A really good book that kept me guessing until the end, some great twists and turns and you’re never really sure where the story is going. The narrator was very good and. I enjoyed listening very much.

Not a Happy Family - Shari Lapena
Narrated by Ellen Archer

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK Audio and I am leaving this review voluntarily

In this family, everyone is keeping secrets--especially 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 they don't come much richer than Fred and Sheila Mercer. But even all their money can't protect them when a killer comes to call. The Mercers are brutally murdered the night after an Easter Dinner with their three adult kids. Who, of course, are devastated.

I listened to this book as an audiobook and I can’t work out if that was a mistake or not. I was hooked! I listened to this book at every opportunity because I needed to know who the killer was. I honestly think I would have rushed through this book and maybe not have enjoyed it as much had I had the ability to read it for myself.

The murderer is revealed in the last 10% of the book, until that point I had absolutely no idea who it could have been. Every single character is unlikeable in their own way, and through the journey most of them are suspects that could easily have been the murderer.

This is a throughly enjoyable, page-turner with such a tense plot.

Rating 5/5

A modern twist on a whodunnit centred around a wealthy family in America. Looks like everyone had a motive and all the family suspect each other, trust is challenged as the police investigate. Will they solve the case? Is money the root of all evil? Read this book very quickly, thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review.

Fred and Sheila Merton appear to have everything they are extremely wealthy, have a beautiful home and loving children; from all appearances a perfect family, but looks can be deceiving. After a tense Easter dinner the couple are found murdered; was this a random home invasion or was someone closer to home holding a grudge.

This was a thoroughly gripping domestic thriller; the narrator was very good and I felt immersed in the story. The suspense whilst learning of hidden grudges and the 'real' characters of Fred and Sheila and the siblings was absorbing; thoroughly enjoyed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review

No come on, own up, who killed Fred Merton. And who killed Sheila?

Now that’s exactly what I was asking all through this book.

It’s Easter Sunday. The scene is set.

Who dunnit?
Who murdered them?

Everybody……everyone is a suspect in my mind. No one has solid reasons they are all as guilty as hell. Good thing I’m not in the Jury!

This author is so good at weaving a tense plot that keeps the reader hanging in suspense.

The verdict?
It could have been anyone.

This audiobook kept me gripped from the first words to its conclusion.
The Merton family are very rich and very dysfunctional and consist of three adult children and their parents Fred and Sheila.
Fred and Sheila are found murdered the day after a family Easter lunch , which to put it mildly was a strained affair.

The murder investigation looks at the children and all their flaws are highlighted brilliantly for the reader. This leads you to wonder just who has committed the crime , it could be anyone of them. It leaves the reader guessing right until the very end resulting in a great conclusion.
The writing is easy to follow and is of the usual calibre I have come to expect by the author , each of the characters are unpleasant in their own way . I didn’t find an amiable character in all of the story, and instead of spoiling the book it added to the intrigue and suspense.
A great audiobook , I found the narrator excellent and overall I highly recommend it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK Audio.

received a copy of this audiobook via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This story is basically a murder mystery about multi millionaires Fred & Shiela Merton . The day after a strained Easter Sunday lunch with their 3 grown children present, Fred & Sheila are found murdered in their own home. With a big inheritance coming to them, all three siblings are immediately under suspicion.

This is a book full of unlikeable characters which I really don’t mind. What did constantly have me face palming was the constant lies being told to the police as each of the siblings tried to cover up the stupid things that they had done which only served to make themselves look guilty. There is not too much more to the plot than that. None of the siblings seemed too upset that their parents were dead. There are a couple of other suspects so we are never completely sure whether any of the siblings are guilty until the reveal.

I didn’t mind the narrator to this audiobook, she didn’t do too much with her voice but I was still able to distinguish between the different characters.

I loved this audiobook!
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this review copy.
A fantastic premise, and a great introduction to Shari Lapena. I have heard great things about this author, and this will definitely encourage me to delve into her back catalogue!
The Merten family are a complicated bunch, each character has personality flaws, and inevitably motives for the family murders. The audiobook drew me in to their lives and didn't let go, and my mind changed constantly as to who I thought the murderer was. A sign of a truly great whodunit!
I loved this audiobook, and would definitely recommend it.

I have read pretty much all of this authors books and i have to say i think this is my favorite one yet. I always when books are about rich people. I think this book portrays the whole rich people doing bad things so well. So i think this is a definite upgrade from her other books.the reason being is there is so much more suspense in this. Like her other books were rather predictable and clearly followed a formula. This one doesn’t feel that way to me. It reads a lot different and right now it’s not real obvious who it could be.

I think the dad is an asshole. Like some of the things he did were rather rude and distasteful and he really didn’t care how it effected his kids. He’s very stereotypical i feel like. He clearly had hopes and dreams for his kids which is great but damn things happen don’t get upset when they don’t “live” up to your expectations or goals.

The mom literally has no back bone. Like her husband clearly runs everything and she’s just along for the ride.

Man these kids. Obviously i love this trope of rich kids or rich people in general doing messed up things for a reason. Like i can’t relate to them in anyway. But damn some of the kids are so ungrateful. I can’t imagine being that way and thinking i was still going to get what i want.

Audrey- you know that old saying everyone’s true side comes out when someone dies? Yeah she’s the literal definition of that lol

So the ending while not predictable i get was super rushed. Like i wanted more an explanation of why.

This kept me guessing until the end - lots of twists and turns to make me change my mind about who the murderer was. I flew through this audio book - as I have done with all of the author’s previous ones. Looking forward to the next. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the audioARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this thriller and especially as an audio version. It has the usually twists and turns you expect to hold your interest and this story of the family from hell certainly doesn’t lead you to liking any of them! There were a couple of over the top moments and I’m sure at least one of the siblings could have been allowed at least one nice characteristic so for that reason I’m giving it four stars.
The narrator was excellent and added to my enjoyment greatly.

A family Easter Sunday dinner meant to bring everyone together is the start of a murder mystery that could tear the family apart.

I enjoyed this read much more than Shari's previous release.

A good old whodunnit story with messed up characters makes for a good time.
As this trope is very popular, it can become monotonous or stale at times but Shari's writing sucks you in and keeps you captivated and intrigued throughout!

This was definitely a good time.

I really loved Shari Lapena's previous books so was looking forward to listening to Not A Happy Family but unfortunately this fell flat for me on so many levels.

It's a whodunnit based on a rich family, the parents are killed and we spend the book learning about the 3 children, the cleaner, and the aunt and why they may have done it.

Unfortunately none of the characters were likeable or held any of my attention and I felt bored by the small twist or two that came from quite a dull predictable plot.

The narrator also didn't help as her voice remained quite monotone throughout, with only minimal changes to her voice for the different characters.

I won't let this put me off Lapena's future books as this honestly didn't feel like her writing. Fingers crossed what comes next is more like her previous work.

I love a whodunnit and Shari Lapena is one of the best writers of this genre. This book is a windy, twisty story of a dysfunctional family. A couple are murdered in their home and chief suspects are their three children, amongst others. In the story we go on a journey to find out who is the killer and also why they did what they did. While I did enjoy the book I also found I didn’t really get the depth of their animosity towards their father. He is described as psychopathic but we don’t get many explanations of this only one or two. Yes, money seems to be the primary motivation for this murder but I don’t think you understand the children enough to warrant their actions. I must say I was kept intrigued the whole way through and didn’t guess who the culprit was and had many different ideas along the way as to who it could be. There was a twist at the end which I absolutely did not see coming and it was a really good ending. I do wish that we had had more background information on the parents and the children and the family dynamic alongside the murder investigation. All in all it’s a great crime thriller as I would recommend to all.

This is my first Shari Lapena novel but it won’t be my last. I listened to the audiobook version of the book and was so desperate to know what happened that I even considered increasing the play speed just so I could find out what happened faster - relax, I resisted!

The novel, its title a play on the famous quote from Anna Karenina, follows the path of the highly dysfunctional Merton family who gather for an Easter lunch that ends disastrously. Lapena cleverly lays a trail of breadcrumbs to the door of various characters, leaving both the reader and characters constantly suspicious and on tenterhooks.

Sometimes it’s hard to enjoy a novel if there is simply no-one to like. Here, each character is more venal than the one before; it doesn’t spoil your enjoyment one bit! This is a fantastic suspense novel and in a strange way is quite like an Agatha Christie in terms of the setup - a murder with set suspects and a whodunnit rather than a whydunnit.

I did find it a little difficult right at the start because there are so many characters to get to grips with but persevere because it’s absolutely worth it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Penguin Random House UK Audio for an audiobook arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Not A Happy Family is a superb read. A family with not one likeable person. A heinous crime for which everyone has a motive and no one can escape suspicion. It’s high pace, don’t blink and I couldn’t put it down.

In Brecken Hill, a wealthy family get together for dinner on Easter Sunday. Things soon spiral as snide remarks give way to an increasingly tense atmosphere, causing most to storm out. When the couple at the head of the family are found murdered several days later, the finger of suspicion cannot rest upon any one individual. Everyone has a secret and anyone of them could have committed the crime.

A strong 4.5*. The audiobook narration is top notch.

Thanks to Transworld, PRH and Netgalley for the ARC

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena,narrated by Ellen Archer
I give this audiobook 4.25 stars


In Brecken Hill, an older couple are brutally murdered hours after a tense Easter dinner with their three adult children.
They each stand to inherit millions.Did someone snap after that dreadful evening? Or did another person appear later that night with the worst of intentions? If one of the family were capable of something as gruesome as this, you'd know.
Wouldn't you?

An engaging and clever who-dunnit,.This storyline has great pace and an array of narrators that the storyteller manages to make all pretty unlikable (but that makes it for me far more enjoyable) lts packed with intrigue (l suspected virtually everyone at some point) and think listening to it allowed me to become far more invested in trying to figure it out!
l would highly recommend this to anyone who loves listening to a good mystery.
With thanks to Netgalley,Shari Lapena and Penguin Random House UK Audio for my chance to listen and review this audiobook.

Not A Happy Family is a gripping psychological thriller from the incredibly talented writer, Shari Lapena. Fred and Shelia are a wealthy couple who live in upstate New York. They have three grown children who visit for a family Easter dinner. Later that evening, Fred and Shelia are brutally murdered and as the police investigation progresses, it is clear that all of their children have a motive to be guilty of the crime.
I absolutely loved this book and was gripped throughout. The dysfunctional relationships between the family members are slowly revealed and the perpetrator is impossible to guess. Shari Lapena has created some truly nasty characters in this book, with nobody coming out well. A fantastic audiobook with the narrator adding another level of suspense to the story.

**Listened to the audio book**

I am a big fan of Shari Lapena and have read most of her books to date.
I was left slightly disappointed with this book - it didn't fit with Lapena's usual books for me. It wasn't particularly original - a family fighting over a will and a death in the family coinciding in that. The premise reminded me of the film 'Knives Out' that was released a few year ago. The whole plot felt very familiar to this film.
I guessed the ending, and I wasn't particularly fussed over the ending either. I didn't connect to the characters or the overall plot at all.

There were lots of characters within this book and I struggled at times to keep track - especially because the narrator didn't really do much with her voice to help with identifying them. I really didn't like the narrator, and wonder if I would have enjoyed the book more if I had read the physical book and not the audio.

It wasn't a bad book, but it's not one that will stay with me. I'm pretty sure I'll forget about this book fairly soon. This is a real shame as most of Lapena's previous books have had me thinking and have stayed with me for a long time after reading.
I hope that Shari Lapena's next book goes back to her usual high quality thrillers!

Not a Happy Family is rather an understatement. Secrets, lies, greed, jealousy revenge and other motivators play a part in this thrill a minute ride from Shari Lapena.

At first sight, we have a wealthy American family. Mum, dad and three kids. They’ve made it; rich, influential and the adult children have carved their professional niche. The only son is disaffected; he expected to take on his father’s business role, but didn’t count on personal hatred and vindictiveness which left him unemployed and broke. It’s difficult to know where to start with this rollercoaster story. The parents are murdered and the choice of suspects falls within the family.

This story is so intricate in plotting and reveal, it’s truly impossible to second guess the outcome. Was it the nanny, one of the kids, one of a couple of other close family contacts, the sister of one of the deceased? Every chapter has a new reveal as the layers of respectability and deceit are peeled away from these people who are perceived as pillars of their society. Lapena explores a wealth of human emotion which may motivate murder. This works at every level. The people are credible, the police procedural is compelling as the investigating officers are frustrated at every turn. But who dunnit? It kept me guessing and the final chapters are sheer genius in plotting intricacy. Couldn’t put this down and my thriller of the year so far.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.