This is the third book I’ve read by Shari Lapena. The first was The Couple Next Door, and then I picked up a signed and dedicated copy of Everyone Here Is Lying after attending a panel at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in 2023.

The story opens with a local farmer discovering a flock of vultures in one of his fields. As he gets closer, he realises the birds are feasting on the naked, dead body of a teenage girl.

We are then introduced to many of the families and individuals who live in the sleepy town of Fairhill. Although the novel frequently switches between characters and narratives, you are always reminded who they are by their relationships or professions within the first few sentences of each perspective shift, making it easy to follow without feeling overwhelmed by the large cast.

The book will keep you guessing about the killer’s identity, as there are many plausible suspects. I thought the story was told extremely well. Crime can often be glamorised – I recently saw a descriptor for a true crime documentary on a streaming service labelled as “riveting,” which felt rather insensitive.

The victim, Diana, is harassed by men of various ages and in different areas of her life. You really feel for her and what she endures. The book adds a haunting layer to her narrative, inspired by ghost stories, as we hear her lament that she never lived long enough to simply become ordinary – to blend in and just be.

I thought this was done incredibly well.