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Melissa (Always Behind)'s Reviews > Not a Happy Family
Not a Happy Family
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Fast paced mystery!
I listened to this one as an audiobook, and from the beginning, I just couldn't stop listening. It is divided into short sections, which made me compulsively keep listening as more clues were uncovered.
We start off knowing that Fred and Sylvia Merton are dead. Who killed them and why is the central mystery. Well, pretty much everyone who was related to them had a reason to, as Fred was a first class jerk to his three children and Sylvia stood by and let it happen. The Mertons are uber-wealthy and each of the three children (as well as Fred's sister and another surprise person) are due to inherit a great deal of money from the estate. The police aren't buying that the brutal murders were a robbery gone wrong, yet they can't seem to come up with evidence as to who committed the crimes. Each of the children have motive and possible opportunity. Secrets upon secrets are revealed as they try to piece together the solution.
Although this is a mystery, it is also a family drama and as things are being uncovered, so many people are hiding things from each other. You don't know who to trust and with the short sections from each character's POV, that trust changes page by page. I was really entertained by this book and found this to be the best book I've read by this author in quite a long time. The pacing and characterization were spot on and kept me engaged.
I listened to this one as an audiobook, and from the beginning, I just couldn't stop listening. It is divided into short sections, which made me compulsively keep listening as more clues were uncovered.
We start off knowing that Fred and Sylvia Merton are dead. Who killed them and why is the central mystery. Well, pretty much everyone who was related to them had a reason to, as Fred was a first class jerk to his three children and Sylvia stood by and let it happen. The Mertons are uber-wealthy and each of the three children (as well as Fred's sister and another surprise person) are due to inherit a great deal of money from the estate. The police aren't buying that the brutal murders were a robbery gone wrong, yet they can't seem to come up with evidence as to who committed the crimes. Each of the children have motive and possible opportunity. Secrets upon secrets are revealed as they try to piece together the solution.
Although this is a mystery, it is also a family drama and as things are being uncovered, so many people are hiding things from each other. You don't know who to trust and with the short sections from each character's POV, that trust changes page by page. I was really entertained by this book and found this to be the best book I've read by this author in quite a long time. The pacing and characterization were spot on and kept me engaged.
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Reading Progress
June 3, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
June 3, 2021
– Shelved
September 21, 2021
–
Started Reading
September 22, 2021
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-49 of 49 (49 new)
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Margaret M - (having a challenging time
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Sep 23, 2021 09:18AM
Great review
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Great review! I hope to read Not a Happy Family within the next few months! :)
Margaret wrote: "Great review"Thanks Margaret!
Taylor wrote: "Great review! I hope to read Not a Happy Family within the next few months! :)"I was so happy to get it from the library!
A great review!! Yet another one to add to my ever growing TBR!
Tina wrote: "A great review!! Yet another one to add to my ever growing TBR!"Thanks Tina, it is a really fast read!
So glad you loved this one too, Melissa! Fantastic review!
Michael wrote: "So glad you loved this one too, Melissa! Fantastic review!"It was a fun one--if you can say that about a book about murders, LOL
Great review Melissa! This one cracks me up because it's I think the shortest (non) review I've ever written and yet has the most votes I've ever received on GR. I think I'm the voice of the outliers 🤣
I was really entertained too Melissa, but I always enjoy this author. Great review!
Great review! I’m not a fan of this author but I’m willing to read this book.
Jen wrote: "Great review Melissa! This one cracks me up because it's I think the shortest (non) review I've ever written and yet has the most votes I've ever received on GR. I think I'm the voice of the outlie..."Isn't that a fun position to be in sometimes? I'm an outlier much of the time it seems.
Holly wrote: "I was really entertained too Melissa, but I always enjoy this author. Great review!"Thanks Holly, I feel kind of funny saying I was entertained but I think it was the pace.
NILTON wrote: "Great review! I’m not a fan of this author but I’m willing to read this book."Her books are definitely hit or miss for me, I think her last couple have been 2-star reads and so I was going to give up. That's why I waited for a library copy.
Excellent review Melissa! I'm #89 on my library's wait list but I think it'll be worth it 🤗
Farrah wrote: "Excellent review Melissa! I'm #89 on my library's wait list but I think it'll be worth it 🤗"It will be! Fortunately my library holds list was much shorter.
Great review, Melissa! 😃 Glad the pacing kept you engaged. I’ve added TBR. And thanks for mentioning the audio, I use those occasional when there’s a book suited for it.
Anne wrote: "Great review, Melissa! 😃 Glad the pacing kept you engaged. I’ve added TBR. And thanks for mentioning the audio, I use those occasional when there’s a book suited for it."This one is great as an audiobook.
Melissa (LifeFullyBooked) wrote: "Anne wrote: "Great review, Melissa! 😃 Glad the pacing kept you engaged. I’ve added TBR. And thanks for mentioning the audio, I use those occasional when there’s a book suited for it."This one is g..."
That's great to know, because I'm probably going to actually listen to Not a Happy Family on audiobook when I read it. 🙂
Taylor wrote: "Melissa (LifeFullyBooked) wrote: "Anne wrote: "Great review, Melissa! 😃 Glad the pacing kept you engaged. I’ve added TBR. And thanks for mentioning the audio, I use those occasional when there’s a ..."That's great, this is a good audiobook. I listened through Libby
I completely agree, Melissa! This was entertaining with the perfect amount of pacing. I'm not a fast reader and I breezed through this. Great review!
Derek wrote: "I completely agree, Melissa! This was entertaining with the perfect amount of pacing. I'm not a fast reader and I breezed through this. Great review!"Thanks Derek, it's refreshing to have one that doesn't plod along every once in a while.
Fabulous review, Melissa. This sounds like my type of entertainment. I’m really looking forward to listening to it.
Taina wrote: "Fabulous review, Melissa. This sounds like my type of entertainment. I’m really looking forward to listening to it."I look forward to seeing your thoughts!
Terrific review, Melissa! Glad you enjoyed! I have this on my tbr.
Jasmine wrote: "Terrific review, Melissa! Glad you enjoyed! I have this on my tbr."Thanks Jasmine, hope you enjoy!
Terrific review, Melissa! I’m so glad you enjoyed this one too! Shari LaPena mentioned in an interview that she did not decide who the murderer was before she wrote the ending. She just let it come to her as she wrote! I have a link to the interview in my review if you are interested in her thoughts on this book.
JaymeO wrote: "Terrific review, Melissa! I’m so glad you enjoyed this one too! Shari LaPena mentioned in an interview that she did not decide who the murderer was before she wrote the ending. She just let it come..."That's so interesting, I think it really helped propel the book along too!
Definitely agree…spot-on review.
Excellent review, Melissa! So many friends praising this book, I'll have to give this a look!
Shelley wrote: "Definitely agree…spot-on review."Thanks Shelley!
Kat wrote: "Excellent review, Melissa! So many friends praising this book, I'll have to give this a look!"It's a good example of her writing. I thought some of her books were awful, but this is a snappy fast-paced treat.
Great review, Melissa! Glad you enjoyed it! Lapena is a hit or miss for me!
I've only read one of her books and it was okay but I was expecting so much more. Maybe I should try her again with this one. Terrific review, Melissa!
Great review Melissa! I love family drama, add in a mystery and I’m definitely interested.
Debbie wrote: "Great review, Melissa! Glad you enjoyed it! Lapena is a hit or miss for me!"Definitely for me as well. This was going to be the make or break book whether or not I continued reading her books, so thankfully it was good.
Terrie wrote: "I've only read one of her books and it was okay but I was expecting so much more. Maybe I should try her again with this one. Terrific review, Melissa!"If you do, I recommend this one!
Colleen (Colleensreadingadventures) wrote: "Great review Melissa! I love family drama, add in a mystery and I’m definitely interested."This one has family drama galore!
good review. i'm on hold for the book at the library but i think i'll go ahead & get the audio version.
Jenna wrote: "good review. i'm on hold for the book at the library but i think i'll go ahead & get the audio version."Can't wait to see what you think!
I'm glad you enjoyed this one, too, Melissa...an entertaining (for all the wrong reasons) bunch that I wouldn't want to meet 😁 Great review!
Thanks, it was certainly entertaining exactly in that way!
This was my favorite of hers as well. Super review.
Liz wrote: "This was my favorite of hers as well. Super review."Thanks Liz, a very wild ride!
Great review! It was a good read!
Amina wrote: "Great review! It was a good read!"It was a fun ride!
So glad you enjoyed this as much as I did Melissa great review.🌸
Lisa wrote: "So glad you enjoyed this as much as I did Melissa great review.🌸"Thanks Lisa!
