The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena is a tangled domestic mystery filled with continued, surprising plot twists. Nothing is as it first seems, and all of the key characters are hiding secrets which are eventually revealed.
Anne and Marco Conti are parents with a new baby girl. When their babysitter cancels, they decide to attend a dinner part anyway at their next door neighbors' house. They leave their baby, Cora, sleeping alone while checking on her every half-hour. But when Anne goes to check on Cora at one a.m., the baby's crib is empty. Someone has taken her.
The police are called. A search is undertaken. But no sign of who took Cora is found. Anne and Marco are distraught. Detective Rasbach begins to suspect the parents are hiding something. They had both been drinking earlier. Anne has been seeing a psychiatrist for poet-partum depression. Something is off about all of it, but Rasbach can't tell what it is.
More plot twists unfold. Anne's parents arrive to help, with their own agenda. The next door neighbors are questioned, but they may be hiding something as well. A witness may have seen something. But the baby is still missing.
The Couple Next Door is a compelling, tautly written mystery that moves toward an unexpected answer. The novel makes entertaining winter reading for mystery fans.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
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