The Shari Lapena books in order are easy to follow because every novel is a standalone. You can start anywhere, but publication order shows how Lapena moved from literary comedy into the domestic thrillers that made her best known.
Her suspense novels often begin with ordinary homes, families, and neighborhoods before secrets start surfacing. The settings feel familiar. The people usually do too. Then one lie changes everything.
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- Shari Lapena Books in Order
- Shari Lapena Short Fiction
- Shari Lapena Book-to-Screen Adaptations
- About Shari Lapena
Shari Lapena Books in Order
You don’t have to read Shari Lapena’s novels in order. None of them continue the same characters or story. I still recommend publication order if you want to see how her writing developed, but you can begin with whichever premise interests you most.
Literary Comedies
Lapena began with the literary comedies Things Go Flying and Happiness Economics. Both were originally published by a small Canadian press and were reissued by Doubleday Canada in ebook and audiobook formats in 2024.
- Things Go Flying (2008)
- Happiness Economics (2011)
Standalone Thrillers
Lapena’s thrillers can be read in any order. The Couple Next Door is the natural place to start if you want the book that introduced many readers to her domestic-suspense style.
- 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)
- Everyone Here Is Lying (2023)
- What Have You Done? (2024)
- She Didn’t See It Coming (2025)
- Getting Away with Murder (2026)
Shari Lapena Short Fiction
Lapena contributed one short story to a multi-author thriller collection. It stands on its own and isn’t connected to any of her novels.
- “The Invitation” (2025), included in The Twisted Women’s Book Club
Shari Lapena Book-to-Screen Adaptations
Television rights to The Couple Next Door were optioned in 2018 by Paramount Television, Anonymous Content, and Sugar23. No completed adaptation of Lapena’s novel has been released.
The Channel 4 and Starz series also titled The Couple Next Door is unrelated to Lapena’s book. Its writer confirmed that the show was loosely based on the Dutch series Nieuwe Buren, not Lapena’s novel.
About Shari Lapena
Shari Lapena is a Canadian novelist who worked as a lawyer and English teacher before becoming a full-time writer. She began her career with literary comedy, then shifted to domestic suspense with The Couple Next Door.
Lapena writes without outlining the entire story in advance. That approach lets suspicion move from one character to another as new information changes what the reader thinks happened.
According to her official biography, Lapena writes full time from a farm in Ontario, where she lives with her husband.
Looking for more books in order?
If you want more thriller authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Thriller Books in Order index.