“Everyone is faking it, all of them pretending to be something they’re not. The whole world is built on lies and deceit.”
Shari Lapena is one of the most successful thriller authors in the world, best known for her 2016 bestseller, The Couple Next Door. A lawyer and English teacher before embarking on her writing career, her debut novel, Things Go Flying, was published in 2008 and was shortlisted for the Sunburst Award. Since then, Lapena has become renowned in the psychological thriller genre for delivering stories that are brimming with secrets, betrayals and tense domestic dramas that unravel in all manner of surprising and unexpected ways. We here at What We Reading thought we would pull together all Shari Lapena books in order of release so that, whether you’re a seasoned fan or simply looking for your next great mystery read, you have them all to hand!
Things Go Flying (2008)
Shari Lapena’s debut novel was Things Go Flying and is a far cry from the gripping thrillers most readers will know her for. In Things Go Flying, readers are introduced to Harold Walker, a desperately average middle-aged man still struggling following the death of his one-time best friend, Tom. Harold’s wife, Audrey, is the mother to their two teenaged sons, is a control freak housewife, growing increasingly frustrated with her husband, and his harbouring an explosive secret.
Things are upended in the Walker household when Harold’s long-deceased mother returns to haunt them. Harold also finds that he also has a gift for opening the door to the past. Presented with this startling discovery, he is forced to grapple with how to find meaning in his life, and how to come to terms with the most daunting prospect that it might now go on forever.
Happiness Economics (2011)
Will Thorne is a stalled poet who is married to Judy, a hugely successful celebrity economist. Pressured in by another starving fellow poet, Will sets up The Poets’ Preservation Society, an organisation designed to help poets in need.
However, Will soon meets his muse in the enigmatic and athletic Lily White. Not only does he become inspired to begin writing poetry again, but also embark on guerilla action in support of poets everywhere. A Stephen Leacock Award finalist, Happiness Economics sees parkour, poetry, culture and commerce all colliding in this big-hearted look at how we measure the value of art.
The Couple Next Door (2016)
Still one of the best Shari Lapena books and undoubtedly the release that helped put the Canadian novelist on the map, The Couple Next Door centres on Anne and Marco Conti, a seemingly perfect couple residing in a pleasant suburban neighbourhood. One evening, they attend a dinner party hosted by one of their neighbours, leaving their six-month-old daughter, Cora, at home. They keep the baby monitor on them and make regular visits to the house to check on her. Yet, to their horror, when they return home at the end of the evening, their baby has vanished.
As the investigation into the disappearance gets underway, it soon becomes clear that not everything is as it seems with Anne and Marco. Lapena presents a gripping and shocking exploration of the lengths people will go to protect their secrets, as the couple’s fragile relationship threatens to split as the investigation intensifies.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Couple Next Door
A Stranger In The House (2017)
Karen and Tom Krupp are happy. They have a lovely house in upstate New York, they’re still in the honeymoon stage of their marriage and have no kids ready to interrupt their comfortable life together. But, one day, Tom comes home to find Karen has vanished. The police soon arrive to escort Tom to the hospital, informing him that his wife has been in a car accident whilst speeding through the worst part of town.
Whilst she is mostly fine from a physical point of view, the accident has left Karen with severe memory loss. She returns home with her husband, determined to get back on her feet and resume her pleasant life. But then she realises that something isn’t quite right. Someone has been in her house. In Lapena’s A Stranger in the House, everyone in this house becomes a stranger, they all have something they want to keep hidden, and some might even kill to keep quiet.
An Unwanted Guest (2018)
One of the best locked-room mystery books by Shari Lapena, An Unwanted Guest whisks readers to the Catskills Mountains and Mitchell’s Inn. Nestled deep in the woods, it is the perfect place to spend a romantic weekend away during the winter. It boasts spacious old rooms with wood-burning fireplaces, a full wine cellar and the chance to ski, snowshoe or simply unwind with a cosy murder mystery book.
Which is why when the weather suddenly takes a dramatic turn for the worst and all the electricity cuts out, the guests inside are determined to make the best of things. However, things take a turn for the sinister when one of the guests turns up dead. When another body emerges, the guests begin to panic. Within this charming retreat, someone is picking off the guests one at a time. All the remaining survivors can do is hunker down and hope to survive the storm and each other.
Someone We Know (2019)
In a sleepy leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been climbing into residents’ houses and into their computers. He’s been learning all of their secrets, and perhaps even sharing some of them.
Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? Two anonymous letters are soon sent out, rumours begin to swirl and suspicion starts to mount. And when a local woman is found murdered just down the street, the tension in this community threatens to reach boiling point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they are telling? And how will all of these seemingly pleasant people go to protect their own secrets? Another one of the best Shari Lapena books, Someone We Know is another mystery thriller that delves into the power of the secrets, and the consequences when they come to light.
The End Of Her (2020)
Stephanie and Patrick are recently married and have two newborn twins. Whilst she is struggling with the disorientating effects of sleep deprivation, Stephanie knows for certain that she has everything she has ever wanted.
Then a woman from Patrick’s past arrives and makes a shocking accusation about his first wife. He had always claimed her death had been an accident. She claims it was murder. He insists he is innocent, that this is all a dramatic attempt at blackmailing him. But, is Patrick telling the truth, or has Stephanie made a grave, potentially fatal, mistake?
Not A Happy Family (2021)
Brecken Hill is an expensive place to call home. You have to be seriously wealthy to afford a house there. Fortunately, they don’t come much wealthier than married couple Fred and Sheila Merton. Nevertheless, all the money in the world isn’t enough to protect them when a killer comes to the door. Following an Easter dinner with their three adult children, the Mertons are discovered having been brutally murdered.
The children are naturally devastated. Or are they? Each of them stands to inherit millions. The Mertons were never a happy family thanks to their volatile father and neglectful mother, but perhaps one of them was far more disturbed than even they realised. Did an intruder kill the Mertons? Or did one of them snap that evening? A fresh spin on a classic murder mystery formula, Not A Happy Family is one of the best Shari Lapena books that asks if you would be able to spot a psychopath in your family.
Everyone Here Is Lying (2023)
Another one of the most popular books by Shari Lapena that made a splash on BookTok, Everyone Here Is Lying takes readers into the heart of Stanhope, a safe neighbourhood perfect for families. And William Wooler is a family man, at least on the surface. But, he’s also been having an affair. An affair that ended badly one afternoon in a motel up the road. When he returns home to find his nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, he finally loses his temper.
Mere hours later, Avery’s family declare her missing. In an instant, Stanhope no longer feels like the safe and secure place it once did. And William isn’t the only one of its residents hiding a lie. Witnesses are brought forward with information that may or may not be true, and Avery’s neighbours begin to appear more and more unhinged before the shocking truth about the disappearance is revealed.
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What Have You Done? (2024)
The latest mystery thriller by Shari Lapena, 2024’s What Have You Done follows a group of teenagers in Fairhill, Vermont, the sort of small, sleepy town where nothing ever happens. The teenagers get their kicks by telling ghost stories in the old graveyard. The parents trust their kids will arrive home safe from school. Doors are left unlocked, curtains rarely twitch and everyone knows everyone.
But, Diane Brewer isn’t making her way home from school. She’s lying in a hayfield, circled by vultures and being discovered by a local farmer. In What Have You Have Done, Lapena exposes how quickly relationships and communities can shatter. Someone in Fairhill killed Diana, and there’s an entire town’s worth of paranoid suspects potentially responsible.
Check Out The Best Mystery Books From 2024
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
