Joined in 2023 
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Shari Lapena is the internationally bestselling author of The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know and The End of Her. She was a lawyer and an English teacher before turning her hand to fiction. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has no alibi for the night of the murder. Her aunt Audrey suspects Jenna was the murderer as she remembers her as being violent when angry as a child. This was an extremely unique narrative tone for me. The story is told from a distant third person perspective, yet I felt fully connected and engrossed within this twisty and suspenseful tale. I loved the short chapters of this family drama that always left me on edge wanting to read “just one more”. My suspicions flew all over the place, suspecting every single character at one point or another. The not-so-happy-family here are the Mertons. Fred was a total jerk to everyone, but mostly to his children. Sheila, his wife, is a cold and distant mother, and failed to protect the children from their father.
Poor Dan, is the mentally and emotionally weakest link of the trio. He reminds me of Successions’ Kendall a lot. His father targeted him from the beginning, abusing mentally and psychically, selling the company he’d worked hard for and left him penniless and unemployed. And his last unfortunate business investment left him high and dry. The father of the year rejects to borrow him money, humiliating him in front of everyone, pleasing to watch him squirming in pain. Being middle child and only boy must be toughest. He’s none of his parents’ favorite, left excluded and has every right to reflect years long boiled anger in different ways. Could he be the killer? Why not? The short, alternating chapters, made it an incredibly fast read and I was fully engaged. After each perspective, I was sure I had it all figured out. Filled with fast dialogue, tense pacing and twists upon twists, Not A Happy Family is an immersive read you won’t want to put down.” Not a Happy Family was my first Shari Lapena book and it really kept me guessing. If you loved Knives Out, this has a very similar vibe. One Easter Sunday, Fred and Sheila Merton host their three children for dinner. As always, the conversation turns to fights over money and favorite. Days later, the housekeeper finds Fred and Sheila dead in their home and all their squabbling, greedy family members are suspects. Alternating between everyone, you get a full picture of what being a part of the Merton family was actually like. It wasn't pretty.
Maggie Boyd
Catherine is a successful dermatologist and the most conventional of her siblings. She was not close with her father but did covet the mansion. Having set her heart on inheriting the house, she was dismayed and angered to find out that he planned to sell it. Dan has been struggling in business, and his father’s hostility only made matters worse. After the discovery of their bodies, everyone eyes him as the perpetrator. Jenna is the youngest of the Merton children --- a bohemian artist living on an allowance. Though she seems the least likely culprit, she has asked her new boyfriend to lie to the police about her activities on the night of the murders. All of the children were in line to inherit millions of dollars. But, would any of them kill their parents to hurry the process along? The first book I've ever read by this author and I know, I'm late to the party. I've had a few saved in my wishlist for some time waiting on price-drops, cos' I'm cheap like that, then finally one dropped sufficiently. I will definitely be happy to buy one now at the proper price, since I so enjoyed this one.
I don’t want to say anymore about the plot for fear of spoilers but this is a book you need to read and enjoy for yourselves. I love a book that I can get completely engrossed in and this definitely fitted the bill. A fabulous entertaining read. She didn’t call the police because she thought her brother Dan killed her parents. Cameras at the neighbors suggest she left her house around 11:00 pm and returned at 12:40 am. She also stole a favorite pair of earrings off her mother’s body.
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Somewhere around 50% mark we all thought we figured out who the killer was, but I am glad to say we were wrong. Top Five Tuesday: 5 books that I’m thankful for in 2023 #Top5Tuesday #TuesdayBookBlog @MeeghanReads#TopFiveTuesday November 21, 2023 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. Jenna was the last one to leave the dinner, about an hour later than her siblings. During that time, her father told her he was changing his will. Lisa (Dan's wife) would make sense, because of Dan's financial problems, but I never believed Dan was the killer, as like I said, that would've felt too obvious. Even when they kept trying to point to it being him, I never believed it was. Dan might be a weirdo, but I never thought he was a killer.
The Merton family puts the word FUN in the word "dysfunctional"; making this "whodunnit" mystery challenging to solve. She’s the wild child and works as a sculptor. Jenna’s parents support her financially but don’t approve of her bohemian lifestyle. She has a boyfriend, Jake. With this being said, there were other players involved, so don't narrow your focus too much. You never know who could be out to get jerks like this. One of her hairs was found in Irena’s car, which was seen outside her parents’ house on the night of the murder, but Jenna insists it could have transferred to Irena when she hugged her after dinner.I loved how the lead detective thought everyone he interviewed was the killer. There is a lot of scrambling, a lot of lies, a lot of secrets, a lot of trying to protect others while protecting oneself. There are a lot of liars with their pants on fire in this book. Not all that glitters is gold. Sometimes those who look like they have it all don't have much in terms of common decency. Not a Happy Family is bestselling author Shari Lapena’s new suburban domestic thriller. Lapena is a master of that sub-genre, and this is a not-to-b- missed read for fans of those books.
WHO KILLED THE MERTONS AND WHY? Was it one of the couple's unlikeable adult children? All of the adult children would have inherited millions from their parent's death. Or was it the housekeeper/nanny, a friend/colleague......or someone else?Thirty Days of Darkness” by Jenny Lund Madsen – Book Review @OrendaBooks @JennyLundMadsen #ThirtyDaysOfDarkness #BookReview @edelweiss_squad @meganeturney November 26, 2023 From the very first chapter I was hooked into this story. Lapena wastes no time jumping into the nitty-gritty and it kept me guessing until the very end.
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