August 2024

I am not sure how she does it, but all of Shari Lapena’s books are absolute page-turners. This time I tried to slow myself down to see if I could analyze her method, but once again her propulsive storytelling did not allow this.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? opens in Fairhill, Vermont, where everything is beautiful and bucolic. One morning, a local farmer finds in his field the body of a young woman that is being feasted upon by vultures. For the record, the description of the vultures was enough to get the hair on my arms standing up. Soon the victim is identified as Diana Brewer, a local high school senior, and the chatter starts up about how she got there and who wanted her killed.

The first suspect is Cameron, her ultra-possessive boyfriend. Word has it that Diana told her friend, Riley, that she planned to cool things off with Cameron that night. So he had a whole lot of motive. But then there is the creepy guy who was seen hanging out around her job. What did he have on his mind? And where was he that night? It becomes clear that, whether he likes it or not, the police are going to be alerted about him. Also, here for the first time, Shari gives one of her victims a voice as we hear a narration from beyond the grave. At least that is who we are led to believe is talking. Who else could be chatting in that italic type? What did Shari tell me when I interviewed her last year? Think back. It was the victim, right?

Chapter endings led to yet another turned page as Shari knows how to keep readers engaged. I had fun watching my husband read WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? right after me. He told me that he was noodling a few possible murderers, but like me, he was not sure if he should trust himself. Yes, he too had fallen victim to Shari’s writing, which would mean a late night with the light on as he said, “Just one more chapter.” I know we will have a book group of two discussing “How did she do that?” I lament that I will have to wait a full year to be twisted up in another Shari Lapena book!