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One of her hairs was found in Irena’s car, which was seen outside her parents’ house on the night of the murder, but Jenna insists it could have transferred to Irena when she hugged her after dinner. Jenna was the last one to leave the dinner, about an hour later than her siblings. During that time, her father told her he was changing his will. Ok, so I definitely predicted who the killer was, but I still had so much FUN reading this one! This is a thriller about these rich parents who have their kids over for Easter, but these parents are kind of assholes to their kids and they put all kind of ridiculous expectations on them, and on the morning after Easter, the parents are found brutally murdered in their home. The only suspects are the three adult siblings who all will gain a big inheritance from their deaths, and who argued with their parents the night before.
We’re free. All of us, we’re free of him.” Catherine’s face falls; she looks appalled. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that,” she says repressively. “And I would keep thoughts like that to yourself.” This was a fun book to listen to on audio. The narrator was great, and I enjoyed the stories off all involved - not just the siblings. I put on my super sleuth hat- not easy to do while driving and tried to do some detective work of my own. Who could be the heartless killer? What could Fred and Sheila have done to evoke the ire of a killer? Quite a bit as it turns out - well Fred mainly as he was not ever going to win a "Dad of the year" award. This was my first novel by Lapena and I own The Couple Next Door so I am excited for that to be my next read by this author! The not-so-happy-family here are the Mertons. Fred was a total jerk to everyone, but mostly to his children. Sheila, his wife, is a cold and distant mother, and failed to protect the children from their father.This was an extremely unique narrative tone for me. The story is told from a distant third person perspective, yet I felt fully connected and engrossed within this twisty and suspenseful tale. I loved the short chapters of this family drama that always left me on edge wanting to read “just one more”. My suspicions flew all over the place, suspecting every single character at one point or another.
The short, alternating chapters, made it an incredibly fast read and I was fully engaged. After each perspective, I was sure I had it all figured out. The truth is, they're all so much better off now that their parents have been murdered.The Mertons gather for Easter dinner, and it's a dreadful experience for almost everyone involved. The only one having fun is patriarch Fred Merton, who particularly enjoys bullying every member of his family, including his wife and his three grown children. So when Fred and his wife are gruesomely murdered later that night, no one is really surprised. Any of his children would gladly have done it, or was it someone else altogether who hates their father even more?She has no alibi for the night of the murder. Her aunt Audrey suspects Jenna was the murderer as she remembers her as being violent when angry as a child. On the upside? Lapena always keeps her character list short, which I honestly appreciate. Too many thrillers and suspense novels get cluttered with a bunch of people who either don't matter, aren't interesting, or seem to exist only to serve as potential suspects. This tightly-knit family provided just enough options without a bunch of filler. Now everyone in the family is a suspect. They all had a motive. Most of them had an opportunity. Who done it? Although, the book is a tad lengthy, I felt the story was continuously driven forward. I was anxious to see who the killer was and everyone seemed to have a past that couldn’t be overlooked. You’ll love to hate the flawed, spoilt characters in this addictive, fast-paced drama… This is a well-plotted whodunnit with twists and turns in every chapter to keep readers on their toes.”
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