Shari Lapena continues to thrill with new page-turner 'Not a Happy Family'
Author Shari Lapena is a master of manipulation. With her latest page-turning thriller, “Not a Happy Family” (Pamela Dorman Books 368 pp., ★★★½ out of four), she is once again at the top of her game.
The novel takes place in Lapena's go-to bucolic town of Aylesford, New York, in the Hudson Valley, just north of New York City. It is fast becoming as well-known for its murder rate, similar to the equally idyllic and equally fictional town of "Murder, She Wrote's" Cabot Cove, Maine. Though Jessica Fletcher has nothing on Lapena.
Meet the Mertons.
Fred and Sheila Merton are the patriarch and matriarch of a wealthy and well-established family in Ayelsford. We meet them for the first time on Easter Monday, the day after they hosted a holiday dinner for their family at their pristine estate.
Oh, they also happen to be dead, bludgeoned and bloody on the floor of their home.
Who killed Fred and Sheila Merton and why? As it turns out, most everyone had a motive.
Only 24 hours earlier, the couple hosted Easter dinner. In attendance were their eldest daughter Catherine and her husband, Ted, the perfect professional couple, she a dermatologist and he a dentist. Catherine has always coveted the family home.
Then there is their son and middle child, Dan, with his wife, Lisa. Dan is between jobs after his father sold his successful robotics company, leaving Dan in tough financial straits.
And then there's the couple’s youngest, daughter Jenna, an artist and the most rebellious of the children, in constant danger of seeing her allowance taken away. She brought along her current paramour, Jake, also an artist.
While the Mertons may share DNA, they share little else. If you are looking to get the warm and fuzzies from this family, prepare to be disappointed.
Finally, there is their steadfast housekeeper, Irena, who used to serve as the children's nanny. She is more a mother to the Merton children than their own.
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As with many family dinners, buttons are pushed, tempers flare and even threats are made. When Fred makes a surprise announcement at dinner, the children are blindsided. Soon, after a tense and uncomfortable meal, the children and Irena disband back to their respective homes.
Missing from the dinner is Fred’s sister Audrey, who was home sick with the flu. Not as successful as her older brother, she is also not terribly close to the family. Audrey was supposed to spend the holiday with her friend Ellen and Ellen’s daughter Rose. Ellen is her oldest friend and anchor. Audrey has her own thoughts on what news is supposedly being shared at the Merton home and anticipates the drama to come.
Moments after the discovery, the back-and-forth phone calls and family meetings begin. Alliances and suspicions among the siblings form. One would think a tragedy would bring a family together, but the only bond these children share is their hatred for their ruthless and at times psychopathic father their weak-willed and absent mother fares slightly better in the children's esteem.
Even Aunt Audrey is purposely and maliciously cut off from the remaining family. Left out in the cold, she manages to insert herself, or maybe manipulate herself, into the police investigation. To use the common parlance of pop culture, this “Karen” is formidable.
As usual, 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.
Whom do you believe? Whom do you suspect? Your own alliances will switch along with each of the family members'. With every clue, every lie exposed and every truth revealed, Lapena keeps the reader guessing right up to the very end. And once there, Lapena manages to leave us wanting even more.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shari Lapena continues to thrill with 'Not a Happy Family'
