The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena

My Rating: 2.5/5

Marco and Anne are at their neighbor’s adjoining property for a small, adults-only dinner party. The babysitter cancels at the last moment but with the monitor and half hour checkups the couple can’t imagine anything going wrong. When they arrive home the front door is open and their 6 month old has been kidnapped.

Twisty mystery which reveals every minute flaw each character has until the possibility of sympathy for any of them is eradicated. I found myself hoping that, were the child recovered, she be sent as far away from anyone associated with the case as possible. Dialogue is hard to write and I am, I think, lenient on this front but I found it unrealistic and jarring in this novel. It is Lapena’s first thriller and with unsympathetic characters and the convoluted connections made to tie up the mystery it was a room-to-grow debut. My Rating: 2.5/5