"Everyone is faking it, all of them pretending to be something they're not. The whole world is built on lies and deceit."

Shari Lapena

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena has been on my TBR for some time. I have only read one other book by Shari Lapena and that was Not a Happy Family. This audiobook is narrated by Kirsten Potter. This book begins with a dinner party. Anne and Marco are at their neighbor's house and with the babysitter canceling last minute, they agreed to bring the baby monitor and check on baby Cora every 30 minutes. The night is far from enjoyable with Cynthia, their hostess making moves on Anne's husband. She is so relieved to finally head home. When they approach their home, the front door is open. Something is very wrong. They rush upstairs to discover that their baby girl is missing. There is no ransom demand and have no idea how to get their baby back, but Detective Rasbach is determined to get to the bottom of this case...

Trigger Warnings: gaslighting, kidnapping, murder, mental illness

I do love a twisty thriller! Every character had their secrets. While I was not a fan of Marco --who has to be the stupidest fictional man to ever walk the face of this Earth. His decision-making skills were so horrendous that he deserved all the bad karma that came his way. I did enjoy Anna's character to a point. While she is complex, she lost points by being with Marco and being so concerned with Marco's infidelity. She is a capable and dedicated mother. But now she is dealing with post-partum depression. Not to mention, she has a past that her family has kept a secret.

Besides Marco being infuriating the only other issue I had was the connection between the title and the plot. I didn't feel that they weren't that critical to the novel. They felt like an afterthought. They are involved in the plot but not critical enough to be referred to in the title of the book.

As I said, there were a lot of twists and turns as well as toxic family situations. I found that the drama moved the pace along and I did not predict the ending from the get-go, so that is a huge plus! And the narrator was fabulous, so that kept the audiobook enjoyable. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

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