What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena

I loved the way this book began and I loved how it ended. Then there was the part in between. Brilliant! Shari Lapena is the queen of the page turner, making you want to read faster to find out whodunit, but forcing yourself to slow down to savour every scene.

A safe small town in a rural setting where nothing ever happens. Ha! Until the unthinkable happens. The shocking discovery of a body in a farmer’s field leads everyone to question who can be trusted. Everyone has secrets and as they are exposed one by one, several motives and suspects come to light. Additional information is held back with each revelation, building suspense with every chapter.

By alternating multiple POVs, Lapena allows the reader into the minds of friends and family of the victim, creating a tableau of interconnected people affected by the young girl’s murder. Lapena quickly immerses the reader into the story with her straightforward style of writing in the present tense. A mix of first person narration along with close third puts the reader directly into the scenes, with flashes of the past through memories filling in details about the characters and their relationships.

An engaging thriller that will keep you up late reading until you reach the killer ending, it will leave you wanting more.