Review: What Have You Done by Shari Lapena
About the Book
*As found on Goodreads
The new binge-worthy novel from the “queen of the one-sit read,” and New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door
Nothing ever happens in sleepy little Fairhill, Vermont. But this morning that will change. And one innocent question could be deadly. What have you done?
The teenagers get their kicks telling ghost stories in the old graveyard. The parents trust their kids will arrive home safe from school. Everyone knows everyone. Curtains rarely twitch. Front doors are left unlocked.
But Diana Brewer isn’t lying safely in her bed where she belongs. Instead she lies in a hayfield, circled by vultures, discovered by a local farmer.
How quickly a girl becomes a ghost. How quickly a town of friendly, familiar faces becomes a town of suspects, a place of fear and paranoia.
Someone in Fairhill did this. Everyone wants answers.
Review
Though this was a fast-paced read, I found the writing to be choppy. The story had mystery and a creepy feel but lacked suspense. I easily identified Diana's killer well before the reveal.
The characters all lacked depth and were pretty flat. While there were numerous suspects, and the author gave reason to believe a couple of them were the perpetrators, they were too obvious. However, I may have preferred that over who the true killer turned out to be. The true killer's motive was weak, and when everything was revealed and tied up, it was uneventful and lacked that satisfying feel I crave when a thriller comes to an end.
Overall, What Have You Done was a lackluster read for me.
TW/CW: murder; sexual assault; mention of bullying
*Complimentary copy for review provided by Penguin Random House Canada. All opinions expressed here are honest and entirely my own.
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About the Author
Shari Lapena is the internationally bestselling author of the thrillers The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know, The End of Her, Not a Happy Family, and Everyone Here Is Lying, which have all been New York Times and The Sunday Times (London) bestsellers. Her books have been sold in forty territories around the world. She lives on a farm outside Toronto.
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