Book: Not a Happy Family
Author: Shari Lapena
Genre: Domestic Thriller
Rating: 7/10
Read you like: family thrillers, lots of suspects, police procedural, family drama.
I’ve read quite a few of Shari Lapena’s books and this one was pretty good. Not my favourite, I think my favourite is still Someone We Know. But It’s definitely good. This was also my first book for Thriller October V3. The prompt was read any thriller and I thought an easy domestic thriller would be a good start to the month.
Hook – 2/2: We start with an Easter Dinner at the parents house. All the kids come with their partners. The dad is an ass and the mom is absent. All the kids end up angry by the time they leave. The cleaning lady Irene witnesses every fight and leaves with everyone else after a big blow out. That was Sunday. On Tuesday morning Irene arrives to find the Merton’s brutally murdered in their home.
Plot – 2/3: There are 3 kids and they are all suspects, there is the cleaning lady and the dad’s sister. All these people are set to inherit millions of dollars. Every one of them is lying to the others and untrustworthy. The police don’t know who to suspect and who to believe. This plot has plenty of twists and surprises. But it loses one point because I guessed who the murderer was.
Writing – 2/3: Lapena can definitely write a page turner. I couldn’t put this one down. The chapters were short and the story was interesting. But there was a lack of shock value. There was never a moment that I just couldn’t believe what I had read. Everything was a little too predictable and tame. It was still a great thriller, just missing a little something.
Characters – 1/2: I hated them all, but I was supposed to. That being said, it would have nice to have at lease one sibling with some redeeming qualities? Maybe that’s just me. I need someone to root for and there is no one like that in this book.
Overall a solid domestic thriller and a great start to Thriller October. Have you read any of Shari Lapena’s books?
Happy Reading!
Angie
