Not A Happy Family – Shari Lapena

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

In the quiet, wealthy enclave of Brecken Hill, an older couple is brutally murdered hours after a tense Easter dinner with their three adult children. 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 them 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.

Book Info: 439 pages. Publisher: Transworld Digital. Publication Date: 27 July 2021

My thoughts:

Shari Lapena is one of my go-to authors for when I need a book that is guaranteed to keep me glued, guessing and gripped. She’s been writing standalone psychological thrillers since 2016 and Not A Happy Family is her 6th book in this genre.

This is the story of a wealthy couple who were brutally murdered in their luxurious home hours after hosting a dinner for their 3 adult children and their partners.

Fred and Sheila Merton are self-made millionaires. He has a reputation for being a controlling and often ruthless boss and father, but their violent murder has left the community, family and police baffled.

With a huge heritance at stake, this gives all 3 children a motive, but which one really could kill their parents and why?

I absolutely LOVE books with dysfunctional families and this tale is told through multiple points of view chapter by chapter, from the house keeper to the aunt, everyone is a suspect and everyone has a real motive to want the Merton’s dead.

Overall, this was a highly entertaining murder mystery/whodunnit which I thoroughly recommend.

Rating: 5 out of 5.