Title: Someone We Know by Shari Lapena
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 304 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
The new domestic suspense novel from New York Times bestselling author, Shari Lapena
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.
Review:
Someone We Know by Shari Lapena is an ingeniously plotted, suspenseful mystery.
When a murder rocks a quiet neighborhood, the residents are quick to place the blame on the husband of the victim. Because, after all, they are newcomers to town and the beautiful wife is quite the flirt. But as the murder investigation progresses, the secrets of the friends and neighbors are slowly, but surely, revealed. But, do any of these revelations point to the murderer’s identity?
Robert Pierce grows concerned about his wife Amanda when she fails to return home from a girls’ weekend. He reports her disappearance to the police who do not put much effort into searching for the missing woman. Has Amanda gone missing by her own choice or is there a more nefarious reason for her disappearance?
Olivia Sharpe is happily married with a teenage age son. But her life is about to become extremely complicated after she inadvertently reads a text on her son Raleigh’s phone. His explanation is shocking but she and her husband Paul quickly contact a lawyer for advice. However, unbeknownst to Paul or Raleigh, Olivia has made a fateful decision that leads their neighbor to begin some amateur sleuthing of her own.
After a shocking discovery, Detectives Moen and Webb begin their murder investigation by questioning the victim’s husband and their neighbors. Secrets are slowly unearthed and people’s lives are turned upside down as these hidden truths come to light. With each new lead, Moen and Webb question potential suspects in hopes of finding the killer. But will any of the people they question prove to be guilty of anything except poor judgment and questionable morals?
Someone We Know is a brilliantly plotted mystery with imaginative twists and sly turns. Just as Webb and Moen think they have solved the crime, new information casts doubt on their theories. With the suspect pool growing then shrinking as each new lead is investigated, Shari Lapena cleverly keeps the perpetrator’s identity and motive for the crime under wraps until the novel’s shocking dénouement. I absolutely loved and highly recommend this clever domestic mystery to fans of the genre.
