Shari Lapena is a Canadian novelist, born in 1960. She is known for her 2016 thriller novel The Couple Next Door, which became a worldwide best-seller and was praised by other writers. The couple’s suspense was described by Sue Grafton as “beautifully rendered and unrelenting.” Linwood Barclay noted, “I thought the read-it-in-one-sitting thing was a cliché. Not any longer.” A Stranger in the House, Lapena’s second novel, was one of the most anticipated sequels of 2017.
Before she began writing, Lapena had worked as a lawyer and English teacher. Her debut novel, Things Go Flying, was published in 2008.
On the exterior, Lapena’s story appears to be an instant success, but it was a hard journey to the top. She started law school out of necessity. She wanted to be a writer since childhood, but she didn’t believe it was a “practical career choice.” She became an English teacher after a few unsatisfying years in the legal profession. She stayed at home with her two children, both of whom are now teenagers. That’s when she decided to write.
Lapena’s life has changed for the better since her first thriller, but she strives to ensure the work ethic that has kept her going for the last 18 years.
Shari Lapena Books in order
Standalone Novel
- Things Go Flying (2007)
- Happiness Economics (2011)
- The Couple Next Door (2016)
- A Stranger in the House (2017)
- An Unwanted Guest (2018)
- Someone We Know (2019)
- The End of Her (2020)
- Not a Happy Family (2021)
Similar authors
- B.A. Paris Behind Closed Doors follows a woman who is being held captive by her daring husband. Behind the perfect English marriage facade, things aren’t as pretty as they appear.
- Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10 revolves around the story of Lo Blacklock, a journalist. She accepts a position as a reporter on a luxury yacht cruise. She’s not enjoying the cruise due to life issues and seasickness when a woman gets tossed overboard.
See also: Susan Wiggs Books in Order.
Most recommended books
- Someone We Know (3.94 Goodreads score)
- Not a Happy Family (3.83 Goodreads score)
- The Couple Next Door (3.81 Goodreads score)
- The End of Her (3.80 Goodreads score)
- An Unwanted Guest (3.79 Goodreads score)
Awards
- In 2008, Lapena’s book “Things Go Flying” received an honorable mention on the Globe and Mail’s top first fiction list.
- “Happiness Economics” was nominated for a Stephen Leacock Medal in the category of Humor.
Latest releases
Lapens’s latest book, Not a Happy Family, was released on July 27th, 2021.
Book summaries
Things Go Flying (2007)
In Things Go Flying, Harold Walker is desperately average and listless in mid-life, stemming in part from the abrupt death of his one-time best friend, Tom. Harold’s wife Audrey, an increasingly frustrated housewife and mother to their two teenage sons, is a control freak silently harboring an explosive secret. Things go flying in the Walker household when Harold’s long-deceased mother comes back to haunt them. He finds he has her gift for opening the door to the past-and if there was ever a gift he wanted to return, it’s this one! Audrey is similarly terrified-how is she to safeguard her secret now? If she can’t control this world, how is she to control the next one? And how will she protect her good China? Harold, who has made a practice of avoiding things all his life, must confront two problems-how to find meaning in this life, and how to come to grips with the most terrifying idea that life just might go on forever!
Happiness Economics (2011)
Will Thorne is a slightly published, stalled poet, married to Judy, a successful celebrity economist who doesn’t understand him, or poetry, at all. Pressured by a fellow poet, Will started The Poets Preservation Society, a genteel organization to help poets in need. But in order to persuade his high-powered wife to get him the necessary funding, Will must make a devil’s bargain with her: he will write advertising slogans so that he can, in Judy’s words, contribute to society. Writing slogans for toilet paper and spending his free time on administrative work for society, Will has neither the time nor the inspiration to finish his novel in poems. But when Will meets his muse, the enigmatic and athletic Lily White, he becomes inspired not only to write poetry but to take guerrilla action in support of poets everywhere. Poetry meets parkour and culture clashes with commerce in this hilarious look at how we measure the value of art. Happiness Economics is a comic novel about a poet’s heroic struggle to create, in the face of cultural and domestic impediments.
The Couple Next Door (2016)
It all started at a dinner party. . .A domestic suspense debut about a young couple and their apparently friendly neighbors—a twisty, rollercoaster ride of lies, betrayal, and the secrets between husbands and wives. . .Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all—a loving relationship, a wonderful home, and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night, when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately lands on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story. Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they’ve kept for years. What follows is the nerve-racking unraveling of a family—a chilling tale of deception, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you breathless until the final shocking twist.
A Stranger in the House (2017)
newlyweds, and they have no kids to interrupt their comfortable life together. But one day, Tom returns home to find Karen has vanished—her car’s gone and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse—complete with phone and ID—behind. There’s a knock on the door—the police are there to take Tom to the hospital where his wife has been admitted. She had a car accident and lost control as she sped through the worst part of town. The accident has left Karen with a concussion and a few scrapes. Still, she’s mostly okay—except that she can’t remember what she was doing or where she was when she crashed. The cops think her memory loss is highly convenient, and they suspect she was up to no good. Karen returns home with Tom, determined to heal and move on with her life. Then she realizes something’s been moved. Something’s not quite right. Someone’s been in her house. And the police won’t stop asking questions. Because in this house, everyone’s a stranger. Everyone has something they’d rather keep hidden. Something they might even kill to keep quiet.
An Unwanted Guest (2018)
A weekend retreat at a cozy mountain lodge is supposed to be the perfect getaway . . . but when the storm hits, no one is getting awayIt’s winter in the Catskills and Mitchell’s Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing–maybe even romantic–weekend away. It boasts spacious old rooms with huge woodburning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a good murder mystery. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity–and all contact with the outside world–the guests settle in and try to make the best of it. Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead–it looks like an accident. But when a second guest dies, they start to panic. Within the snowed-in paradise, something–or someone–is picking off the guests one by one. And there’s nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm–and one another.
Someone We Know (2019)
Maybe you don’t know your neighbors as well as you thought you did . . .”This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much. . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out.”In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses–and into the owners’ computers as well–learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too. Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets? In this neighborhood, it’s not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide . . .You never really know what people are capable of.
The End of Her (2020)
A long-ago accident–and a visitor from out of the blue. . .Stephanie and Patrick are adjusting to life with their colicky twin girls. The babies are a handful, but even as Stephanie struggles with the disorientation of sleep deprivation, there’s one thing she’s sure of: she has all she ever wanted. Then Erica, a woman from Patrick’s past, appears and makes a disturbing accusation. Patrick had always said his first wife’s death was an accident, but now Erica claims it was murder. Patrick insists he’s innocent, that this is nothing but a blackmail attempt. Still, Erica knows things about Patrick–things that make Stephanie begin to question her husband. Stephanie isn’t sure what, or who, to believe. As Stephanie’s trust in Patrick begins to falter, Patrick stands to lose everything. Is Patrick telling the truth–is Erica the persuasive liar Patrick says she is? Or has Stephanie made a terrible mistake? How will it end?
Not a Happy Family (2021)
In this family, everyone is keeping secrets—even the dead. Brecken Hill in upstate New York is an expensive place to live. You have to be rich to have a house there, and Fred and Sheila Merton certainly are rich. But even all their money can’t protect them when a killer comes to call. The Mertons are brutally murdered after a fraught Easter dinner with their three adult kids. 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 the siblings 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?
