Who’s ready for a family murder mystery? Good. Because that’s what you’re going to get from Shari Lapena’s latest thriller, Not A Happy Family.

We meet the bougie Mercer family as they are gathering for an Easter dinner together. Mom, dad, the three kids, and their significant others, all around one table with their long time housekeeper. Seems simple enough, except there are a variety of bombs about to go off, mostly money related. Everyone wants something from the parents, and their family disfunction over money and how they were raised blows up big time. The kids and housekeeper leave in a huff about what went down.

But, a few hours later, someone brutally kills both parents inside the home. Police believe it’s one of the kids since they stand to get millions each from the estate, but officers don’t know which one was impatient and insane enough to do it. It doesn’t help that every one of them is lying and dragging their partners into the lies too.

This family murder mystery is a bit chaotic. It bounces around from perspectives of several people and they are all throwing around theories and lies willy nilly. I’m pretty sure that’s by design to throw off the reader. [Semi spoiler warning. I mean, its kind of a spoiler if you think about it, but technically not a spoiler, so read the rest of the paragraph at your own risk. Ok, I think I’ve given you enough rambling space to skip down if you want to….] However, if you’re paying attention to the chaos, it’s pretty easy to figure out who the real killer is due to the lack of misdirection and blame thrown their way. There. I said it.

Anyways, Not A Happy Family is an interesting exploration of the crazy things people do for money and the ones they are related to. Family dynamics can be so strange, especially when your parents aren’t exactly winning awards for their paternal care. I enjoyed it, but found it a little too simple to crack for my mystery tastes.

P.S. For some reason, my brain decided the character Dan was Dan Levy and now I want a Schitt’s Creek murder mystery special. Also, my brain cast Michelle Dockery from Downton Abbey as the oldest daughter, Catherine.

Does your mind’s eye ever attach an actor to a book character that you find humorous?