Shari Lapena returns to the domestic thriller arena with “Not a Happy Family,” her sixth psychological suspense novel that dissects the poisonous undercurrents of wealth, privilege, and sibling rivalry. Following her established formula from previous works like The Couple Next Door and Someone We Know, Lapena crafts another page-turner that asks uncomfortable questions about how well we truly know the people closest to us.
The story opens with a chilling tableau: Fred and Sheila Merton, wealthy residents of the exclusive Brecken Hill community, brutally murdered in their lavish home the night after hosting their three adult children for Easter dinner. What initially appears to be a robbery gone wrong quickly transforms into something far more sinister when the investigation reveals that the family dinner was a powder keg of resentment, financial desperation, and long-buried grievances.
A Master Class in Character-Driven Suspense
Lapena’s greatest strength lies in her ability to create deeply flawed, psychologically complex characters who feel uncomfortably real. The three Merton siblings—Catherine, Dan, and Jenna—each emerge as fully realized individuals shaped by years of psychological manipulation and conditional love from their narcissistic father Fred.
Catherine, the eldest and ostensibly most successful as a dermatologist, represents the facade of respectability that money can buy. Her desperate desire for her parents’ approval, particularly her obsession with inheriting the family home, reveals depths of need that make her both sympathetic and suspect. Lapena skillfully portrays Catherine’s internal struggle between her professional competence and her emotional fragility, making her one of the most compelling characters in the novel.
Dan, the middle child and family scapegoat, carries the heaviest burden of his father’s cruelty. His business failures and financial troubles create a portrait of a man crushed by expectations he could never meet. Lapena’s depiction of Dan’s psychological deterioration feels authentic and disturbing, particularly in scenes where his wife Lisa watches him with growing unease.
Jenna, the youngest and most rebellious, uses her artistic lifestyle as both shield and weapon against her family’s dysfunction. Her purple-streaked hair and leather jacket serve as external markers of her rejection of family values, yet Lapena reveals the vulnerability beneath her tough exterior through her relationship with boyfriend Jake and her desperate need for financial independence.
The Mechanics of Modern Mystery
Where Lapena truly excels is in her methodical construction of suspense. The investigation, led by Detective Reyes, unfolds with procedural precision while maintaining psychological depth. The author’s background in crafting domestic thrillers serves her well here, as she weaves together multiple timelines and perspectives to create a narrative that keeps readers genuinely guessing.
The Easter dinner scene, reconstructed through various character perspectives, becomes the emotional and structural centerpiece of the novel. Lapena demonstrates remarkable skill in showing how the same events can be interpreted differently by each family member, creating layers of meaning that enhance both character development and plot progression.
However, the novel’s structure occasionally works against it. The frequent perspective shifts, while providing insight into multiple characters, sometimes feel mechanical rather than organic. Certain chapters seem designed primarily to misdirect readers rather than advance the story naturally, which can create a sense of manipulation rather than genuine surprise.
Themes That Cut Deep
Beyond its surface as a murder mystery, Not a Happy Family operates as a scathing examination of wealth’s corrupting influence on family relationships. Fred Merton emerges as a particularly effective villain—a patriarch who uses money as a weapon to control and manipulate his children well into adulthood. His threat to change his will becomes the catalyst for murder, but Lapena makes clear that the real damage was inflicted over decades of emotional abuse.
The novel explores how children of narcissistic parents often struggle with their own moral compasses. Each sibling has been warped by their upbringing in different ways, creating a family where love is conditional and siblings view each other as competitors rather than allies. This psychological foundation gives weight to the central mystery—in such a toxic environment, any of them could plausibly be driven to murder.
The theme of appearances versus reality runs throughout the narrative. The Mertons present a perfect facade to their wealthy community, but behind closed doors, their relationships are poisoned by resentment and manipulation. This contrast between public and private selves reflects broader social commentary about how privilege can mask serious dysfunction.
Technical Craft and Storytelling
Lapena’s prose style remains accessible and engaging, though it occasionally sacrifices depth for pace. Her dialogue feels natural, particularly in scenes depicting family conflict, where years of resentment bubble to the surface through seemingly ordinary conversations. The author has a particular talent for writing scenes where characters say one thing while meaning something entirely different—a skill that serves the mystery genre well.
The pacing, while generally effective, suffers from uneven momentum. The middle sections of the novel occasionally bog down in procedural details that feel more obligatory than essential. Some investigative scenes read like boxes being checked rather than genuine advances in the story.
The resolution, when it comes, feels both surprising and inevitable—the hallmark of effective mystery writing. Lapena plants clues fairly while maintaining enough misdirection to keep the solution from becoming obvious. However, some readers may find certain plot revelations rely too heavily on coincidence and convenient timing.
Critical Assessment
Not a Happy Family succeeds as an engaging page-turner that will satisfy fans of domestic suspense. Lapena has crafted a novel that works on multiple levels—as a family drama, a psychological study, and a murder mystery. Her exploration of toxic family dynamics feels particularly relevant in an era where discussions of emotional abuse and family trauma have become more mainstream.
However, the novel is not without significant weaknesses. The plot occasionally prioritizes twists over character consistency, and some revelations feel designed more for shock value than narrative necessity. The ending, while satisfying on a plot level, leaves some character arcs feeling incomplete. Additionally, the novel’s exploration of wealth and privilege, while compelling, sometimes veers into territory that feels more like social commentary than organic storytelling.
The supporting characters, particularly Irena the longtime housekeeper and Rose the family friend, serve important plot functions but occasionally feel more like devices than fully realized people. This is particularly disappointing given Lapena’s evident skill at character creation when she focuses her attention.
Comparative Context
Within Lapena’s body of work, Not a Happy Family represents both an evolution and a continuation of her established themes. Like The Couple Next Door and An Unwanted Guest, it examines how quickly civilized facades can crumble when people are pushed to their limits. However, this novel demonstrates greater ambition in its scope, attempting to examine an entire family system rather than focusing on a single relationship.
For readers seeking similar domestic thrillers, this novel will appeal to fans of authors like Ruth Ware, Tana French, and Louise Penny. It shares DNA with classics of the genre like Agatha Christie’s family-centered mysteries, while incorporating modern psychological insights about family dysfunction and trauma.
Recommendations for Similar Reading
Readers who enjoy Not a Happy Family might consider:
- “The Thursday Murder Club” series by Richard Osman – For readers who appreciate ensemble casts and complex family relationships
- “Big Little Lies” by Liane Moriarty – Explores how secrets and lies can destroy seemingly perfect families
- “The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides – Features psychological complexity and family trauma as central elements
- “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn – For those who enjoy unreliable narrators and twisted family dynamics
- “In the Woods” by Tana French – Combines procedural elements with deep psychological insight
Final Verdict
Not a Happy Family succeeds more often than it fails, delivering an entertaining and thought-provoking mystery that will keep most readers engaged from beginning to end. While it may not achieve the psychological depth of literary fiction or the plot intricacy of classic detective novels, it occupies a comfortable middle ground that will satisfy readers seeking intelligent entertainment.
Lapena’s greatest achievement here is creating a murder mystery that feels rooted in genuine human emotion rather than mere plot mechanics. The Merton family’s dysfunction feels real and painful, making their ultimate fate tragic rather than merely sensational. The novel serves as both entertainment and cautionary tale about the long-term consequences of emotional abuse and the dangerous intersection of money and family relationships.
For fans of domestic suspense and family drama, Not a Happy Family delivers exactly what its title promises—a compelling examination of how unhappy families can become truly dangerous. While it may not break new ground in the genre, it represents solid, professional entertainment that understands both its audience and its themes. Lapena continues to prove herself as a reliable voice in contemporary mystery fiction, crafting stories that entertain while raising uncomfortable questions about the families we think we know.