Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

Look what arrived in the mail! No, I'm not talking about the beautiful handmade woven basket that arrived as part of a gift from my best friend and was purchased from Agowa, which helps empower women in West Africa -- although that was exciting to receive, too!

I'm talking about the latest book from Lapena!

So, as you may know, Shari Lapena writes great stand-alone domestic thrillers. Apparently, when she sat down to write her first thriller, THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR, she set out to create a 'one-sit' thriller -- common parlance for a page-turner so compelling that you can't put the book down and therefore read the entire thing in one sitting. These are my favorite types of thrillers, and if I think a book on my TBR has that potential, I'll reserve it for the weekend.

If a book forces me to finish it in one sitting on a Saturday or Sunday, the thrill at having experienced a one-sit nearly overtakes my shame at still being in my pajamas and on the couch deep into the late afternoon, sometimes evening, depending on the length of said book. As a reader chasing a one-sit, you must be willing to risk subjecting yourself to this type of sloth, and I'm not talking about the cute and furry three-toed kind here. Although on those one-sit days, to be honest, I probably don't look too dissimilar to this guy...

Anyway, when it came to creating one-sits, Lapena wildly succeeded!

This one, her latest book, has been pretty high on the NYT Bestseller List over the last few weeks and was an August BOTM (Book of the Month) pick.

I can't wait to dive in! And yes, I'll start it on the weekend. 

The book summary is below, along with a list of Lapena's other titles.

Book summary:

In this family, everyone is keeping secrets—even 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 Fred and Sheila Merton certainly are rich. But even all their money can't protect them when a killer comes to call. The Mertons are brutally murdered after a fraught Easter dinner with their three adult kids. Who, of course, are devastated.
 
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.

THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR
A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE
AN UNWANTED GUEST
SOMEONE WE KNOW
THE END OF HER