I have pretty consistently enjoyed Shari Lapena’s novels, rating The Couple Next Door, An Unwanted Guest, and A Stranger In the House all four stars. So I had four-star expectations when I picked up her latest, Not A Happy Family (thanks to Penguin Group Viking and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for this honest review).

The premise suggested a cast of characters that weren’t exactly relatable: a very wealthy couple is murdered on Easter night, after a contentious family dinner at their home, with all of their children present (well, almost all – but that’s a plot twist I won’t spoil in a review!) 

Fred and Sheila Merton lived in a rich area, with two of their three adult children nearby. The eldest, their daughter Catherine, covets their big house and expects to move there after they are gone…their son Dan is married to Lisa, who is “…his first experience of unconditional love. Unless you count the dogs.” He worked with his father in the business, which he expected to take over when Dad retired…but then Dad sold it and Dan is out of work. “His father has ruined him, and he’s enjoyed doing it.”. The youngest, Jenna, is an artist who creates sculptures of female genitalia — all these young adults stand to inherit millions, and none of them really cared for their father. Then there is Irena, “…the former nanny, now cleaning woman, who has been invited to dinner. And to clean it lll up afterward…She can’t stop thinking about them, those children she brought up while Fred and Sheila couldn’t be bothered.”

At the family dinner, Fred was his usual nasty, vindictive self, while Sheila was typically neglectful and vague. Once the bodies are discovered, the truth starts to come out, and the fact that all three of them lie about their locations and activities following the dinner makes the police wonder if there is anyone they could believe or trust. 

It was never a happy family, and “…relationships and patterns are established early; they don’t change. Family dynamics play out again and again.” I’m one of those who rarely (if ever) figures out whodunit before the end, but I saw this one coming…and didn’t really care, since I didn’t like ANY of the characters. Victims, suspects, cops, lawyer — none of them were appealing. Doesn’t mean it isn’t a fun read — and the unraveling of the family drama is well done. I’m going three stars on this one, just because it doesn’t seem like I’ll remember much about this one for long, and seriously, if I figured out the plot, I would guess anyone could.