I am a Lapena fan and her books are always "must reads" for me and I end up recommending them more often than not. This one just missed the mark for me. Too many red herrings that were just kind of thrown out there, too many unlikeable characters, and the ending was a cliche letdown based on the numerous red herrings in the novel. I suspect there might be a sequel to this one at some point.

She Didn’t See It Coming grabbed me from the start—just like most of Shari Lapena’s books do. From the very beginning, you’re pulled into the mystery of a missing woman—possibly dead. What happened? Who did what? The story is packed with lies, secrets, and plenty of twists that keep you guessing until the very end. If you love fast-paced thrillers with shocking revelations, this one won’t disappoint!

Wow! What an incredible read! I love Shari Lapena and was really excited for this new release! It definitely didn't disappoint. There were so many twists and turns and I couldn't put it down.

Bryden, a mom with a seemingly perfect life, is reported missing one day when she fails to pick up her daughter from daycare. Her husband, sister, and best friend gather as the police begin to investigate. But once her body is found, the secrets really start to unravel. Could it be her troubled husband, her true-crime obsessed sister, the handsome stranger her from recent car accident -or his brutally cold wife? Maybe the neighbor accused of sexual assault, or her seemingly perfect best friend? Like many Lapena novels, multiple narrators keep the action moving swiftly, and everyone has their own dark past, only some of which are relevant to the current crime. The ending was satisfying, but felt a bit forced, like there wasn't quite enough build up to that suspect, but it was a wild ride. This book will not disappoint fans!

Listen, I am a hands down Lapena fan. I can't get over the way this woman weaves together a story that has you enthralled from the first page. She's like nothing else. This story was even better than the rest. She starts with a high bar and then adds in even more intrigue, questions and shady characters.

** Spoilers ahead! **
What a fun thriller! Each new book that Shari Lapena writes is better than the last. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all of the many twists and red herrings. I smugly thought I had figured it all out from the get-go and loved that I was wrong.
I did go down a star because there were several plot lines that I wish had been resolved rather than hanging threads (an epilogue would have been great!) Also, while I understand that the very ending was meant to be shock-worthy, I didn't find it realistic that after being in the news in a high-profile case, and talking with Jayne extensively about her, Michael would not know who Alice was.
Nonetheless, I loved it and read through it in one sitting. This will be a definite purchase for the library's collection. Pass along to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

When an upper middle class wife and mother disappears while working from home one afternoon, the police have no leads. No footage of anyone coming in or out of the building, but a plethora of suspects who they need to investigate. And they are running out of time. Will they find her or a body?
The book does an excellent job of creating a suspenseful atmosphere and motive for most of the characters to want to harm the missing woman. I was guessing until the very end and stayed up a few late nights to find out what happened. Shari Lapena is a queen of the thriller and I am here for it.

𝑩𝒓𝒚𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆.

We all know that bad things happen to good people. True crime junkies know that people don't just simply vanish; they know that 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 did the unthinkable.

Bryden and Sam have thriving careers, a beautiful young daughter, and they're living in an upscale building while saving for a home. One fateful day, Bryden decides to work from home, but when Sam gets a call from their daughter's day care saying that Bryden never showed up to get her, he's worried. His fear intensifies when he returns to their condo to see her laptop and phone on the table. Her car is parked in its usual place. She couldn't have just vanished, especially not with so much to live for.

But sometimes the documentaries get it wrong, don't they? Did Bryden and Sam really have the perfect marriage? What about the chance encounter Bryden had not long before she vanished? Also, you never know who you're living next to, and don't even get me started on your "close-knit" family and "fiercely loyal" inner circle. Everyone has something to hide; it doesn't matter who you are. Something that would never withstand the scrutiny of a detective's questioning, body language that would tell an investigator to keep digging.

The twists and turns in this book were masterful, and I had no idea what the resolution was going to be. This was more than just a missing persons story; it was an uncomfortable lens into our personal lives, our relationships with our friends, families, and spouses, and a reminder that there is always one person who wants to be close to tragedy...if they can't BE the focus of the investigation, they will make sure they're included somehow. Many thanks to NetGalley and Viking/Pamela Dorman Books for the early copy. This book is expected to publish July 29, 2025.

*I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

“She Didn’t See It Coming” promises a rapid, plot-twisted thriller, but while it starts with an intriguing premise, it doesn’t fully deliver on its potential. The story follows Bryden and Sam, a seemingly perfect couple living in a high-rise condo—until Bryden mysteriously vanishes. As the search for her unfolds, secrets emerge, and nothing is as it first appeared.

Lapena is known for crafting tightly wound domestic thrillers (like “The Perfect Couple”, great book) but this one feels more formulaic than fresh. While the twists keep coming, they sometimes feel forced rather than organic, and the characters lack depth. If you enjoy thrillers packed with secrets and deception, this might still be worth a read—but don’t expect anything groundbreaking.

Where’s Bryden? That’s what everyone wants to know when she is discovered missing and her purse, phone and keys are left behind. As the investigation begins, many begin to wonder if her husband Sam is involved? Isn’t it always the husband? Witnesses claim that Bryden and Sam were a perfect couple, in love and trying for another baby. Then the secrets start to come out and maybe they weren’t so perfect after all. As the clock ticks to find Bryden the detectives find that even her family and friends have some secrets of their own and nothing is at it seems.

She Didn’t See It Coming is an engaging domestic thriller with many secrets and twists. Unfortunately, I did have a feeling about where the story was going but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Viking Penguin for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. It was filled with many twists and turns. All of the characters seemed to have something to hide.

A superb domestic thriller that starts out as a missing person’s case but soon becomes a murder investigation. There are a host of possible suspects and each time you think you know who might have done it new evidence comes out that will change your mind. Detective Jayne Salter uses her instincts and intuition to get at the secrets that all of the main characters are hiding. Even after the murder was solved there were still a lot of secrets not addressed and there is an interesting last sentence from Detective Salter’s boyfriend who is a psychologist that leads me to believe this could be the start of a series.

Thank you, NetGalley and Shari Lapena, for this ARC!
What a read! This has everything a true crime fan wants. Secrets, lies, and multiple suspects. Keeps you guessing until the end. The ending, like what? Everytime I thought I knew who the murderer was I was led in another direction. Pick this read up!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Group Viking, and Pamela Dorman Books for providing this book, with my honest review below.

Shari Lapena is such a great thriller writer because her books follow no mold, they’re all great thrillers but each one is fresh and hard to solve while easy to get into due to her writing. She Didn’t See It Coming is no exception, introducing a detective trying to first find wife and mother Bryden, who mysteriously disappears during the day, and then solve her murder with very few leads since everyone close to her seems to have an alibi - and plenty of secrets.

It’s always thought to be the husband but Bryden and her husband seemed to have a great marriage, she had a great longtime relationship with best friend Paige, and even her sister Lizzie and Bryden were always close. As detective Jayne Salter widens her net and even interviews Derek, owner of a Tesla Bryden rear ended, but comes up short. The mystery was great because in actuality everyone around Bryden is so full of secrets and lies that it’s impossible to get to a thread of truth to shed light on who is the murderer behind the tragedy. But eventually secrets start to dissolve and the story got even more complicated - and fascinating - as the pieces start to fall.

I absolutely adore Shari Lapena's work, and I thoroughly enjoyed this latest novel! I think perhaps her books are a bit formulaic (nothing wrong with that!) so I wasn't as shocked by the twists and turns of this novel as I was while reading earlier novels of hers, but I loooove reading books with lots of different perspectives, and she does that better than anyone else.

Alice and Derek were extremely interesting and worthwhile additions to a story that easily could have been kept within Bryden's immediate family. The Kemps were less so--I feel like they were blatantly a red herring and easily could have been lifted out of the book entirely.

The Facebook group and the anonymous accounts and their posts added a lot to the story--it was a lot to weave together and Shari did it well. There were a few things that felt like loose threads--the Facebook profile of Brittany Clement (I really felt like she was going to be revealed to be someone else relevant in the story), Sam's drug problem (I would have liked a few more clues about that earlier on--or maybe I missed them?), and the whole Kemp subplot felt like it was building to something and then it really didn't.

Overall this was a delicious read and I already can't wait for her next one!

Shari Lapena is a master at domestic thrillers. This book hooked me immediately. A Mom disappears from her home and leaves her wallet and phone? No one saw anything? This book is told from multiple povs and it will leave you thinking EVERYONE is a bad guy.

Shari Lapena is an automatic go-to author for me. Her latest jaw-dropping thriller, "She Didn't See it Coming" was a chilling, thrilling roller coaster of a ride. What a fantastic book!

Put your "to do" list down because nothing is getting done when you start reading this gem! It is binge worthy. Shari Lapena is amazing and this suburban mystery does not disappoint. She gives us a worthy cast of suspects and it is our job to solve the case. Juicy lies, a web of secrets and the lesson that the seemingly perfect life usually isn't perfect at all. Lapena did an excellent job of mounting the tension and building suspense, Thank you NetGalley for this one. It is fantastic!

***Possible spoilers***

OMG! Ok so I am always waiting for Shari Lapena to write a new book. She is my favorite author and I love everything she has written. I truly kept checking NetGalley every week to see if she had a new book and I was so excited when I got approved to read the advanced copy.

This book absolutely hooked me from the start. I was 25% of the way in and my heart was racing. In fact, my son called me so I took a break to answer my phone but I was obviously distracted thinking about getting back to the book and he kept saying "are you ok? Do you want to go?" oops,

I truly suspected almost everyone in this story and I was shocked right up to the very end. I only wish we would have gotten a glimpse and some closure with Bryden & Lizzie's parents, Sam & Clara, etc.

LOVED this book. I tried to slow down reading it to make it last but I couldn't. I can't wait for Shari's next one!

She Didn’t See It Coming is a fast-paced mystery, full of paranoia and lies. Bryden Frost is working from home, when she suddenly disappears. We get multiple viewpoints from the people in her life, as they grow more and more suspicious of each other. I flew through this one in 2 days. Highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.