The Shari Lapena books in order are perfect for domestic thriller fans. The Canadian novelist writes compelling and suspenseful mysteries. Her books focus on seemingly perfect towns and families, but danger and terror are lurking behind closed doors.
The subgenre of domestic thrillers is how Lapena achieved international recognition for her writing, but it is not how she began writing. Lapena wrote two literary comedies before shifting to mystery thrillers.
About Shari Lapena
One of Shari Lapena’s greatest regrets is that she did not venture into writing thrillers earlier in her life. She was in her mid-50s when she wrote her first thriller, The Couple Next Door, which was a huge success.
Lapena had previously published two literary comedies, because she felt that an outline was necessary to write thrillers, which she does not use. Finally, she decided to take the risk and began writing a thriller without a plan and found she was able to complete a compelling novel in that way.
Before she became a published author, Lapena was a lawyer, which she says she hated. She then went back to school to become an English teacher, before staying home to raise her two children.
After writing her two literary comedies she became bored with what she was writing, so she shifted gears to attempt writing a thriller. Lapena says that first attempt was easy in a way because no one knew what she was working on or had any expectations.
It became a runaway global bestseller, selling four million copies around the world and landing on multiple bestseller lists. After its success, Lapena had many more people offering advice when she went to write her second thriller.
However, A Stranger in the House was met with just as much enthusiasm. Fellow authors Sue Grafton and Linwood Barclay have since sung her praises as well.
Lapena currently lives on a large farm near Toronto, Ontario and writes full time. She says the old farmhouse is very reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s era of mysteries, with the maid’s quarters and back staircase.
Shari Lapena Books in Order
All of the Shari Lapena books in order are standalones, so it is not necessary to read them in a particular order. However, there is an obvious distinction with her genre shift.
Lapena’s first two published novels are her literary comedies. Both were published by small Canadian presses and have gone out of print. However, her debut — Things Go Flying — will have a new audiobook release on July 30, 2024.
You can then read her thrillers in any order you wish, but if you would like to see her evolution and growth as an author, then following the publication order will provide the best experience. Lapena continues to write without an outline or plan, but this will show you how she securely found her footing as a thriller writer.
- Things Go Flying (2007) (Rerelease Expected: July 30, 2024)
- Happiness Economics (2011) (Out of Print)
- 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? (Expected: July 30, 2024)
The Couple Next Door Adaptation
Back in 2018, it was announced that the adaptation rights to Shari Lapena’s debut thriller, The Couple Next Door, were purchased. It was developed into a television series by Paramount TV, Anonymous Content, and Sugar23.
The project wrapped filming in the summer of 2023. Although there is no official release date for U.S. and Canadian audiences, it is expected to premiere in 2024 on Starz. The series has six episodes and began streaming on Channel 4 in the UK at the end of 2023.
The Couple Next Door stars Sam Heughan in one of the leading roles alongside Jessica De Gouw, Eleanor Tomlinson, and Alfred Enoch.
A Summary of Shari Lapena Books in Order
Below you will find the summaries to most of the Shari Lapena books in order. Currently, only her thrillers are still in print, with a new book coming this summer. However, her debut novel also has a publication date this summer for an audiobook rerelease.
1. The Couple Next Door
Anne and Marco Conti seemingly have it all, but one night everything changes when they attend a dinner party next door. They left their baby Cora at home, reassuring themselves that everything would be fine with the baby monitor with them and checking in on her every half hour.
But a terrible crime is committed with the suspicion immediately landing on Anne and Marco. Detective Rasbach knows that they are hiding something. The couple have been keeping secrets from each other for years…
2. A Stranger in the House
In upstate New York, Karen and Tom Krupp live a happy, loving life. But one day Tom returns home to find Karen is missing and then there is a knock at the door. The police are there to take Tom to the hospital after Karen had a car accident in the worst part of town.
The crash left Karen with a few scrapes, a concussion, and amnesia. She cannot remember what she was doing before the accident, which the police find highly convenient and suspicious. Still, Karen returns home with Tom, but quickly realizes that something is not right.
Someone has been in her house. The police won’t stop asking questions. Everyone is a stranger, and everyone has something they want to keep secret.
3. An Unwanted Guest
Nestled deep in the woods, Mitchell’s Inn in the Catskills is the perfect setting for a relaxing weekend away. There are spacious old rooms with wood-burning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, plenty of outdoor winter activities, and cozy chairs to curl up in with a good book.
The weather then takes a turn for the worse with a blizzard cutting off the electricity and all contact with the outside world. So, the guests settle in to ride out the storm.
But then one of the guests turns up dead. The others don’t start to panic until a second guest dies. Then there is nothing to do but hunker down and hope they will survive.
4. Someone We Know
A teenager has been sneaking into houses in upstate New York and hacking into the owners’ computers to learn their secrets. What might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, the whispers begin and suspicion mounts.
Then a woman is murdered and the tension reaches a breaking point.
Who killed her and who knows more than they’re telling? How far will everyone go to protect their secrets? Because in this neighborhood, everyone has something to hide.
5. The End of Her
Stephanie and Patrick are adjusting to their new life with colicky twin girls in upstate New York. While the girls are a handful, Stephanie doesn’t mind staying home with them while Patrick works outside the home to pay the bills.
When a woman drops in unexpectedly and begins asking questions about Patrick’s late first wife, Stephanie supports him wholeheartedly. She knows the car crash was a tragic accident.
But then the police begin investigating, and Stephanie’s trust begins to falter. Their marriage is crumbling and Stephanie feels herself become unglued. She doesn’t know who to believe, but she knows she must protect her girls.
6. Not a Happy Family
It’s expensive to live in Brecken Hill in upstate New York. Being rich is a necessity, but Fred and Sheila Merton are very rich. Except their money can’t protect them when a killer comes calling.
They were brutally murdered after a tense Easter dinner with their three adult children, who are all understandably devastated by the murder of their parents, right? Except they each stand to inherit millions and they were never a very happy family thanks to their vindictive father and neglectful mother.
Could one of them have snapped after dinner? But it must have been someone else after the children had left from the dreadful evening. If a member of the family was capable of such a gruesome crime, you would know, right?
7. Everyone Here Is Lying
Stanhope seems to be a safe family neighborhood. William Wooler also appears to be a family man, but he has been having an affair, which just ended horribly at a motel up the road from his home. When he returns home, devastated and angry, he finds his difficult nine-year-old daughter unexpectedly home from school and he loses his temper.
Hours later, nine-year-old Avery Wooler is declared missing. Stanhope no longer feels safe.
But William isn’t the only one keeping a secret. Witnesses are coming forward with information that may or may not be true, but his neighbors are becoming increasingly unhinged. Nothing will prepare you for the truth.
8. What Have You Done?
The newest thriller from Shari Lapena will be published on July 30, 2024.
It takes place in Fairhill, Vermont. It is a sleepy little town where teenagers tell ghost stories, parents trust their children will get home safely from school, and front doors are left unlocked. Until the morning when everything changes.
That’s because Diana Brewer is not safely in her bed. Instead, she is found by a local farmer in a hayfield, surrounded by vultures. Someone in Fairhill did this and everyone wants answers.
Final thoughts
Shari Lapena is a Canadian novelist who shot to the top of bestseller lists with her pivot to the mystery thriller genre. She has made a place for herself within the subgenre of domestic suspense and received accolades for her skillful way of depicting suburban paranoia. The Shari Lapena books in order take the aspects of home which should be safe, and injects the terror lurking behind closed doors.