Not a Happy Family: A Novel

Shari Lapena

Jul 2021 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Ellen Archer

4.2

30 reviews

Audiobook

9 hr 11 min

Unabridged

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About this audiobook

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

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

“Lapena is a master of manipulation. With her latest page-turning thriller… she is once again at the top of her game.” —USA Today

“In this fast-paced, twisted family saga, Shari Lapena keeps you guessing until the very last page...” —Paula Hawkins

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?

Ratings and reviews

4.2

30 reviews

Sarah Simpson

May 12, 2025

This was too drawn out. I ended up skipping several chapters to get to the end. The plot only unravels at the end and at a very hurried pace at that. None of the characters were likeable or relatable in any way. Would not recommend this book.

Crystal Stowers

January 24, 2024

This "who done it?" was twisted and had me going back and forth trying to figure out the guilty one. The ending left me hanging slightly, but not completely. I really enjoyed this story!

Sakiwie

January 20, 2025

it was good start then starting to come, was slow from the middle to end.

About the author

Shari Lapena is the internationally bestselling author of eight thrillers, including The Couple Next Door, which have all been New York Times, Sunday Times, and Globe and Mail bestsellers. Lapena’s books have been sold in forty territories around the world. She lives on a farm outside Toronto. She Didn’t See It Coming, her ninth thriller, is forthcoming.

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