are brutally murdered the night after an Easter Dinner with their three adult kids. Who, of course, are devastated.

Or are they?

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I'm embarrassed to say that this is my first Shari Lapena novel. Although she has been on my #TBR for ages (and is also Canadian!) I never got around to picking up one of her books until now. However, I plan to binge her back list ASAP.

NOT A HAPPY FAMILY is a binge-able thriller rife with juicy family drama. I really enjoyed watching the story unfold and the characters slowly begin to show their true colours. I had my suspicions early on but am happy to say that I was totally wrong!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my ARC! NOT A HAPPY FAMILY is out now.

I am no stranger to books by Shari Lapena and of course was thrilled to learn about her latest novel.

Addictive, thrilling, edge-of-your-seat thrills as you flip through the pages of this novel. Families are supposed to be close to one another, and be there for one another no matter what…right? Wrong! The Merton family was not a close-knit family at all. The family consists of two daughters and a son, plus their parents. Their mother was distant and neglectful, their father was vindictive and mean. Of course the family didn’t grow up close to one another. Then you have three siblings, all who each have their own secrets and betrayals from one another. Throw in a combination of secrets, jealousies, betrayals, and lies and you have the perfect recipe for something to do so devastatingly wrong. And that’s exactly what happens of course, With a family such as this there are bound to be so much drama going on and I LOVED it!

Not everyone in the family is as they appear to be. They keep up appearances and pretend to be someone they are not, but behind closed doors in their own private world, when the mask comes off, not all is as it first appears to be. So when the Merton’s (mother and father) end up killed in their own home, who to suspect? Was it one of their children? Was it another disgruntled family member? Or was it someone else entirely?

All will be revealed as you flip along to these thrilling and chilling pages and uncover the secrets, lies and family dynamics of this one Merton family. A wonderful novel that I highly recommend that you read.

Well done Shari. I am looking forward to your next novel!

I've read a number of Shari Lapena and this is by far the best. It has everything that I love in mystery/thriller.

What do I love in this genre you wonder? Well I love the unputdownableness (if it becomes a real word I lay claim to it). With shorter chapters it was easy to just squeeze in another chapter until I got to the point where I couldn't put it down and read the last third in one sitting.

The characters were a mixed bunch and honestly I didn't feel much empathy for any of them, and that's fine because it just made me look at everyone with suspicion. They were each flawed and coming from the different POV's made it fascinating see things through their eyes. Learning the family dynamics, motivation and relationships might sound daunting with this larger cast of characters but it wasn't hard to keep everyone straight.

The mystery was great, just when I'd think I solved it there would be another twist. I was kept on my toes while trying to connect the dots.

Not a Happy Family is the story of relationships within a dysfunctional family, where money is high up on everyone's priority list. It is so well written, suspenseful and full of secrets making everyone a suspect.

Definitely a book I highly recommend.

This book is part of my 2021 Reading Off My Shelf Challenge, obtained from SweetReadsBox (the suspense box).

This was a really entertaining domestic thriller - great for anyone who liked the movie “knives out”.

The Merton family gathers for Easter dinner, but the parents don’t survive the night. The children are all suspects in the murder - who could it be?

I think this is my favourite book by Shari Lapena so far - a great whodunnit for the summer!

I just love Shari Lapena's writing, it grips you from the get-go and keeps you guessing throughout with the multiple twists and turns.

Although this was the most predictable storyline from all of the Lapena books I've read (The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know), I still enjoyed the guessing game and she's still a "must-read" author of mine.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for a copy of the ARC in return for my honest review.

3.5 stars overall. Loved the concept. Kept my attention, and wasn’t predictable. Characters were relatable, and I found myself invested in their stories. But (having long been a fan!) I have high expectations of this author’s work, and I felt like the ending was an easy out. Would have loved to see a more complex twist!

Not A Happy Family, Shari Lapena

Family dinners include hearty servings of food and more often than not subtle dishes of quips where resentment spoils the family feast. For some, revenge is the sweetest dish best served cold. And for the Merton family their Easter dinner is one to be remembered especially when it’s served with two helpings of murder.

When multi-millionaires Fred and Sheila wind up dead following a family dinner their three children become the prime suspects. Due in part to the substantial inheritances each child stands to receive, their poor relationships with each of their parents, and their individual lives being uniquely chaotic.

Each child has motive and opportunity. But which one followed through with what everyone had been secretly hoping for?

This domestic suspense had an interesting premise and some clever plot twists making everyone a potential killer. While I felt it ran a little long in some parts the ending came to a sudden and abrupt end. Nonetheless it’s a quick, easy and enjoyable read.

My thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/ 5 stars


Not a Happy Family is my sixth book by this author. It is a mystery/thriller.

This book follows the Merton family. Fred Merton is the patriarch and he is not a nice man. Yet his wife Sheila has stood by him for years. They have three kids (Catherine, Dan and Jenna).

The book starts with a chilling prologue. Then we go back 24 hours to an awful Easter dinner. This family is majorly dysfunctional! And something goes majorly wrong!

This book had a lot of 3rd person POVs. There was Catherine, the doctor who was the Mertons' favorite daughter. Dan, the so who was unemployed due his father's actions. Jenna, a free spirited artist. Irena, the helper/cleaning lady who helped raise the kids. Audrey, Fred's sister who the kids dislike. Ellen, Audrey's best friend. Rose, Ellen's daughter and Catherine's best friend. And Detective Reyes who is a detective.

I found this book to be riveting. There is a major mystery to be solved. And even though there were only ten suspects the story was still very interesting.

There were so many lies and secrets. And while I wasn't overly invested in any particular character I was extremely invested in the overall story.

I had no idea what was really happening until the last chapters. And of course the epilogue was amazing. Once again the author follows her "formula" by having a new reveal on the last pages. This was a very enjoyable read!

This was such a great page turner! A dysfunctional family with a sudden murder after an Easter dinner and everyone seemingly is hiding something? SIGN ME UP!

This was such a fun and twisted family drama and I’ve been loving my domestic thrillers recently! I was hooked from the very beginning and I found it to be very fast paced!

Shari Lapena has cemented herself as the queen of domestic suspense and suburban paranoia and she is definitely one of my favourite authors! I relished in her ability to to implicate everyone and to constantly leave me guessing the whodunit!

Ultimately, I just couldn’t put this one down and I highly recommend it!

4.5 round to 5 for goodreads!

Not a Happy Family is a new suspense novel from bestselling author, Shari Lapena. I absolutely adore Lapena’s writing style and will keep coming back for more!
When the Merton’s are found dead after a tense Easter dinner, it seems as if everyone is a potential suspect. As all siblings alibi’s fall apart it seems they are all just as likely to have killed their parents. Set to inherit millions, which one is the murderer?
Great plot line and character development. Recommended for all who appreciate this genre.

* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

I've enjoyed each and every one of Shari Lapena's suspense novels. I was eager to read her newest - Not A Happy Family. And like the ones gone before, I tore through it in two days!
Check out the synopsis below - you'll be hooked!

"Brecken Hill in upstate New York is an expensive place to live. You have to be rich to have a house there, and Fred and Sheila Merton certainly are rich. But even all their money can't protect them when a killer comes to call. The Mertons are brutally murdered after a fraught Easter dinner with their three adult kids. Who, of course, are devastated."

Or are they? They each stand to inherit millions. They were never a happy family, thanks to their vindictive father and neglectful mother, but perhaps one of the siblings is more disturbed than anyone knew. Did someone snap after that dreadful evening? Or did another person appear later that night with the worst of intentions? That must be what happened. After all, if one of the family were capable of something as gruesome as this, you'd know. Wouldn't you?"

Lies. Secrets. Greed. Conniving. Scheming. Murder. Each and every character is unlikable and yes - detestable in one way or another, even the spouses of the Merton adult children. But it is Catherine, Dan and Jenna that are truly unbelievable. Their blatant desire to know how much they're going to inherit is brought up even before the funeral arrangements have been discussed. There are quite a few other players added to the mix - all with ties to the deceased Mertons. It did take me a bit of back and forth to keep track of who was who. But I loved having so many suspects. Kudos to Lapena on her characterizations.

Lapena lays a bread crumb trail of dropped hints, twists and turns on the way to the final whodunit. There's absolutely no way to predict the final aha moment. But I had a lot of fun guessing and re-guessing. Not A Happy Family had a bit of an Agatha Christie feel for me. (a good thing!) I really enjoyed this latest!

4.5 stars! This was a true page-turner for me! I couldn’t put this book down. It was a whodunnit thriller that kept me guessing until the very end! The characters were very well developed and the writing was excellent as always. This is definitely an auto-buy author for me. I highly recommend checking this one out!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Shari Lapena and the publisher for the ARC.

This was definitely the best Shari Lapena book I've read. In the past, I've found her thrillers to be quite cheesy, but this one kept me guessing! It wasn't really a unique concept by any stretch, with parents being murdered, but I really liked the way Lapena laid it all out and the characters she included. Audrey was quite the personality! I would definitely recommend this one if you are looking for a quick, easy to read thriller.

Wow! Just wow! Damn, this was a great whodunnit!

Toronto-based lawyer turned suspense author Shari Lapena has done it again with this tension-filled mystery that has twists, loads of possible culprits and a look into a highly dysfunctional family.

The cast isn't an overly likable bunch which sometimes bothers me, but in this case Lapena makes it work. Her characters are a fascinating and oh-so-very-flawed and by using multiple POVs, she gives her readers a bird's eye view into the lives of the Mercer clan, exposing their emotional damage, secrets, greed, and plausible motives for being the murderer. Readers may get whiplash from changing their minds about the identity of the murderer because they all have reasons and the capability to kill Fred and Sheila Mercer, a couple who has as much money as they have issues within their family.

While this is a tense suspense read, it is also a character study in dysfunction, sibling rivalry, deceit, and conflict within families. The suspense continues right up until the very end when the murderer is revealed with a quiet but still impactful resolution.

This is my favourite Lapena book to date. Well-crafted, highly suspenseful, and just s'darn unputdownable, this is a must-read this summer for fans of the mighty whodunnit!

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to DoubleDay Canada for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGallery for this ARC.
This book is publishes tomorrow, July 27th!

Brief Synopsis:
Fred and Sheila Merton hosted Easter Dinner with their family, which included their children, their partners and long time housekeeper/nanny. But then they are found brutally murdered just shortly after.
Everyone seems devastated…or at least they appear to be. No one wants to bring up the heated argument at dinner or the fact that now the children stand to inherit millions. Was this really a robbery gone wrong?

My thoughts/opinions:

I’ve been reading a lot of thrillers this year & I think my brain was slowly starting to get tired of them. But then I started this one on the weekend and could NOT put it down. This book is written in bite sized pieces with multiple point of views, however it all flows perfectly. The small sections hook you in and you keep telling yourself ‘Okay…one more chapter..just to see what happens’ and then next thing you know it’s dark outside & you’ve finished the book.
The beginning is a bit tough with the different characters & remembering who is who, but once you have that straight, it’s smooth sailing.
I was all over the place with thinking who the suspect was as well, as Lapena did a good job of making you think you were confident in knowing who it was but then pulling the rug out from under you just when you thought you had it figured out.

Lovely thriller, one of my favourites by her I think!

When their parents are found viciously murdered in their home after a very fraught Easter dinner, all three siblings are suspected of murdering them… but which one did it ?

✔️ I honestly had no idea who did it - at one point I must have suspected everyone in the book
✔️this s a fairly slow paced mystery, but it kept me turning the pages
✔️ the title definitely suits - this was not a happy family at all

Thank you to Penguin Random House/Doubleday Canada and NetGalley for early access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Not A Happy Family publishes on July 27, 2021.

Fred and Shelia Merton are a wealthy couple living in upstate New York. They are killed after their annual Easter Dinner with their three adult children, Catherine, Dan and Jenna, their partners and their long time house keeper, Irena. Fred's sister Audrey didn't make it to the annual dinner this year but that doesn't keep her out of the story.

Each of the living characters has secrets in their past that unfold for the reader concurrently, making it possible that anyone is the murderer. There is so much deceit in this book, between siblings, spouses, other family members, I didn't know who to trust when. It was a fast paced book, with enough possibilities that I did not know who had actually killed Fred and Shelia until the final reveal.

The story is told in multiple perspectives, enough that a few times I had to think particular hard to figure out what was going on and who was who especially at the beginning, but once I was into the story I kept up fairly easily. I would have liked to see more at the end of the book, it felt a little short but I loved the epilogue and it has me wondering what happened after the book ended to the characters.

This was a quick read for me, and I enjoyed the writing style, its my first book by Shari Lapena and I will definitely be trying out some of her backlist.

Rating: 3.5/5

Shari Lapena has done it again - another fantastic whodunnit, this time focused on a very dysfunctional wealthy family with 3 adult kids and their parents, the latter who are brutally murdered in their home. Who did it? Could it be one of the kids eager to get their sizable inheritance?

Fast-paced plot with short chapters that make you want to just keep turning the pages to find out happens next. The story has lots of twists and turns and the plot effectively unfolds from various points of view. The characters are fascinating and you just can’t look away from how greedy and shallow they are. Great ending and I loved the epilogue!!

I inhaled this novel and throughly enjoyed it. You really can’t go wrong with a Shari Lapena novel. Not A Happy Family is out next Tuesday - July 27.

Thanks to Penguin Random House Canada and Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.