When Bryden unexpectedly goes missing without a trace while working from home, her family members, friends, and acquaintances are all questioned by the police. What happened to Bryden? How did she seemingly disappear from her own apartment? Everyone is a suspect and they are all hiding secrets.
You can always count on Shari Lapena to deliver the summer suspense!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books for this digital e-arc.*

Bryden and Sam are the perfect couple, with good friends, careers they love, and a 3-year old daughter. So when Sam gets a call at work the Bryden failed to pick up their daughter, Clara, from daycare, he is a little concern. The concern grows more when he gets home to find her laptop open, her phone and keys on the table, and no trace of Bryden. The cops race the clock to comb through the condo CCTV footage, but there is no evidence of her leaving the building at all. As the cops dig further and interview those closest, they start to unbury secrets that show these two might not be so perfect after all.

Shari Lapena is an auto-read for me. I thought the book had a good amount of suspense and was surprised in the end, though I do wish some of the story lines were wrapped up a little more. I would have liked more explanation from the killer and their motives. Without giving too much away, one of the storylines here is so overdone and infuriating to me, which I did knock a star off for, but overall I enjoyed this quick read!

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

So many secrets, so many lies! This new domestic thriller from Shari Lapena was a page-turner with a great cast of characters. With so many POVs and so many secrets revealed as the "missing person turned murder" investigation carries on, I was constantly changing my mind about who was guilty.

A great read for mystery fans who love family dramas, lies, and betrayal—and who want to keep guessing until the very end!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for providing an advance copy of the book to review. Expected publication date July 29, 2025.

Definitely recommend, this was a great read. The story, the characters, & the narrative - kept me interested until the very end.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, a nd the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

She Didn't See It Coming is an unputdownable suburban thriller by Shari Lapena. It has short chapters and unlikeable characters galore. Almost all of the characters in the book could have killed the murdered woman, so there are many red herrings. Highly engaging!

Synopsis:
Bryden and Sam have it all: thriving careers, a smart apartment in a luxury condominium, supportive friends and a cherished daughter. The perfect life for the perfect couple.

Then Sam receives a call at his office. Bryden – working from home that day – has failed to collect their daughter from daycare. Arriving home with their little girl, he finds his wife’s car in the underground garage. Upstairs in their apartment her laptop is open on the table, her cell phone nearby, her keys in their usual place in the hall.

Except Bryden is nowhere to be seen. It’s as if she just walked out.

How can she have disappeared from her own home? And did she even leave the building at all?

With every minute that passes – and as questions swirl around their community – Bryden and Sam’s past seems a little less perfect, their condominium less safe, their friends, neighbors and relatives no longer quite so reliable . . .

Thanks to NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books for the advanced digital copy of the book. Release date: July 29, 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley PENGUIN GROUP Viking Penguin | Pamela Dorman Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Sam and Bryden have a seemingly great life. One day Bryden goes missing. Lots of suspects.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari LaPena

Shari LaPena can write some great thrillers! And man, this started off like it was going to be another great one. Bryden is murdered in her own home. Who did it?

There was a lot going on…a lot of suspects…a lot of secrets…

A lot of secrets left unanswered. It felt like she just got tired of writing the book, wrapped it up with the most boring outcome, and said heck with all the other character’s secrets. I have so many questions!

I like LaPena’s writing style, it’s unique, as we hear the story from many 3rd person viewpoints…AS IT IS HAPPENING…not in the typical past tense 3rd person way. But this story just wasn’t fleshed out to the finish and ended with a thud. I’ve considered 2 stars because of this but I enjoyed it so much until the very end that I kept it at 3.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title for review.

That's it, I'm convinced - there isn't a single Shari Lapena book that she's written that I won't enjoy. As the queen of domestic tension and mystery, her atmospheres are always so perfectly crafted that I feel as if I am right there with our characters. Like truly...I can still picture myself in the farm field from her previous release. Add on top of that her well-crafted characters and it's just *chefs kiss* if you ask me. I read this with my in-person bookclub and the overall consensus was that we really enjoyed this one - so definitely recommend as a good read for your next bookclub selection.

Big thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Group Viking for my early review copy! This gem publishes next Tuesday, July 29th.

She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena is a fast paced, domestic thriller. Bryden Frost and her husband Sam are seen as the perfect couple and family until she disappears from her house without a trace. As the police work to find her, secrets from those around slowly come to light.

This thriller had several twists, but I wasn’t as impressed with the ending as I’d hoped. Definitely a good summer beach read. Shari Lapena is an auto read for me and that continues to be the case.

I read this one quickly, turning pages as fast as I could, to find out what happened. I love a book like this one, where almost everyone seems guilty. Well, there were quite a few disturbed characters in the story, so any one of them could have plausibly been the murderer. All in all, a good, satisfying read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Woman goes missing in a large multi-family development and everyone is a suspect! Missing person investigation turns to murder investigation and there is a kick ass female investigator leading the hunt. A lot of side quests to throw you off the scent which I always love. A book that makes me suspect everyone is so much fun, and this one was that for me.

There was talk in our book club of the ending alluding to a potential sequel, so I guess we’ll see!

I was hooked from page 1, I think this is her best yet. Super suspenseful and juicy, this one is a must read for thriller fans. It kept me guessing until the very last page!

Bingeable!

Shari LaPena’s latest thriller is cleverly plotted and unputdownable! I was sure I had this mystery solved, but I was wrong!

When Bryden unexpectedly goes missing without a trace while working from home, her family members, friends, and acquaintances are all questioned by the police. What happened to Bryden? How did she seemingly disappear from her own apartment? Everyone is a suspect and they are all hiding secrets.

This twisty domestic thriller kept me furiously flipping the pages. I couldn’t wait to see how this would play out! Shari LaPena is back with a stunner. My only criticism is that I think I had a better ending plotted in my head. Haha. I read too many thrillers!

Expected publication date: 7/29/25

Trigger warning: domestic abuse

4.5/5 stars rounded down

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the ARC of She Didn’t See It Coming in exchange for an honest review.

As with most of Lapena’s work, I liked it but didn’t totally love it. Of course that did not stop me from wanting to read another of her books. Her work is always solid, if flawed sometimes. This is a pretty standard whodunnit mystery with a lot of possible suspects. I appreciated her including so many options as it kept me wanting to know the outcome. It did seem however that she included almost too much background information on the supplementary characters that was almost unnecessary. My biggest hang up on this was the ending- I didn’t really like the end result of who was responsible. Ultimately I feel like with the characters she developed, things could have been more creative. I still feel like it’s still worth reading overall if you like an investigative mystery.

3.75/5 stars, rounded up

Thank you Pamela Dorman Books for the advanced reading copy!

This book had 5 stars written alllll over it.... until that ending! I'm still giving it almost 4 stars - because I was hooked from start to finish - but I'm so disappointed by the ending it almost ruined the whole book for me.

I LOVED the plotting of this book! The way we got information in a similar way as the detective was so fun. We were led to believe everything was perfect, just like her, until it wasn't. Shari Lapena really is the queen of domestic suspense and paranoia.

There were lots of characters and storylines going on, plus Shari Lapena's classic style of giving us an "in" to everyone's heads. This could be confusing at times -- especially at first -- but it didn't distract me from the overall story.

That being said, with all of these different storylines came so much misdirection and so many red herrings. I thought this was gearing up to have a totally mind-blowing and explosive ending, but it fell completely flat. So much of the book became pointless when we got to the end -- what a waste!!

While I did still enjoy the process of reading this book, the end definitely left me wanting more.

Classic edge-of-your-seat Lapena storytelling. I couldn’t put this down until I had to sleep or go to work. I seriously doubted everyone but the parents at times and loved the detective’s personal life angle. Such a fantastic read!

Thank you, publisher and NetGalley for the early copy.

I have read several books by Shari Lapena and would categorize them as a great popcorn, vacation, palate cleanser thrillers and this was no different. The good thing is that I always get exactly what I expect from these books.
This story was smartly crafted, and I loved the detective POVs the most. The story and twists were great but my biggest issue were all the side stories. I’m not sure we needed them, and when we circled back to them I already moved on and even forgot who these people are and why do we even care about them. I wish the story didn’t diverge into secondary POVs and was a little bit tighter.

I am a sucker for a good thriller and Shari Lapema is consistently solid so I was excited when I had the opportunity to read the #arc of her newest book (comes out Jul 29).

Bryden lives a blessed life with her husband Sam and 3 yo daughter Clara in Albany NY. One day, Sam gets a call that Bryden didn’t show up to get their daughter from daycare. He arrives home and she is nowhere to be found - but her laptop and phone are in the condo. What happened to Bryden and who is responsible?? It was a smidge predictable- Lapena sets is up so that there are plenty of possible suspects. I figured it out before the end, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

This is a fast read - good for all mystery / thriller lovers - perfect for fans of Freida McFadden or Lisa Jewell.

The ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I've been a big fan of Shari Lapena's work in the past, but her last couple of books lost me a bit. This won me back! Fast paced, inventive. A great thriller.

Frida and Gabriel are siblings in the sense that they both grew up together in the same cult. Twenty years later they’re free from it and on a luxury resort vacation when a woman is found dead. Gabriel was talking to her, but couldn’t have anything to do with it….right?

I liked this one! It’s hard to compare with The Quiet Tenant because that one to me was a heart-pounding thriller while Our Last Resort was more of a slow burn mystery. I really liked all the chapters set in the past in the cult, more than the present day storyline. I’ll still read anything this author puts out in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.