“𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.”

Shari Lapena is back with another tale of domestic suspense!

When Sam Frost gets a phone call that his wife Bryden didn’t pick up their daughter from daycare, he worries; this isn’t like his wife, and the many people in her life agree, but their apartment is empty with no sign of foul play. So what happened to Bryden and where did she go?!

Lapena shines at creating multi-narrator tales that get you turning the pages fast. I easily read this in two sittings, one on plane trip and the other that same evening before bed. While her last few books have focused on different narrators in small towns, I liked how she gave this story a bit of a twist with most of the perspectives coming from people linked to the apartment building where Bryden lives. Lapena also always shines at creating suspicion and revealing secrets of the many potential suspects in her stories, with this being no exception. No one is truly ever fully innocent in her tales. I found myself quickly absorbed into finding out what happened to Bryden, and trying to piece how the fender bender prologue would fit in with the rest of the story. Some of the red herrings that Lapena introduced do end up fizzling out; I would’ve liked a bit more expansion on a few plot lines, especially towards the end. I hope Detective Jayne Salter and her partner, Detective Kilgour end up becoming possibly regular characters for Lapena to bring back - I enjoyed Jayne’s perspective and seeing the police work.

She Didn’t See It Coming is another page-turning suburban suspense from Lapena. Thank you to Doubleday Canada and NetGalley for the ARC!

A enjoyable thriller. I found some of the characters lacked depth. There were plenty of suspects, and some great twists. I found the resolution of one plot point somewhat unsatisfying. I probably would have rated this higher if that one thing had an actual resolution. I'm usually okay with somewhat ambiguous endings, but not in this case.

I this found this an enjoyable read.

Loved all the multiple points of view of this book. Shari Lapena had me guessing the whole book who did it. Would’ve liked a conclusion for Alice and Derek to see what happens to them. I enjoyed the more crime aspect of this novel compared to her others. Overall one of my favourite books written by Lapena!

Exactly what I've come to expect from a Shari Lapena book - fast paced, gripping and thrilling ride. This is a beach/holiday read for sure. Appropriately dark and twisty with unlikeable, flawed characters - each worthy of the reader's attention and suspicion. While I wasn't really surprised by the ending I was in it for the WHOLE ride and can't wait to read what Lapena writes next. Big thanks to Thank Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley and of course the fabulous Shari Lapena for the ARC in exchange for this review.

3.75⭐️

What I love about Shari Lapena books is that they’re more focussed on the plot and less about the details surrounding the plot (such as the setting/character descriptions, etc..). They always make for such fun and easy reads! This one was not an exception. I enjoyed the pace and the overall story. However, I found this to be mostly predictable. Nothing really shocked me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Such a clever and thrilling read. It was hard to put down with its short and to the point chapters, twists that kept me guessing and an ending I didn’t see coming!

She sure didn't see it coming. I didn't, either. Not like that. Talk about a hypnotic thriller...I was all in from the first word to the last. Bryden was a wife, mother and accountant who lived with her husband Sam and little daughter Clara in an expensive apartment complex. Like other busy families, they juggled their time and prioritized picking Clara up from day care. Bryden was late to the day care one day due to unforeseen circumstances. Later, she didn't show up at all. Sam notified the police and a search began. Neighbours were uneasy and Bryden's sister who lived nearby looked after Clara. Bryden's parents got involved. Jayne headed up the grim investigation and snippets of her personal life made her more accessible and relatable as a human being. As suspects were interviewed, more fault lines began to show. None were exempt from problems or secrets and some were capable of jealousy, hatred, and loads of deception.

The media posts really added another twisty layer to the already suspenseful novel. Author Shari Lapena has a special way with words and somehow manages to inject them with emotions and unbearable tension. I was practically frantic to get to the end and had to force myself to slow down to savour rich details. I ignored life happening around me and became entangled in the story in the best way. This is a thriller I will remember for ages as it gripped my mind with originality and clear imagery. I could swear I was right there! Well worth diving into. Most of the characters are despicable but oh, it worked so well. Loved, loved this.

Devoured this!!! this may be my favourite thriller of the year. I love the way Lapena writes in this topsy turvy way that really sees the story unfold before you and even when I thought I had it I was so off it's not even funny. I think there may have been too many side characters and some of it is a bit open ended but I like that it felt more realistic than other thrillers were EVERYTHING gets wrapped up into a tight little bow at the end. love love loved it!!!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of She Didn't See It Coming by Shari Lapena
This was a great novel, you won't want to put it down. The plot is fantastic, characters are great and the story moves along at a great pace. I felt like i was right there, part of the story. Right up to the end I didn't know who had done it. I loved the characters and the secrets that kept coming out as the story unfolded and the detectives had to question multiple people to finally get all the facts. The ending surprised me, didn't see things wrapping up the way they did.
Totally recommend this novel.

I absolutely loved this. What starts off so incredibly random turns into a story of what happened to Bryden and who was involved. Although not overly fast paced we get lots of different POVs from the missing persons’s family, neighbours and others to put together the story. I just kept wanting more.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for and advanced copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Bryden and Sam are a successful married couple with a young daughter named Clara. One day when Bryden fails to pick Clara up from daycare, Sam gets the call. But when he gets home, he finds Bryden’s car in their underground garage and her belongings including her purse, laptop and phone, inside their condo. The only thing missing is Bryden herself. Worried, Sam calls the police and soon the investigation begins with Sam quickly landing under suspicion, as is often the case with spouses.

I’ve read a few books by this author and thought this one was okay. I did enjoy the writing style. It’s told in third person and shifts focus among several characters. As the story unfolds, there are quite a few people who might be involved in Bryden’s disappearance and they all have secrets ... Sam, her sister, her best friend, a neighbour with a disturbing past, a man she was in a car accident with recently and others. There’s a good twist when the truth comes out but I didn’t fully buy into the reveal. As a head's up, there is swearing.

A devoted wife and mother vanishes from her upscale condo without a trace. With all signs pointing to an ordinary day gone wrong, the tension quickly escalates as her husband becomes both a frantic searcher and a potential suspect. The central question becomes: is this a missing persons case—or a murder?

The author masterfully paints a picture of a “perfect” life slowly unraveling. The pristine setting of a luxury apartment contrasts sharply with the growing unease and suspicion, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere where every neighbor could be hiding something. As detectives dig deeper, secrets begin to surface, and the story deftly explores themes of trust, perception, and the fragile veneer of domestic bliss.

The pacing is tight, the clues carefully scattered, and the emotional stakes feel real throughout. This is one of those books you race through because you need to know how it ends.

An amazing thrill ride of a read! Starting off with an insane pace this book delivers. It’s like an onion and you are peeling back everyone’s layers to get to the bottom of the mystery. The characters are wonderful and have real depth. I loved the setting and the way the story was unravelled. This was one unputdownable read. An absolute must read

4.5 ⭐️
A thriller that begins as a missing person case, soon turns into a homicide investigation.
Several suspects, multi-pov, and constantly second guessing every single character, I could not put this book down. As soon as you think you know the killer, surprise, something happens and you realize you were completely wrong.
So many secrets and lies throughout the story, it was great. And of course, every secret and lie came out by the end and not everyone was as perfect as they seemed from the beginning.
There was a small side story throughout the book, that with the way this ended, there could be potential for another story with those characters.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! She Didn’t See It Coming by Shari Lapena is a fat paced story of who do e it. When Bryden goes missing from her apartment, her husband Sam doesn’t know what to think. However, after several hours, he begins to worry and ultimately calls the police. The story centers around her family and close friends because, more often than not, people are abducted by people they know not strangers. Overall, a good story that kept me guessing until the very end. I was so engaged I managed to read it in a little over 6 hours. I would definitely recommend to others.

Thank you NetGalley & Penguin Random House Canada for the ARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shari Lapena does it again, but are we really surprised? Her ability to weave multiple perspectives while maintaining my curiosity is a talent and the reason she’s an auto-buy for me. She did it again in ‘She Didn’t See It Coming’. As a missing persons case jumps into a murder investigation, were left wondering not only who did it, but who is hiding what? Do we really know our loved ones? And most importantly… do we know what they’re capable of?

I always enjoy trying to see if I can figure it out before I get there, and I will say I didn’t this time. Lapena’s ability to make me feel confident in my assumptions led me to assuming the wrong answers. The ending paragraphs left me wanting a bit more as they felt like I was being set up for something big, but isn’t that really the properties of a good book to leave the reader wondering… what if?

A good twisty read, would recommend this and any other work of Shari Lapena!

The Book is about a woman Named Bryden who vanishes from her own home, leaving behind her husband and daughter. while detectives look into the disappearance her life starts to unravel and secrets start to emerge.

What I like about this book was that it was a steadily paced mystery thriller that caught my attention from the beginning and kept me entertained. I did like the writing style reading from the third-person limited perspective. I also liked that all the characters did have side stories going on so there was something always happening in the story.

What I didn’t like was that there were sooo many characters and suspects that I felt it took away from the story. Touching on the side stories I felt they were put into the book to distract from who the real killer was but they seemed so cut and dry from one page to another, I felt like this could have been done differently. No I didn’t guess who the killer was so the distraction from all the side stories helped that twist, then the ending …. It just fell flat for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada (Adult) for the ARC in exchange for my honest review
Publication Date: July 29th, 2025

She Didn't See It Coming is Lapena at her best. No one does a domestic thriller/suspense like her. She is so good at setting the scene, the paranoia and the doubts. Right off the bat I was absolutely hooked by the storyline. It kept me engaged and consumed right until the ending. The way she unravels the secrets slowly, layer by layer is always so masterfully done to keep me wanting more, keep me continuously changing my mind on the culprit. Lapena has such a way of writing that always grabs me and the way she delivers her stories is always on point!

The characters were all unlikable, untrustworthy and that's just what made this book even more enjoyable for me. Literally I suspected everyone. So yes, I did have doubts on who the final culprit was, but truly it absolutely did not hinder my enjoyment of the book. The unraveling of everything to get there and the way it's masterfully crafted was just so good. Towards the ending I thought it was resolved, then boom she smacked me with that last twist. That last sentence of the book…. Uh oh is all I can say 🫣

Overall, this was such an entertaining, fun and twisty domestic thriller. It had my head spinning in the best of ways. Truly had a blast with this one!

A great whodunit from Shari Lepena! Her books always hook me from the first page and this one was no different!

Bryden is a wife and mother who goes missing when she fails to pick up her daughter from daycare. With multiple POVs, a VERY long list of suspects, and very little evidence, this one had me guessing the entire way. I really had no idea who did it because everyone had a motive. A fun ride and a great read if you’re looking for a thriller!

One thing I love is knowing I will never be disappointed by a Shari Lapena book.

Her books are always intriguing and fast paced, this one was no different. I had already finished this book 24 hours after picking it up. She is truly gifted when it comes to creating her characters. This one kept me guessing until the very end. I recommend it to any thriller reader, especially ones that are just getting into the genre.

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the ARC!