If you’re looking for Shari Lapena’s books in order, look no further, as you’ve come to the right page!
Shari Lapena writes the kind of psychological suspense that begs to be read in one sitting. Her novels feature domestic settings, tightly wound secrets, and twists that keep the pages flying.
Her breakout thriller, The Couple Next Door, made her a fixture on international bestseller lists and introduced millions of readers to her brand of high-velocity, neighbor-next-door menace.
Her publishing career began with two literary/comic novels—Things Go Flying in 2008 and Happiness Economics in 2011—before she pivoted to suspense with The Couple Next Door in 2016. Since then, she has released a steady run of standalone thrillers, which have all become bestsellers.
What makes the author’s writing so appealing is its “close to home” focus, where crimes and betrayals unfold in kitchens, condos, and cul-de-sacs—places readers recognize all too well. Lapena has described gravitating toward stories rooted in ordinary lives rather than high-spy spectacle, which is why her books land squarely in the sweet spot of domestic suspense.
The formula has resonated with a broad audience, as her books have become international bestsellers, and her fans are always eager to read her next book!
If you’re new to the author or have only read one of her books and want to read more, this article is for you. Below, you’ll find a clean, chronological guide to Shari Lapena’s novels, so you can pick the perfect next read to satiate your craving for mystery and suspense.
All Shari Lapena Books in Order:
Here’s a list of all the mystery/thriller novels written by the author. Every book she has written is a standalone novel, so you don’t have to read them in order and can pick whatever you like.
However, if you do want to read her novels in order, here’s a list featuring them in publication order:
Shari Lapena Books Reading Guide:
1. The Couple Next Door (2016)
Your neighbour told you that she didn’t want your six-month-old daughter at the dinner party. Nothing personal, she just couldn’t stand her crying.
Your husband said it would be fine. After all, you only live next door. You’ll have the baby monitor, and you’ll take turns to go back every half hour. Your daughter was sleeping when you last checked on her. But now, as you race up the stairs in your deathly quiet house, your worst fears are realized. She’s gone.
You’ve never had to call the police before. But now they’re in your home, and who knows what they’ll find there.
What would you be capable of when pushed past your limit?
2. A Stranger in the House (2017)
Karen and Tom Krupp are happy—they’ve got a lovely home in upstate New York, they’re practically newlyweds, and they have no kids to interrupt their comfortable life together. But one day, Tom returns home to find Karen has vanished; her car’s gone, and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse, complete with phone and ID, behind.
There’s a knock on the door—the police are there to take Tom to the hospital, where his wife has been admitted. She had a car accident and lost control as she sped through the worst part of town.
The accident has left Karen with a concussion and a few scrapes. Still, she’s mostly okay except that she can’t remember what she was doing or where she was when she crashed. The cops think her memory loss is highly convenient, and they suspect she was up to no good.
Karen returns home with Tom, determined to heal and move on with her life. Then she realizes something’s been moved. Something’s not quite right. Someone’s been in her house. And the police won’t stop asking questions.
Because in this house, everyone’s a stranger. Everyone has something they’d rather keep hidden. Something they might even kill to keep quiet.
3. An Unwanted Guest (2018)
It’s winter in the Catskills, and Mitchell’s Inn, nestled deep in the woods, is the perfect setting for a relaxing and romantic weekend away. It boasts spacious, old rooms with massive wood-burning fireplaces, a well-stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or simply curling up with a good murder mystery.
So, when the weather takes a turn for the worse and a blizzard cuts off electricity and all contact with the outside world, the guests settle in and try to make the best of it.
Soon, though, one of the guests turns up dead. It looks like an accident, but when a second guest dies, they start to panic.
Within the snowed-in paradise, something is picking off the guests one by one. And there’s nothing they can do but hunker down and hope they can survive the storm—and one another.
4. Someone We Know (2019)
In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses and accessing the owners’ computers, learning their secrets and possibly sharing some of them as well.
Who is he, and what might he have uncovered?
After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point.
Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?
In this neighborhood, it’s not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide!
5. The End of Her (2020)
Stephanie and Patrick are recently married, with newborn twins. While Stephanie struggles with the disorienting effects of sleep deprivation, there’s one thing she knows for sure—she has everything she ever wanted.
Then a woman from his past arrives and makes a shocking accusation about his first wife. He always claimed her death was an accident, but she says it was murder.
He insists he’s innocent, that this is nothing but a blackmail attempt. But is Patrick telling the truth? Or has Stephanie made a terrible mistake?
6. Not A Happy Family (2021)
Brecken Hill in upstate New York is an expensive place to live. You have to be rich to have a house there. And they don’t come much richer than Fred and Sheila Merton. But even all their money can’t protect them when a killer comes to call.
The Mertons are brutally murdered the night after an Easter Dinner with their three adult kids, who, of course, are devastated.
Or are they? They each stand to inherit millions.
They were never a happy family, thanks to their capricious father and neglectful mother, but perhaps one of them is more disturbed than anyone knew.
Did one of them snap after that dreadful evening? Or was it someone else that night who crept in with the worst of intentions? It must be. After all, if one of your siblings were a psychopath, you’d know. Wouldn’t you?
7. Everyone Here is Lying (2023)
Welcome to Stanhope. A safe neighborhood. A place for families.
William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he’s been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter, Avery, unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.
Hours later, Avery’s family declares her missing.
Suddenly, Stanhope doesn’t feel so safe. And William isn’t the only one on his street who’s hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery’s neighbors become increasingly unhinged.
Who took Avery Wooler? Nothing will prepare you for the truth.
8. What Have You Done? (2024)
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, and everyone wants answers!
9. She Didn’t See It Coming (2025)
When a beloved wife and mother disappears, a luxurious condo building transforms into a potential crime scene, and the investigation begins: can the detectives find her before it’s too late?
Bryden and Sam have it all: thriving careers, an apartment in a luxury condominium, supportive friends, and a cherished daughter. The perfect life for the perfect couple.
Then Sam receives a call at his office. Bryden—working from home that day—has failed to collect their daughter from daycare. Arriving home with their little girl, he finds his wife’s car in the underground garage. Upstairs in their apartment, her laptop is open on the table, her cell phone nearby, her keys in their usual place in the hall.
Except Bryden is nowhere to be seen. It’s as if she just walked out!
10. Getting Away With Murder (Coming in July 2026)
Jill and Ted adore their New York brownstone the way others adore their children. They have carefully and expensively made every inch of it their own. It reflects who they are, their status, and tastes. With the grand mahogany staircase and state-of-the-art kitchen, it is the stuff of glossy magazines and real-estate dreams. It is their sanctuary.
So when Ted’s inheritance runs out and he makes a bad investment, they panic. How can they protect their beloved home and enviable lifestyle?
The answer is obvious. Or at least, it is obvious to Jill and Ted. The death of one wealthy family member could solve all their problems.
Together, they will get away with murder—a-As long as they trust each other, and as long as there are no surprises!
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