Title: EVERYONE HERE IS LYING
Author: Shari Lapena
ISBN: 9781529176155
Publisher: Penguin / Transworld
Pages: 416
Source: Private Copy
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.
Official Summary
25 November 2025
Shari Lapena has once again proven why she’s one of the best in the domestic thriller genre. Everyone Here Is Lying sucked me in from the very first chapter and did not let go until the final, jaw-dropping reveal. This is Lapena at her sharpest: fast-paced, claustrophobic, and filled with a cast of characters you can’t trust for a single second.
The setup is brilliant in its simplicity. A safe, suburban neighbourhood, the kind of place where everyone pretends to be perfect. A missing nine-year-old girl. And an entire street full of people who would rather bury the truth than expose their own secrets. Lapena turns this quiet little community into a pressure cooker, and watching it explode was one of the highlights of my reading month.
What I loved most was how the book constantly shifts your suspicions. Every character has something to hide, and every time a witness comes forward, their version of events just muddies the water even more. I felt like a detective chasing shadows—every theory I had was blown out of the water within a few pages. The unreliable narrators, the whispered conversations behind closed doors, the simmering tension between neighbours… it all made for incredibly gripping reading.
William Wooler is a fascinating focal point—deeply flawed, morally compromised, and absolutely not telling the whole story. But the real star of this book is the atmosphere. Lapena turns Stanhope into a character in its own right: a neighbourhood built on lies, fear, and desperation.
And that ending? Absolutely brilliant. Dark, bold, and completely unexpected. I finished the book with my heart racing.
If you love domestic suspense that’s packed with twists, unreliable characters, and a truth you’ll never see coming, this is an absolute must-read. Five stars, without hesitation.
Also by Shari Lapena
SOMEONE WE KNOW
Maybe you don’t know your neighbors as well as you thought you did . . .
“This is a very difficult letter to write. I hope you will not hate us too much. . . My son broke into your home recently while you were out.”
In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses–and into the owners’ computers as well–learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too.
Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? After two anonymous letters are received, whispers start to circulate, and suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their own secrets?
In this neighbourhood, it’s not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide . . .
You never really know what people are capable of.
About the Author
Author bio from the author’s site
SHARI LAPENA is the #1 internationally bestselling author of seven suspense novels, including The Couple Next Door, A Stranger in the House, An Unwanted Guest, Someone We Know, The End of Her, Not a Happy Family, and Everyone Here is Lying.
A former lawyer and English teacher, Shari now writes full time from a farm in Ontario, where she lives with her husband.
Her first thriller, The Couple Next Door, was a runaway global bestseller, selling 4 million copies worldwide. It was WHSmith’s “Book of the Year” in 2016 and the #1 Adult Fiction Title in the UK for 2017. All of Shari’s novels have been New York Times, UK Sunday Times, and Globe and Mail bestsellers. Three of her books have been Richard & Judy Book Club Picks. Her books have sold into forty territories around the world and have been optioned for film and TV.
She doesn’t want you to be able to put her books down.
I have added Shari Lapena to my Author backlist reads for 2025, and her books have proven to be incredibly entertaining. Have you read all her books? Which is your favourite? Until next time…. Happy Reading.
