Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena

Title: Everyone Here Is Lying 

Author: Lying by Shari Lapena

Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books

Release Date: July 25, 2023

Another thrilling domestic suspense novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Couple Next Door

“The most addictive book I've read in ages—so slick and disquieting and clever. Just brilliant.” —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Family Remains

“Lapena is a master of manipulation.” —USA Today

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.

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What happened to Avery?

Nine-year-old Avery Wooler is missing.

What we know from the very beginning: William Wooler is having an affair with his neighbor, Nora. William is a physician, and Nora has been volunteering at the same hospital. The day Avery disappears, Nora ends the affair, and William arrives home earlier than expected. He finds Avery alone. She says she was sent home from school and walked. In a rage, William strikes her. He apologizes and decides to leave. That’s the last thing we see.

Detectives Gully and Bledsoe are assigned the case of the missing child. They soon realize that many people in the neighborhood are hiding secrets, and any of them could be responsible. Of course, William quickly becomes the prime suspect. Did he do it?

I enjoyed Everyone Here Is Lying, but not as much as the other books I’ve read by her. There were a few good red herrings. I guessed part of the mystery fairly early, but the other part caught me by surprise. The ending, though it felt a bit rushed, was satisfying in a fist-pumping kind of way.

Cliffhanger: No

3.5/5 Fangs