What Have You Done by Shari Lapena

Shari Lapena is the author of eight 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, she lives in Ontario with her husband.

Lapena writes about memories that are with her from her youth, such as Ouija boards and spirits, two things that she revisits in her newest novel, What Have You Done? This suspenseful saga starts off in a small town that could be Anytown U.S.A., Fairhill, Vermont. Teens tell spooky stories in the nearby church graveyard while chugging alcohol pinched from their parents’ liquor cabinets. Neighbors look out for one another, and most don’t even lock their doors. All is quiet and serene until one fateful day when murder rears its ugly presence in this sleepy town.

Through the novel’s complex cast of characters and plots, readers are treated to a whodunnit that could be almost anyone. The popular and intelligent teenager Diana Brewer’s naked corpse is found by a local farmer, Roy Ressler, in one of his remote fields. Local police are overwhelmed by this violence in their safe town, and shortly thereafter Major Crimes detectives are summoned to solve the case.

The farmer’s daughter, Ellen, is soon to be married to gym teacher Brad Turner. But Brad falls under suspicion because he was the dead girl’s track coach, and she had filed a complaint with Principal Graham Kelly. When reporters flock to the gruesome scene, everyone is under scrutiny, and future plans are threatened. Will the happy couple wed?

Then there’s Diana’s boyfriend, handsome, athletic jock Cameron Farrell, the last person to see her alive. But did his anger over Diana’s last conversation with him push Cameron to the edge? Police discover that he isn’t telling the whole truth about the night Diana was murdered. Soon, even his own parents are questioning Cameron’s version of events.

Best friend Riley Mead is devastated by the loss and conflicted about what to say to the police about Diana’s boyfriend. Good friend Evan Carr journals the aftermath of Diana’s death to deal with his feelings.

“Sunday, Oct. 23, 2022, 9:30 p.m. I got shit from my mom and dad when I got back this afternoon. I told them I hadn’t expected to be gone so long. ‘Where the hell were you with your mother’s car?’ my dad demanded with his Sunday afternoon drunk on. He was weaving a little where he stood, looking at me blearily. I’ve always hated Sundays. I wondered again why my mother didn’t leave him.”

Both friends comfort Diana’s mom, Brenda, a single parent who has lost her only child, and maybe even her sanity. Teacher Paula Acosta, whose own daughter, Taylor, attends the same high school, provides a balanced picture of what’s really going on at the school and the staff coverup, too. Principal Kelly’s career and marriage are threatened by the coverup.

Then there’s too-friendly construction worker Joe Prior, who had stalked Diana at her part-time job. Caught on Home Depot’s camera flirting with the teen, he falls under suspicion. But where his friendly flirtations lead will make readers stop and think long and hard about guilt. And her store manager, Aaron Bolduc, appears almost too cooperative with the police.

Added to the storyline is the unique perspective of the dead girl herself, her spirit trying desperately to figure out who killed her. ‘“This dream seems to be going on forever. It’s changed suddenly, the way dreams do; they’re not logical at all. I’m not at the field anymore, with the dead girl who looks like me. Now I’m at home with my mother. She’s sitting in the living room, weeping while police and people in white coveralls move around our house…I’m here, but I’m not part of it.’”

Events occur throughout the book that will keep you hooked. The paranormal connection with spirits long departed lends a spooky aura to the novel. The “he said/she said” viewpoints will make you wonder about friendships as the story twists and turns. In this suspenseful thriller and vivid portrait in character development, Lapena works her magic on the page through dialogue and details. But who is telling the truth?

“In the bathroom, Ellen splashes water over her mouth with trembling hands. Her mind reels. Another girl. The phrase repeats over and over again in her mind. Brad hadn’t said anything to her about any other girl. What else is Brad hiding from her? Is everything that comes out of his mouth a lie?”

This well-crafted novel will have you guessing until close to the end. When all is revealed, Lapena’s plot turn will shock you to your core, mixing reality with the paranormal in a read so page-turning you’ll find yourself compelled to finish it in one sitting.