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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. Rose feels a fluttering in her stomach. This really is the sort of thing you dream of, if you’re raised by a single mom and your friends are wealthy. It’s like a fairy tale. But all fairy tales are tinged with darkness.”
Predictable. Barely anything happened the whole book, suspense wise. Them all pointing their fingers at each other got tedious and played out.However, I am also sad to say that the big revelation didn't come with a bang and it felt like it was just mentioned and done. Fred and Sheila Merton are rich-rich and live a very nice life in upstate New York—until they’re gruesomely murdered in their home, after a disastrous Easter dinner with their three grown children. Now, each of the siblings has millions coming their way in inheritance, and an unspeakable sense of relief—Fred Merton was an emotionally abusive father and Sheila a neglectful mother. The problem is, the three siblings have never gotten along, and the police need someone to charge. Layer by layer, as we get the rotating perspectives of all three children, their increasingly suspicious spouses, the devoted housekeeper, and a meddling aunt, you’ll question who is framing whom, and what each person might be capable of. Ok, so I definitely predicted who the killer was, but I still had so much FUN reading this one! This is a thriller about these rich parents who have their kids over for Easter, but these parents are kind of assholes to their kids and they put all kind of ridiculous expectations on them, and on the morning after Easter, the parents are found brutally murdered in their home. The only suspects are the three adult siblings who all will gain a big inheritance from their deaths, and who argued with their parents the night before. I have now read all six of Shari Lapena’s novels, and have found them all to be entertaining! If you enjoy domestic suspense and haven’t yet read this author-it’s time to change that! The police are investigating the murder of Fred and Sheila Merton, a wealthy couple in their 60s with three grown children. Fred and Sheila spent Easter Sunday having dinner with their three children. Sometime between that dinner and the following Tuesday morning, Fred was stabbed to death and Sheila was strangled.
Not a Happy Family is a dysfunctional family whodunit mystery. I'm really digging these plots right now. No, this story isn't very original and reminds me of the movie "Knives Out", but I'm still entertained from start to finish. The family in this story, the Mertons, although wealthy, are not a happy family. Their holiday dinners get very messy indeed. When the family comes together for this particular Easter dinner, things get especially uncomfortable. This was a fun book to listen to on audio. The narrator was great, and I enjoyed the stories off all involved - not just the siblings. I put on my super sleuth hat- not easy to do while driving and tried to do some detective work of my own. Who could be the heartless killer? What could Fred and Sheila have done to evoke the ire of a killer? Quite a bit as it turns out - well Fred mainly as he was not ever going to win a "Dad of the year" award. 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.
Fred’s sister. She was told by Fred that he was changing his will and leaving her half his fortune. Except he didn’t get around to it. Alibi: She would have been at dinner, but was conveniently home with the flu. Now everyone in the family is a suspect. They all had a motive. Most of them had an opportunity. Who done it?
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. Bestselling author Shari Lapena knows a thing or two about secrets, and in Not a Happy Family, everyone’s got them – even the dead. When a wealthy couple is murdered the day after a contentious Easter dinner with their estranged offspring, their kids become instant millionaires—that is, unless it turns out that they’re the ones responsible for the murder. Strong Menendez Brother vibes with this one.” I borrowed these. A couple of weeks ago.’ ‘Can anyone confirm that?’ She looks up at him angrily. ‘What are you suggesting? That I murdered my parents and kept these earrings?”
I rarely DNF books, and I almost never do it when I get a review copy, but I completely understand why one would chose not to finish this novel, as it was too repetitive with all the he said she said parts that it became boring.
It’s been said there are four motives for murder: Lust, Love, Loathing, or Loot. There’s no shortage of the latter two here. There are no tears shed for Fred and Sheila, but plenty of anticipation and elation at the thought of the inheritance. I loved how the author dropped little secrets/bombshells throughout the book about the characters, that made me see each of them with new eyes. You’ll love to hate the flawed, spoilt characters in this addictive, fast-paced drama… This is a well-plotted whodunnit with twists and turns in every chapter to keep readers on their toes.” We start off knowing that Fred and Sylvia Merton are dead. Who killed them and why is the central mystery. Well, pretty much everyone who was related to them had a reason to, as Fred was a first class jerk to his three children and Sylvia stood by and let it happen. The Mertons are uber-wealthy and each of the three children (as well as Fred's sister and another surprise person) are due to inherit a great deal of money from the estate. The police aren't buying that the brutal murders were a robbery gone wrong, yet they can't seem to come up with evidence as to who committed the crimes. Each of the children have motive and possible opportunity. Secrets upon secrets are revealed as they try to piece together the solution.
A house this grand, this polished—glossy white marble floor beneath an elaborate, tiered chandelier in the entryway, fresh flowers on a side table—you’d think there must be staff for upkeep. But there’s only one cleaning lady, Irena, who comes in twice a week. She works hard for the money. But she’s been with them so long—more than thirty years—that she’s almost like family. My favourite part was the show of how a thing as murder can shake and change relationships that seemed strong before. How one can stop trusting a person and question their intentions, even though prior the big event they would swear on their life for them. 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?
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