A review by heyashjp
Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena
3.0
The premise of this book was interesting to me - the rich family with complicated dynamics theme is always a fun one, but this ultimately didn't land as I thought it would.
The story begins with a brutal murder of a wealthy couple in a tony New York suburb, with the three adult children each set to gain an inheritance as the main suspects. Unfortunately, I didn't feel it built out much from there. There was a lot of circling around each of the Merton children and discussion of *why* they were suspects, but it ultimately felt repetitive. There were no truly redeemable characters and little background, which in these kinds of stories can really help to develop interest, and without that this fell kind of flat. I had a hard time with the narration as well. As a plus, the chapters are quick and there is suspense, so this is a quick read.
This was my first read from this author and it seems like she has a great fan base, so perhaps this just wasn't for me!
The story begins with a brutal murder of a wealthy couple in a tony New York suburb, with the three adult children each set to gain an inheritance as the main suspects. Unfortunately, I didn't feel it built out much from there. There was a lot of circling around each of the Merton children and discussion of *why* they were suspects, but it ultimately felt repetitive. There were no truly redeemable characters and little background, which in these kinds of stories can really help to develop interest, and without that this fell kind of flat. I had a hard time with the narration as well. As a plus, the chapters are quick and there is suspense, so this is a quick read.
This was my first read from this author and it seems like she has a great fan base, so perhaps this just wasn't for me!