I listened to the audio version and absolutely loved it. The story introduces the characters in a way similar to Agatha Christie. You’re drawn into the various relationships – everyone has a secret and something to gain from the murder of this elderly couple. It’s hard to like any of the Merton family! I have to add the narration/narrator is perfect. I’d recommend 100%.

I LOVE Shari Lapena so much. It kept me guessing and every time I thought I’d figured out who was guilty another clue would change my mind. I still didn’t get it before the big reveal. Great work as usual!

I loved this suspense thriller. It kept me hooked right from the beginning. I loved the. narrator.

I’m a big fan of this author but somehow this book failed to match the standards of her previous work. I was expecting a bit more trill and intrigue and even though the story was fast-paced and had a good premise, it lacked the key elements that make a good thriller. In a nutshell, it was an ok read for me, I was just expecting a bit more!

Two parents are murdered after a Easter dinner with their children and partners
Did one of the children kill them they all had motives
Or was it someone else
A great plot and read
Had me hooked
Great narrator
Thanks NetGalley

A story filled with mystery - Lapena has you guessing until the very end.

The plot and characters in this story were great - unfortunately I didn’t enjoy the narration. Perhaps I would’ve enjoyed the book more if I had read it instead of listened to it.

Thanks NetGalley.

3 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this book, I always make a point in picking up a Shari Lapena new release because I just love how she does 'suburban/Domestic' thrillers.

We follow a family, a very well off family. We have Dan the only boy who is struggling with debt because his father tecnically made him jobless, Then Catherine the oldest who seems to be the one who has her life together and Jenna the artsy unconventional one. They are quite dysfunctional but when the parents Fred and Shelia end up killed they are forced to put there issues aside in order to survive this traumatic event.

No one is telling the truth, no one is beleiveable or even likeable which is why this narrative worked so well. Everyone has a motive and the victims weren't exactly good people. Fred was a narcissist who hurt everyone in his life to boost his own ego, Shelia was a mouse who never stood up for herself for her kids. No shortage of people would like to see Fred dead.

The twists and turn this book took was great, I didn't see the reveal coming but I also wasn't overly surprised and awed by it. I did however love the epilogue I feel like it added a lot to the reveal and made it more satisfying. If you looking for a fun, fast pace thriller that is a web of deceit in a family that has skeletons in the closet then I would recommend this book. Maybe you'll have better luck guessing what happened than I did.

I also reviewed this book in video format on YouTube so if you'd like to see my thoughts while reading this book here's the link : https://youtu.be/0swKDpgs4Us

I always ADORE Shari Lapena’s books and so when I saw her latest was available, I jumped at the chance. I listened to this one pretty much non stop and finished it over the course of a day or two. I absolutely loved it and was completely gripped from page one.

The characters were fantastic and their stories and secrets drew me in immediately. Even though most were unlikable, they were so interesting to follow. The writing was the best part - completely gripping and page-turning. The chapters were split into short sections which also made it all the more compulsive.

I was surprised by the final twist too, which is always a plus!

Review coming soon to IG.

This was my first listen/read by this author and won't be my last. The Mercers are certainly not a happy family, but they are rich, and when the parents are brutally killed their grown up children, amongst other, are all suspects.

This is definitely one of those books that you can't stop listening to. I loved the short, snappy chapters that left you wanting more. The author drops tasty little morsels throughout the book to get you thinking and wondering. Most of the characters are extremely unlikeable, but well drawn and I suspected all of them at some point! This was a quick listen that kept me engaged and I'll be listening to more by this author.

Not A Happy Family was a great choice for an audiobook and I really enjoyed the narration by Ellen Archer. I only read one of the author’s novels before (An Unwanted Guest) but when I came across this one I couldn’t resist this new murder mystery.

Fred and Sheila Merton invited their three children Dan, Catherine and Jenna and their partners, as well as their cleaning lady-more family friend- Irena over for a Sunday Easter dinner where they drop quite a few unexpected bombs at the dinner table. The guests are all more than happy to leave but the next day Fred and Sheila are found murdered in the house and their children are rich. Dan – who didn’t take over the family business – now had money problems, Catherine – the perfect daughter – always dreamed of living in her parent’s house and Jenna – the struggling artist – saw the support of her parents also coming to an end. They all left but who returned later that night?

It took me some time to really get into the story, mostly because with the three siblings there were ‘only’ three suspects so I thought I’d find it quite easy to point out the killer. I was very wrong about that, even at 90% I had absolutely no clue who did it.

I’m usually great at guessing the identity and I sometimes even know quite soon who is hiding something but they ALL have things to hide this time so that didn’t give me any clue. In the beginning I still thought I was clever by thinking of who was present but not given too much attention, but then the author drew in more side characters into the plot, like Fred’s sister and a woman named Rose and you could almost say that they become the prime suspects.

Almost every single character introduced into the story is a likely suspect in the end and there are more people with a motive than expected. I kept guessing and guessing which was so much fun to do. There are so many secrets and lies going around in an effort to simply not seem like they’re the killer, they lie to their spouses, they ask their spouses to lie for them, the siblings even start to point fingers at each other.

It was impossible to guess the identity of the killer so this is one of the rare books able to surprise me. I do wonder if the author knew herself who did it from the beginning or if she left all options open until the end and then made the decision. I’m suspecting the latter as it could have been anyone else and it would have the same effect! The whodunnit wasn’t the only thing that surprised me in the end though, the final chapters in the form of an epilogue gave the story an extra twist and concluded the story on a real high.

This is the first i have read/listened to by Shari Lapena, whos novels keep getting recommended to me and plan to read more.

This was a gripping book. What better than a dysfunctuonal family and a murder.

We have the father who is the tyrant, the mother who doesn't seem to care. No wonder they was murdered but who did it?

Not wanting to give away but you are taken through the investigation questioning everything. Trying to work out what path along the spiders web we are taking.

The narration made this enjoyable, clear and easy to listen to and keeps you engrossed in the story.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy of the audiobook for an honest review.

I liked this book and all of Shari Lapena's books, especially her audiobooks! This one luckily was an audiobook which worked in my favour as most of the book is a two-er and fro-er about which character thinks is guilty for a double murder.

No doubt, you've read the blurb and perhaps even the book, so we can get straight on to the review. If not, please look away now, I haven't screened spoilers out to give a fair and indepth review.

So the Merton's celebrate Easter by having a fancy family dinner, but it all ends in tears after the mean, tactless and now dead Fred Merton loosens his tongue on the traits he hates most about his children. He's not the only one who gets brutally wiped out, his wife Shelia is also one who takes the killer's wrath.

Who do you think it is? I had a few suspects of my own that didn't make it into custody but Shari Lapena very meticulously weaves a web of deception and lies, leading you astray and directing you further and further away from the killer. Who could it be? Who dunnit? Who murdered this rich couple and why? Who did it?

The kids, the help or a malicious hating neighbour? Well, to find out you will have to read on.

I loved how the author added so much suspense to the book, constantly picking over the kids, Katherine, Dan and Jenna. Who could it be? Which could it be? And, why? What was there motive? If they did it at all.
Or could it have been his wife, Shelia? Could she have murdered her horrible husband who pit their children against one another and then killed herself or implicated someone else after shamelessly butchering her husband? So many ways it could have happened! Which one is the truth?

I particularly liked the back story about the will and who was in it and I really liked reading about Audrey. Lapena's writing is soo good for her characters, so much so that I actually hated Audrey and I really didn't feel sorry for her when she was poisoned, she's just the type of busy body that everone loves to hate and how I hated how much she wanted it to be one of the kids so she could have a bigger share of the money, personally anything like 1 million seems pretty generous to me.

I didn't really see how much relveance or point it brought to the story to have Rose, Ellen's and Fred's daughter as a benefactor in the will, I don't think it held much depth to the story and only served a small purpose of filler in the book seemingly while the author decided who was going to be carrying the crime time next. One moment it seemed to be a big deal and the drama between Katherine and Rose seemed to be futile to me, Katherine was going to hate sharing, it's always been clear she couldn't share as she wasn't about to share the family home with anyone else, she wanted to give her half to secure the house, so she could live in it. Rather odd to me, why would you want to live where your parents were brutally murdered?
Also didn't feel like the back story between Rose and Dan's shame investment had anything real and concrete to it, just felt like it was filler to give the reader something new to focus on. All in all, it didn't add anything for me.

With thanks to netgalley, the publishers and Shari Lapena for the opportunity to review this book in return for an honest review, all opinions are my own. I awarded this a good 3.5 stars!

I have only heard great things about Shari Lapena from others.
I read The Couple Next Door and thoroughly enjoyed the suspense, so I knew I would probably enjoy this one too. The back and forth in this book made it all the more exciting. I think she is master of domestic noir.
This family loves lying! I think the title should have been The Family Built on Lies! I found myself trying to stay up at night to read more. I have recommended this book to my friends just the day after finishing it!
Definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Audio and Shari Lapena for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Firstly, thank you for allowing me to read this. I am a huge fan of Shari Lapena and have been for years.

Not a Happy Family does not disappoint whatsoever, it is classic Shari Lapena writing. I am never able to guess the ending to her books. There are a lot of characters with different backstories but it is easy to keep on track. This book is full of twists and turns which keep you guessing til the very end. It’s dark, thrilling and unforgettable. I can’t recommend it enough.

A Cast Of Joyously Unlikeable Characters….
Superb whodunnit, once again, from this very talented author. A cast of joyously unlikeable characters in a dysfunctional, extremely wealthy, family who don’t even like each other very much, a double murder, red herrings aplenty and some fairly inept policing coupled with top notch, well nuanced narration all make for a wholly entertaining, satisfying and immersive listen. A worthy addition to this author’s canon.

My goodness what a nasty, entitled, unhappy family the Mertons were! I didn’t like any of them and suspected all them from the very beginning.
You’d think if you’re parents had been brutally murdered there would be some sort of remorse wouldn’t you? Not so with the adult Merton children, they hated their parents. The big question was did they hate them enough to murder them? That’s what the detectives had to decide and so did I!
I thought I’d guessed the murderer right from the beginning, and of course I was wrong! I kept changing my mind about who it was all the way through this audiobook, because Shari Lapena was very clever in keeping me looking in all the wrong places and at the wrong people. I would make a terrible detective!😂
I must admit it took me a while to warm to the narration by Ellen Arthur, but she won me over in the end, because she was fantastic at portraying such despicable characters! I particularly enjoyed her portrayal of Aunt Audrey who I wasn’t too sure about in the beginning, but ended up quite liking.
I definitely recommend this one if you enjoy domestic dramas on audio.

I usually love Shari Lapena's thrillers but sadly I found this to be an uninspiring and unoriginal listen. Ellen Archer narrates well on the whole although sometimes it was difficult to distinguish between the characters. It's not a particularly gripping or well paced plot and I found it hard to care about the unlikeable characters.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review a digital audiobook.

I really struggled to listen to this audiobook. ONLY based on the fact that I'd never listened to an audiobook before, and I can not switch off and follow the storyline. I love Shari Lapena though and I'm sure this is an excellent storyline. I will buy it in good old fashioned paperback! Thank you for the opportunity to try the audio book.

I was between a 3 and 4 on this one so have erred on generosity. I loved the main story but the sub plot (at least one of them) could have gone and not had an overall impact on the story.

The main story was great and the ending surprised me which is hard enough to do right now which is why I marked my mark up

The narration was brilliant .

I was given an advance copy by netgalley but the review is entirely my own.

A very different experience to listen to this, though I do think this might have been better to have physically read. The narrator was great, but the story seemed to go round and round in circles.
The family in question were the kind of family you might envy from a distance, but it quickly became apparent this was far from the truth.
Our focus is on the brutal murders of a wealthy couple and the investigation into what happened. With approximately twelve million to be inherited, of course the adult children are to be treated with suspicion. We suspect one of them could have done it - particularly once we learn of the arguments between the family members, the money issues of one of them and the rumours of a planned will change.
From the outset I was struck by the unpleasant nature of all the characters. While nobody deserves such a brutal demise, the father was an emotionally abusive man and some of the details we learned about him certainly portrayed him in a deeply unpleasant light. Yet none of the children were presented sympathetically, and as the story progressed it was viable that any one of them might have been responsible.
Along the way there were some interesting twists, and the narrator of the audiobook created a wonderful character in the aunt. Definitely a woman who you feel will not stop until she gets what she thinks she’s owed! I’m pleased to say I had called the identity of the killer, though the detail we were given of that night (eventually) suggested there was a clear possibility that any number of them could be labelled a psychopath.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this prior to publication in exchange for my honest thoughts.