Lapena's latest slow burning, twisty tale takes you down a dark path of lies, secrets and deceit alongside one wicked family where everyone has more than a few screws loose.

The Merton family definitely does not need enemies when they have a family this twisted; talk about dysfunctional! Makes my family look normal.

The story starts with a gruesome bang then slowly unfolds, revealing the true events leading up to the night of the murders while leaving a couple of surprising twists throughout.

I've read quite a few of Lapena's novels, and in my opinion, this one is her best work yet. I really enjoy a slow burning domestic mystery when it's done right, and I think Lapena did a fantastic job of creating such vile characters while still being able to keep the reader interested with the storyline. You want to know what deranged thing these family members will do next.

I did have one tiny problem with the fact that a lot of characters introduced at once. It took me a few chapters to get them all straight in my head. But, once I had everyone straight, Lapena kept me hooked. I also really enjoyed the ending, especially how Lapena managed to leave the door to the story open just a crack.

Not a Happy Family is chock-full of unlikable, terrible characters that will keep you on your toes and you'll never know who is telling the truth.

I would absolutley encourage fans of Lapena's earlier work to add this to their TBR. It's out July 27th so you can find out for yourself about how twisted this family really is.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House/Doubleday Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Not A Happy Family was a solid book by one of my favourite authors Shari Lapena. It follows a wealthy family in a quaint little neighbourhood who are enjoying a wonderful Easter dinner together. All goes a little haywire when Fred (the father) causes a stir at the dinner and all the kids leave unhappy and unsettled. Fred and his wife Sheila are found brutally murdered the next day and of course the adult children are to blame. Each one having a reason as to why it could be them. Maybe it was Dan who needed the money immediately. Or maybe it was Catherine who would do anything to live the life her parents did. Or Perhaps it was Jenna, the youngest of the three who was always feeling cut short of her siblings. Or could it be the house keeper Irena- she was the first to find them and started tidying up the scene. It is your job to figure out who the guilty one is and what their motive was. You would think you would know if one of your siblings was a murderer. Wouldn’t you?

I loved that this book had so many twists and turns and had me guessing until the very end. Each of the siblings had a plausible reason to commit the brutal murder and it was a fun read trying to figure out who did it. Not A Happy Family has short chapters (my fave) and had me turning the pages so quickly. I needed to know what was going to happen and with each chapter only being a few pages, I got through this one in only a few sittings. Shari Lapena has a way with her writing and she will lead you down multiple incorrect paths throughout the story. I really liked the whodunnit style of this book and her classic “open ended ending”. I also really liked the fact that with each of her books, she lets you really digest the book and predict where it will go in the future. Overall I rate this book a solid 4.5 stars. It was my second favourite by her and just further solidified that I will be reading more from her in the future. If you are looking for a book to read by her while you wait for this one, I definitely recommend reading The Couple Next Door. Check out my review of that one if you’re interested in learning more about it. Not A Happy Family hits shelves on July 27th and I highly recommend you put this one on your list immediately!

Thank you to Shari Lapena, NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books for this advanced copy. I absolutely loved it and cannot wait to read more from this incredible author.

Not a Happy Family - Shari Lapena
3 siblings hear the horrid news that their parents have been brutally murdered the night of their Easter Dinner. When the truth comes out about the inheritance that they are set to gain, the police begin looking into each of the siblings and their potential motives.
Catherine - dreamed of having the house left to her, only to have her father break the bad news to her during Easter Dinner that they intend to sell and downsize.
Dan - worked hard with the expectation of taking over the family business, only to have his father sell it. Dan is left bitter, jobless, and with financial stress after tying his money up in investments. During Easter dinner, his father refuses to lend him money, leaving him out of options.
Jenna - possibly the black sheep of the family, the artist with very bold work. She lives off an allowance from her parents and after their Easter dinner, after everyone else has left, her dad breaks the news to her that he intends to cut her off.
Could any of the three really have it in them to commit this brutal murder? Was someone framing them? Was a sibling trying to frame another sibling?
I loved this book! Every aspect of it was so easy to visualize that it really played out like a movie in my head. The characters weren't exactly likeable, but you knew that was due to their upbringing and circumstances. I was really left guessing until the very end, and I can't say that I was exactly shocked, but loved it all none the less. I especially loved how the ending wasn't exactly wrapped up in this nice neat bow, that there was a little left open. Sequel??? This is the 4th book I've read of Shari's and I really need to read the others, because her domestic suspense is like no others!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5.

Thank you to NetGalley, Shari Lapena and Penguin Random House Canada for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Lapena's novels so much and was so excited to receive this one for review. Lapena is like the queen of the cozy, interesting mystery that you just want to curl up and read in one sitting. I really liked the premise of this one and I found myself reading through the night to get it finished even thought the PDF format is extremely hard to read. I love the really short chapters, they make it so much quicker to get through the novel and each chapter left you off wanting more. I would definitely recommend this one! It's family drama is so interesting.

My favourite book so far of 2021!

I loved everything about Not a Happy Family! I was so hooked on each of the children's storylines and how each of them could of played a role in their parents' murders. I kept bouncing back and forth and back and forth between all of the characters on who the killer could of been. I loved how each child and family member had their secrets and how it would play out. Also I loved the ending! Didn't see it coming.

Thank you to Netgallery and Penguin Random House Canada for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As a huge fan of Shari Lapena, I was SO thrilled to receive this ARC before release! This is a great mystery/thriller with so much built up suspense/tension, I couldn’t break away from it for long. Stories that involve rich families with hidden secrets are a guilty pleasure of mine (haha), and this one sure didn’t disappoint! Lapena is a force to be reckoned with in the domestic suspense genre, and with “Not a Happy Family” will undoubtedly leave readers wanting more…
A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC of this fantastic read!
4.5/5

I love Shari Lapena's novels, and I absolutely adore thrillers about dysfunctional families. Bring on the drama, the childhood secrets, the backstabbing over inheritance! Especially in the hands of a writer like Lapena, who crafts vivid, engaging characters, and tosses in a few twists and turns, Not A Happy Family had me flipping through the pages as quickly as I could.

When millionaires Fred and Sheila Merton are found murdered in their stately upstate New York estate, their three adult children quickly become suspects. Prior to the murders, the family had had a rather explosive Easter dinner, where Fred's cruel remarks sent the children and the long-time family housekeeper walking out early. All the children had motive to want to kill him: oldest child Catherine wants the family home, but learns on Easter that her father plans to sell it. Middle child Dan thought he'd be inheriting the family business, but his father just sold it to someone else. And youngest child Jenna is an artist who lives mostly off her father's financial support, but he doesn't seem inclined to keep that going for much longer. 

Then there's their aunt Audrey, who claims Fred had made plans just before he died to leave her half of his wealth, except he was murdered before he could meet with his lawyer to update the will. Pissed that the murder has deprived her of the inheritance, Audrey is convinced one of the children killed their parents, and is determined to find the killer and turn them in. Also on the list of suspects are the housekeeper Irena, who, more loyal to the children than to her employers, is found to have cleaned off the murder weapon. And an unexpected player, who may also benefit from Fred's death.

It's a domestic puzzle straight out of Agatha Christie, and I was riveted the entire time! I love the family dynamics. I love how the siblings immediately banded together out of a shared dislike for their father and a shared, illicit happiness at his death... and I especially love how they start turning on each other when the investigation starts narrowing in on each of them. Lapena has done a great job in making all these suspects have believable motives, and also in giving all of them shaky alibis. I didn't expect the reveal when it came, and to be honest, I didn't understand why the mother had to die as well when it seemed like most of the siblings' beef was really with their father.

The epilogue was also *chef's kiss* masterful. I don't often pay much attention to the epilogues of these kinds of novels -- I think mostly because they're pretty predictable in that there'll either be one final twist, or a nice glimpse into a main character's happy ending. But this epilogue filled me with delight. i think it's because the ending felt so unjust, and, well, kinda mean, and the epilogue was like a sly little wink that things will turn out as they should. I loved it.

+

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Set in an upscale Hudson Valley, New York, neighbourhood dripping with old money this delicious domestic thriller is rife with suspense and tension, just what a thriller ought to be. Each character has good (?) reason to kill Fred and Sheila Merton. And the deeper the investigators Reyes and Barr dig the grimmer things appear. Blocks of deceptions are stacked high and there are bends galore until the end. Some characters lie better than others but they all seem quite adept at it.

The adult Merton children have very different personalities from one another but they all had one thing common...their childhoods. Catherine, Dan and Jenna and their partners begin to eye each other with suspicion, anxiously and wearily existing in a fog as they are questioned relentlessly. I like that the investigators are not portrayed as foolish or silly but intelligent. And it's not only the family members who have reason to kill.

The short and snappy chapters are written purposefully without superfluous details. The characters aren't likeable but in my view they aren't supposed to be. I really enjoy this author's writing style, very readable and seamless.

Readers of mysteries and thrillers should not miss this one!

My sincere thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the privilege of absorbing this riveting book!

It's Easter Sunday at Fred and Sheila's. They are very rich and have Catherine, Dan and Jenna (their adult children), their children's spouses and Irena, their former nanny/now cleaning lady, for supper. Fred is not a nice man and has always pitted his Catherine, Dan and Jenna against each other and belittled them. Sheila retreats into herself when things get too stressful. Sunday dinner, as usual, isn't pleasant and the children leave before dessert is served.

A couple days later, Irena finds Fred and Sheila murdered in their house. It looks like it could have been a robbery gone wrong. But the police look at Catherine, Dan and Jenna because they had the most to gain financially from their parents' deaths. They aren't sad that their parents are now dead and look forward to spending their inheritances.

I've read a few other books by this author and liked the writing style. It's written in third person perspective with a focus on wherever the action is. As a head's up, there is swearing. I thought the story was intriguing because so anyone could have killed Fred and Sheila since Fred had given many people reason to. And as the book progressed, more and more information is revealed as to why someone would murder Fred. I thought the "whodunnit" was a bit of a letdown, though, and the ending would have been more exciting. All of sudden it was revealed and the book was done.

Shari Lapena is probably my favourite Canadian thriller author. Time after time she had hit it out of the park for me. I love her writing style; it is to the flush yet to point. This book was a bit different than the previous Lapena books (I have read them all), more of a domestic suspense than a typical thriller, and I really, really enjoyed the unexpected change. I read this in less than 24 hours, completely engrossed from the moment I picked it up. If you are a fan of mysteries that revolve around dark, twisted and unhealthy familial relationships than this is the novel for you!

Shari Lapena has quickly become one of my go to authors. She always dishes out fun and quick domestic thrillers. Not a Happy Family did not disappoint.

Right away we learn that the esteemed Fred and Sheila Mercer have been brutally murdered after their family’s Easter Dinner. The question is: who could have done such a thing? From the outside, this family of 5 looks like they’ve been painted with all the riches and luck. As we get to know the siblings, and the people who surround them, we learn that nothing is as it seems. While this is a classic storyline, Lapena delivers it with ease, and paints such interesting and clear characters that you just need to keep reading.

Although I made several guesses along the way about whodunnit, I was happily surprised that I was wrong!

4.5 Stars

A sincere thank you to Penguin Random House Canada, Double Day Canada and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I was so excited to get an advance copy for this book from NetGalley.......

Shari Lapena is such an amazing psychological thriller author.....I breezed through this book picking it up whenever I could .....my mind kept changing as to who was the one who did it !

A family of wealth and privilege who to anyone looking in seems to have it all.....but their are cracks in every family members lives.....when a murder happens what will transpire......do each think the others done it? We get lots of insight into each member and how messed up each one is.......up until the end with the ultimate payback.......

You can not go wrong picking up one of Shari Lapenas books.....I’ve enjoyed all so far!

I would like to thank NetGalley for my advanced copy , all opinions expressed are mine.

I love a domestic, whodunit thriller. I enjoy reading about all the secrets & never really knowing who the guilty party is. This book has all that & more! Every suspect has their secrets & I was never really sure who was the guilty party. There’s not really a “good” character to root for, that may make some readers disheartened but it didn’t bother me too much. I really enjoy Lapena’s writing & I plan to read more!

The Queen of Suburban Paranoia strikes again!

Wealthy residents of Brecken Hill, upstate New York are shaken by the gruesome murders of their neighbours, Fred and Sheila Merton. The three adult Merton children, who will inherit $32 million, soon become suspects.
I’ve come to expect a cleverly planned and plotted whodunnit from Lapena and she always delivers. She’s created tension between all the characters, exposed greed and deceit, tossed in a few twists, and led her readers on an adventure looking for clues. I felt like Hansel and Gretel following breadcrumbs as I traipsed from home to home looking for a sign of who might have murdered Fred and Sheila. You see, everyone in Brecken Hill is keeping secrets – even the dead!

I didn’t like one single character. I wasn’t meant to like them. The three children and their spouses are despicable BUT they are repulsive enough to earn my attention, plus they have engineered their own conflict and that earns my interest. They are the way they are because of how they’ve been raised and it’s so foreign to me that I can’t help but read with my jaw dropping and head shaking at the lengths they go to creating deception and cruelty.

Every single character in this book has motive. It’s the readers job to exclude them from the list of suspects. I love being an active participant in an investigation. It draws me into the plot and keeps me interested. Lapena uses sibling rivalry to create a tense atmosphere and because none of the characters are likeable, rather than root for one or have empathy, you become transfixed on the scenario unfolding. You have a front seat to the siblings ruining their life. It’s like a train wreck and every time one of them does something….anything….it creates conflict and generates problems that require resolution. These problems are what carry the plot forward.

The Mertons are ‘Not a Happy Family,’ but read for yourself and determine if murder seems overkill.

New York Times’ Best Selling Author, Linwood Barclay, has called Lapena ‘The Queen of the One-sit Read.’ I’d completely agree. I dare you to try!

Publishes July 27, 2021

I was gifted this advance copy by Shari Lapena, Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

4.25 stars

This was an entertaining thriller/mystery. At first, I thought I was going to have difficulty keeping track of the various characters, but they became more clear as the plot progressed. I had my prime suspects for who had committed the murders from the beginning of this story, but alas, I was wrong. There were a couple of details I’d have liked to see resolved a bit more clearly, but the plot and pacing were generally strong, and I couldn’t help smirking at the epilogue scene. Overall, definitely give this one a read if you’re a fan of the author, the genre, or just fun family dramas.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada/Doubleday for this compelling domestic thriller by Shari Lapena. This character study and mystery had me riveted to the pages throughout, and I found it a tantalizing, twisted puzzle.

The plot revolves around the gruesome murder of Fred and Sheila Merton, a multi-millionaire family in their mansion in an exclusive upstate New York area. Everyone left upset and angry after an unpleasant annual Easter dinner with their three adult children (with their spouses and partner) and their longtime housekeeper present. The wealthy Fred Merton was a psychopath who took delight in emotionally abusing and belittling his three adult children. Their mother was distant and ineffective and did nothing to spare them the insults over the Easter meal.

Fred was planning to revise his will and leave half to his sister, absent with the flu. This would still make the three siblings wealthy, but they were greedy and wanted the original bequest. He was murdered before any change could take place in the will.

We are introduced to the three adult children, their backgrounds, personalities, and unpleasant home life. None of the family were likeable, but this enhanced the mystery of who killed the Merton parents. All came across as vile, duplicitous people beset by avarice, mistrust, and covetousness. As each character fell under suspicion, they were only too eager to believe another must be guilty and shift the blame.

The police must sort through a series of lies, false alibis, deceit, distrust, and suspicious behaviour. There were many surprises and red herrings uncovered in the investigation. It seemed that the truth would remain hidden, and justice would not be served. I was fascinated by the personalities and their behaviours following the vicious murders and their growing distrust of one another.

I loved the open-ended conclusion to the story and the hint of what might happen in the future. Brilliant! I thought this was the best so far of Shari Lapena's thrillers. As she is a Canadian writer,
I just wish that she would use a Canadian location in one of her mysteries. Recommended.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC for my honest review. A Quick, easy, suspenseful, beach read. You read, you sleuth, you get drawn to the solution. Shari Lapena has become known for her engaging crime novels, and this one will not disappoint.

3.5

Not a Happy Family is about a family whose lives are all changed when there's a gruesome murder. The family all suspects each other and is very shady about their whereabouts on the night of the crime. As the story goes on, the family falls a part, and back together again, while the police fight to figure out who committed the murders with a complete lack of evidence.

I enjoyed this story! It wasn't Lapena's best but it did keep me engaged and reading. I really couldn't figure out who the killer was! I found this story a bit choppy, as there were so many characters and little snippets the whole way through. It was fairly easy to follow and even though each character played a small overall part I feel like I was able to get to know them and understand them well enough. The characters themselves weren't likeable but that didn't influence how I felt about the book, which does happen. I felt like the book kind of went along with nothing happening but so much happening at the same time. The police investigation yielded nothing for so long, most of the story is the police trying to figure something out and each of the characters expressing their thoughts and feelings on who they believe the murderer is. Lapena is such a great writer and this was another good story! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the free preview in exchange for an honest review.

It's expensive to live in Brecken Hill, a neighbourhood in upstate New York. But Fred and Sheila Mercer have no shortage of money after Fred made a fortunate at his robotics company. The Mercers and their three adult children seem to be the perfect family, but the truth is that the Mercers all have secrets. The perceived safety in Fred and Sheila's high-end, exclusive neighbourhood can't protect them when a murderer comes calling late at night after a particularly tumultuous Easter dinner at the Mercer house. And all of the children have motives. Treated poorly by their manipulative father and neglectful mother, each sibling has a reason to be angry with their parents, and the millions of dollars they stand to inherit makes for a convenient motive. Told through alternating narration, the book follows the siblings as their lies become unravelled and attempt to determine which one of them may have inherited their father's psychopathic traits.

What a wild ride! I devoured this book in two sittings as I couldn't put it down. Shari Lapena has done it again—she's the master of domestic suspense. Another book filled with vile, unlikeable characters that you can't help but admire the lengths they go in their deception and cruelty to one another. A well-woven tale filled with suspense and twists and turns at every corner. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. I look forward to reading more of Lapena's work again soon.

WOW! I ABSOLUTELY DEVOURED THIS NEW DOMESTIC SUSPENSE!! The story was fast-paced and totally unexpected. I really enjoyed how many different characters had their own stories and complicated relationships with Fred and Shelia. I would have loved to have dates when the story moved to the past and a little more development of the storyline where Shari Lapena showed us a little bit of the characters' past. I felt like the ending was a little rushed because there wasn't really build-up to the reveal of the person who murdered Fred and Sheila. Nonetheless, great book!