This was a bit underwhelming. I love the author but couldn't get into the plot nor the characters. I am not sure what happened here. Might be the missing woman trope?

I received a free eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Shari Lapena is…not an auto*buy* per se, but an auto-library request for me! Even before I started working at the library, I was trying really hard not to buy books I could inhale in a couple of days (that I most likely wouldn’t read again), because it just seemed like a waste. I’ve been in a HUGE book slump lately - I kept picking up things that were supposed to be so amazing and I kept getting disappointed. I needed…well, something I could inhale in a couple of days! This was a perfect palate cleanser. It’s not doing anything groundbreaking with the domestic thriller genre, and I figured out whodunnit about halfway through, but I appreciated the lack of big swings. There aren’t any glaring plot holes, and it really did get me out of my rut.

The central mystery here is the disappearance of Bryden Frost. When we first meet her, she’s late for daycare pickup (again) and rear-ends a Tesla. The guy *seems* decent enough about it, but something isn’t quite right. Then we cut to six weeks later, when Bryden’s husband Sam gets a call that she’s failed to pick their daughter up from daycare. Given that Bryden was working from home that day, it’s concerning to say the least. In Lapena’s typical style, we hear from pretty much everybody - Sam, Bryden’s true-crime obsessed sister Lizzie, her best friend Paige, Jayne the detective, even Derek Gardner, owner of the rear-ended Tesla and sudden person of interest. I love getting to follow detectives, because I’m a sucker for processy stuff. The case takes some strange turns - Bryden and Sam seemed to be the perfect couple, but was one of them maybe having an affair? Was Tesla dude holding a grudge about the accident? And what exactly is the deal with Tesla dude’s wife? (We hear from her too)

It’s hard to say more without giving too much away, but this moves along at a good clip, and the ending, while somewhat predictable, is satisfying. Tiny spoiler: there’s an attempted rug pull moment near the end, but I kind of saw that one coming as well. I enjoy Lapena’s use of rotating perspective - it’s fun to be in a bunch of different heads. And yes, you do sacrifice character development to a certain extent, but if the plot is entertaining enough, I can kind of forgive that (plus you don’t need a ton of character development to figure out that most of these people are terrible). I also like hearing from the detectives - often in domestic thrillers the detectives are sort of like these defacto antagonists we never hear anything from. I like that Jayne was her own character.

In all, a very solid domestic thriller, and excellent palate cleanser!

This book hooked me from the beginning and I couldn't wait to finish it! It was fast paced with a variety of characters. Things were revealed about characters slowly, making you wonder who exactly committed the crime! Great read!

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book.

Another enjoyable thriller from Shari Lapena with a good pace and surprising twists.

I love Shari Lapena's writing. She always delivers the suspense and leaves me guessing until the end, and this book was no different. It starts with a missing wife and mother, leading to suspect after suspect. It was a suspenseful read that I didn't want to put down. The ending left me a little baffled. However, it could lead to a future series, which would be interesting. Overall, I enjoyed this read.

I have always enjoyed reading Shari Lapena. I definitely enjoyed this book. I did guess the ending but not until I was further into the book. I did enjoy all the twists and turns that Lapena always delivers.

Another good one by Shari Lapena! I enjoyed this one! Not my favorite by her, and the end was a bit predictable but still a solid mystery. I read a lot of mysteries so it does take quite a bit to stump me

She Didn't See It Coming
by Shari Lapena
Pub Date: Jul 29 2025

Ooooooooo! She Didn't See It Coming & most readers won't either! No spoilers, but while I did guess it...I didn't. Lovely twists, satisfying conclusion, no far-fetched ideas, and then pick your jaw off the ground ending. Bam!
Sam is not too worried when he receives the phone call from his daughter's daycare that his wife Bryden is late picking up their daughter and hasn't answered any of their texts or calls. After arriving home and seeing her purse, cell phone, and keys untouched, he knows something is terribly wrong.
His wife is missing and the more the investigation goes on, the more suspects pop up, including himself.
This was a fun, believable thriller. Something straight out of the news. One of my favorites by Shari Lapena so far.
#SheDidn'tSeeItComing
#ShariLapena
Pub Date: Jul 29 2025

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the opportunity to read this amazing thriller by one of my favorite authors. This story grabbed me from page one and took me on a twisty, turny trip through a murder mystery with more surprises than I anticipated. Another win for Lapena. Keep them coming.

Huge thank you to Viking Books for the ARC!

I love love Shari Lapena and have read all (maybe minus one) of her books and they are ALWAYS entertaining and fun! This one was no exception and may be up there in my favorites of hers!

The whole premise was so mysterious and creepy! A woman literally just disappears and goes missing while working from home in her own apartment. There are SO many sketchy people in her life and her apartment that could have something to do with her disappearance and the police aren't ruling anyone or anything out!

I loved guessing the ending in this one and even though I changed my mind every few chapters, I ended up being totally wrong in the end. That's what I love so much about Lapena's books! The journey is always a total blast and the endings always catch me off guard!

I can't wait for everyone to read this when it's out this summer! It's going to be a massive hit for sure!

Another great thriller from Shari Lapena. I really enjoyed this thriller and thoughts the pacing of the book was fantastic. She is great at leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that makes you want to keep reading to find out what will happen in the end.

Shari Lapena is always an instant pick up and read for me. I love the unreliable narrators in this book. It did have me guessing for most of the book. However I feel like I want answers about another murder that was mentioned in this book. I wanted to know that, that case was closed. Either way a wonderful roller-coaster.

Shari Lapena has done it again! What an awesome book! There were so many twists and turns that it kept you completely guessing. This one made me think very hard who the killer was the entire book! I loved it.

I liked it. I would round it up to a 4 star. There is a lot of involvement happening and it can get a little much. I understand why though. I also, didn't fully figure it out so the element of surprise was there.
I recommend it to anyone looking for a quick psychological read.
Thanks to the publishers for an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Bryden and Sam have a perfect life. Married, well off and they have a child. Then Bryden disappears. We meet everyone in their lives. Parents , sister , best friend, neighbors. And then there is Derek who Bryden gets into a car accident with and his wife Alice. Everyone in this story has something to hide! It is so juicy! I loved how this unraveled and how everyone is a suspect and has a reason to not want to be found out. There were also some characters that were thrown in to keep the reader off the scent. How it played out was so juicy and worth the read! Bravo Shari!

Sharri is the master of the twists. This book like all her others is brilliant, and perfectly written. It's a jaw dropper.

Lapena (What Have You Done?) returns with another suspense-laden suburban thriller. Bryden and Sam Frost live in a luxury apartment with their daughter, have successful careers and by all accounts are living the dream life. So when Sam receives a call from his daughter's school that his wife never came to collect her, he knows something is terribly wrong. Bryden had worked from home that day and apparently just disappeared. Her phone, purse, car keys and indeed, her car, were all left behind.

Sam, Lizzie (Bryden's sister and true-crime enthusiast), Bryden's parents and Bryden's best friend Paige all come together to figure out what happened. When law enforcement become involved, Lizzie begins to take a disturbing interest, suggesting K9 assistance and offering helpful suggestions to the detectives. Meanwhile suspicion around Sam grows and Bryden's parents are forced to look harder at their son in law.

VERDICT: Lapena has written another solid domestic thriller with twists and red herons that her readers have come to expect. Lapena fans and those who enjoy domestic thrillers will flock to this one.

Shari Lapena does it again! This was such a bingeable book; The premise of the story pulled me in and I finished it in less than 24 hours. In an apartment building where it seemed like every single person living there had something to hide, I was so sure multiple times that I knew what had happened, only to be proven wrong over and over again. Would highly recommend!

I enjoyed She Didn’t See It Coming and devoured it within 24 hours. However, it didn’t end like I had hoped. I guess I expected a bit more of a “bang” and felt there were so many unfinished parts to some of the characters stories. I will say, Shari did an excellent job of creating an entire crew of characters that all seem to be awful people! I’d recommend this book to a friend.

I flew through She Didn't See It Coming in one day. Shari Lapena books are like that, easy to read and I really want to know the outcome! I liked that we got a glimpse of Bryden before she disappeared. The varied characters made it difficult to figure out just where this one was going, which was great! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.