Paperback: 452 pages
Genre: Crime Thriller, Murder Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Paperback 2022
Source: My own bookshelf
First Sentences: There are many expensive houses, here in Bracken Hill, an enclave of Aylesford, in the Hudson Valley.
Setting: North of New York, USA
Favourite Quote: “But all fairytales are tinged with darkness.”
Review Quote: Dramatic, tense and satisfying murder mystery ― My Weekly
Literary Award: Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Mystery & Thriller (2021)
My Opinion: I read this as it was a recommended Richard and Judy Bookclub choice. As I have not read anything else by this author I was not sure what to expect, so a little disappointed as expecting a psychological thriller, incorrectly, as it is a ‘whodunit’.
The very unhappy, mainly unpleasant and dysfunctional Merton family, three adult children and their partners get together for their annual Easter Sunday dinner with their parents at the family home, which does not go well. The next day the housekeeper finds the elderly parents brutally murdered and the children are all prime suspects. The protagonists, though all are unlikeable, are well portrayed and the various scenarios, motives and alibis will certainly keep you guessing.
A quick read and worth while picking up if you are a fan of the genre.
Précis Courtesy of Goodreads:
In this family, everyone is keeping secrets - even the dead.
In the quiet, wealthy enclave of Brecken Hill, an older couple is brutally murdered hours after a tense Easter dinner with their three adult children. 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 them 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.
Wouldn't you?
Author Profile:
Photo Courtesy of Goodreads Profile
Shari Lapena is a Canadian novelist born in 1960, she was formerly a lawyer and a teacher before becoming an author.
Photographs, Trailer and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites:
Goodreads Profile Amazon Author Page Shari Lapena - Facebook Page
Shari Lapena - Official Website Instagram Profile Twitter Profile
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