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Book Summary and Reviews of Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

Not a Happy Family

A Novel

by Shari Lapena

  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • Published:
  • Jul 2021, 368 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Another thrilling domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door.

In this family, everyone is keeping secrets—even the dead.

Brecken Hill in upstate New York is an expensive place to live. You have to be rich to have a house there, and Fred and Sheila Merton certainly are rich. But even all their money can't protect them when a killer comes to call. The Mertons are brutally murdered after a fraught Easter dinner with their three adult kids. Who, of course, are devastated.

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.

Wouldn't you?

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!
  1. Catherine, Dan, and Jenna each stand to inherit millions when their parents die, and each has their own difficult relationships with other members of the family. Did you suspect one of the Merton children could be behind the murder of their parents, or did you think it was someone else? Explain who and why.
  2. Most of, if not all, the characters are unlikable in some way. Despite that, their flaws make them seem more human. Did you find any one character more relatable than the others? Why or why not? Discuss.
  3. Shari Lapena is known for incorporating many twists and turns in her novels. Did you anticipate how the story would unfold? What did you guess correctly, and how did you know?
  4. Current housekeeper Irena, ...
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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Lapena is a master of manipulation. With her latest page-turning thriller, ... she is once again at the top of her game... Lapena does what she does best, so much so that trying to put the book down is futile. Once you start reading, you won't want to stop." —USA Today

"A quintessential 'beach read,' I half expected sand to fall out of it. This one brings lurid family mayhem to the Hudson Valley [and] plausible suspects. With her cascading short chapters and teasers by the dozen, you stick with Lapena eagerly." —The Washington Post

"In this fast-paced, twisted family saga, Shari Lapena keeps you guessing until the very last page..." —Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train

"Another edge-of-the-seat ride that left me breathless." —Fiona Barton, New York Times bestselling author of The Suspect

This information about Not a Happy Family was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Shari Lapena

Shari Lapena is the internationally bestselling author of the thrillers The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know, The End of Her, and Not a Happy Family, which have all been New York Times and The Sunday Times (London) bestsellers. Her books have been sold in thirty-eight territories around the world. She lives in Toronto.

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