Not a Happy Family: The gripping Richard and Judy Book Club 2022 pick, from the #1 bestselling author of THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR

Product Information

Yeah, their father was big bad wolf and their mother were mostly silent to his terrible actions against his children. She didn’t do anything to protect them and now that’s how she got paid for herself: being strangled to death! Not a Happy Family is a dysfunctional family whodunit mystery. I'm really digging these plots right now. No, this story isn't very original and reminds me of the movie "Knives Out", but I'm still entertained from start to finish. Catherine is the oldest, hard working, conservative, conventional, a doctor. She’s in good terms with everyone, her mother’s favorite child. But as soon as her father plans to sell their childhood house, her peaceful demeanor is changed. Could she lie without blushing or showing any reaction to put her on radar? Absolutely not! She’s so cool as cucumber. So calculated. So focused. Could she be sociopath? Why not? She didn’t call the police because she thought her brother Dan killed her parents. Cameras at the neighbors suggest she left her house around 11:00 pm and returned at 12:40 am. She also stole a favorite pair of earrings off her mother’s body. I rarely DNF books, and I almost never do it when I get a review copy, but I completely understand why one would chose not to finish this novel, as it was too repetitive with all the he said she said parts that it became boring.

I've read quite a few Shari Lapena books now, and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with them. I think I've finally figured out that I adore her mysteries (someone is killed and there are multiple suspects), while I don't like her domestic thrillers (husband or wife could be lying, so are they or aren't they). This mystery definitely goes onto my list of favorites from her.

Audrey had always admired Irena, while she despised Sheila. Irena did her best for those kids, no one could deny that. She stepped in and did the mothering that Sheila wouldn’t, or couldn’t, do.” father doesn’t know that, but he might have guessed. He’s so cruel, she thinks, and so adept at finding vulnerabilities. And the house—she’s furious they’re selling it. It’s not because of the upkeep. He’s selling it so that she can’t have it. Just like he sold the business so that Dan couldn’t have it.” What did you think of Audrey as an amateur detective? She suspected Jenna all along, and she was right. The family in this story, the Mertons, although wealthy, are not a happy family. Their holiday dinners get very messy indeed.

From the very first chapter I was hooked into this story. Lapena wastes no time jumping into the nitty-gritty and it kept me guessing until the very end.Although, the book is a tad lengthy, I felt the story was continuously driven forward. I was anxious to see who the killer was and everyone seemed to have a past that couldn’t be overlooked. The patriarch of the Merton family, Fred, seems to take great pleasure in making his three adult children, Catherine, Dan and Jenna, miserable. It's like he is actively trying to make their lives more difficult. Or are they? They each stand to inherit millions. They were never a happy family, thanks to their vindictive father and neglectful mother, but perhaps one of the siblings is more disturbed than anyone knew. Did someone snap after that dreadful evening? Or did another person appear later that night with the worst of intentions? That must be what happened. After all, if one of the family were capable of something as gruesome as this, you'd know. The family is nervous, anxious, untrusting. I don't believe any of them! They are all liars, maybe psychopaths too.

Poor Dan, is the mentally and emotionally weakest link of the trio. He reminds me of Successions’ Kendall a lot. His father targeted him from the beginning, abusing mentally and psychically, selling the company he’d worked hard for and left him penniless and unemployed. And his last unfortunate business investment left him high and dry. The father of the year rejects to borrow him money, humiliating him in front of everyone, pleasing to watch him squirming in pain. Being middle child and only boy must be toughest. He’s none of his parents’ favorite, left excluded and has every right to reflect years long boiled anger in different ways. Could he be the killer? Why not? On the upside? Lapena always keeps her character list short, which I honestly appreciate. Too many thrillers and suspense novels get cluttered with a bunch of people who either don't matter, aren't interesting, or seem to exist only to serve as potential suspects. This tightly-knit family provided just enough options without a bunch of filler. I borrowed these. A couple of weeks ago.’ ‘Can anyone confirm that?’ She looks up at him angrily. ‘What are you suggesting? That I murdered my parents and kept these earrings?” I’ve read all of Shari Lapena’s suspense novels (except her last one, which I plan to make right soon), and I have loved all of them. If you’re the type to play detective, this will be the book for you! So many shady and unpredictable characters to choose from. Who could it be?? 🧐The not-so-happy-family here are the Mertons. Fred was a total jerk to everyone, but mostly to his children. Sheila, his wife, is a cold and distant mother, and failed to protect the children from their father. My favourite part was the show of how a thing as murder can shake and change relationships that seemed strong before. How one can stop trusting a person and question their intentions, even though prior the big event they would swear on their life for them. Someone tried to kill me,’ Audrey insists. ‘Someone broke into my house and tried to poison me.’ She adds, ‘It has to be one of those kids.” The downside? Since there are only so many characters to choose from...I felt I could eliminate the 'obvious' suspects at about 60-70%. I had a very interesting ending in mind that I was hoping would somehow be accurate (and provide me with the crazy twisted ending I was looking for) but it didn't come to pass.

This was an extremely unique narrative tone for me. The story is told from a distant third person perspective, yet I felt fully connected and engrossed within this twisty and suspenseful tale. I loved the short chapters of this family drama that always left me on edge wanting to read “just one more”. My suspicions flew all over the place, suspecting every single character at one point or another.The truth is, they’re all so much better off now that their parents have been murdered. No long years – perhaps decades – of waiting for their inheritance. No more jumping to their father’s tune, no endless years of depressing, dutiful visits to old-age homes. They’ve been spared all that. They can start to live. If it wouldn’t be so unseemly, they really ought to be having a celebration. He feels like popping a bottle of champagne into the fridge.”