WHEN Canadian novelist Shari Lapena’s novel The Couple Next Door came out in 2016, she was hailed as one of the new queens of thriller for her ability to weave an interesting story.
The book is about a couple who leave their child asleep alone at home to attend a dinner party with their neighbours only to have the unthinkable happen.
Though Lapena had written two books prior to The Couple Next Door, it was her first attempt at writing a thriller. Since then, she has been releasing a thriller a year – A Stranger in the House (2017), An Unwanted Guest (2018), and this year, Someone We Know.
A former lawyer-turned-English teacher and now celebrated writer, Lapena’s stories work because they revolve around ordinary people who are faced with extraordinary situations that either turn their world upside down, or reveal some long-hidden secret.
Her latest book Someone We Know begins with teenager Raleigh confessing to his mother Olivia that he has broken into several homes in their neighbourhood. Although he did not actually steal anything, he used the owners computers, hacked into their emails, and sent prank messages using them.
A guilt-ridden Olivia then writes anonymous letters of apology to the occupants of the houses that were broken into, and soon news spreads about these break-ins.
Unfortunately, they coincide with the gruesome murder of a young woman who only recently moved into the neighbourhood with her husband.
Soon, secrets start tumbling out, and the cops have their hands full as it is soon revealed that there is more than one person who had a reason to kill the victim.
Lapena, during a tele-conference interview from her home in Toronto, said: “I wasn’t always a writer. I wanted to be a writer, but
I was busy doing other things. I didn’t really start writing until I was 38, when I stayed at home after having my first child. That was when I got going.”
Speaking about where she gets ideas for her stories, Lapena explained: “I don’t really know where they come from. They just suddenly pop into my head, or I [will] read something somewhere.
“For Someone We Know, I was inspired by this story I saw on the internet about a teenage boy whose parents had cut off his WiFi at home, so he broke into his neighbours’ house in the middle of the night to steal their WiFi.”
She wondered what would happen if the boy’s actions became the catalyst for unveiling the secrets of the neighbourhood, and in her book, she decided to throw in the murder of a young woman.
Lapena admits that there is a bit of her in Olivia, as she too has a teenage son. “I was just trying to imagine how a mother of a teenage boy would react when she finds out that her son has broken into houses,” she said.
“I felt she would be mortified and would feel the need to do something. I think any mother of a teenager can sort of relate to her kids going off the rails a little bit.”
The dead woman, Amanda, was young and beautiful, and despite being new to the neighbourhood, she was a regular at parties and had everyone’s attention.
On the other hand, another new neighbour, the elderly Carmine, was largely ignored until she started asking questions around the neighbourhood about the anonymous letters.
“My characters kind of develop on their own. I can see how they are contrasting. Both were outsiders but Amanda weaved her way inside. It was a closed community and when someone new comes in, it changes things.”
Her characters are very relatable and when asked if she is the kind of person who enjoys people-watching in order to get inspired, Lapena said: “I am curious about people and human nature. I have a pretty good intuition about people. I like to play this game where I predict what a person will do. So I am very curious and interested in psychology.”
The book had many suspects and you only know who the killer is at the very end. Lapena said that when she writes, her characters grow organically and that is how the ending came about in a way that was somewhat bittersweet.
She adds that her next book is scheduled to be out in the summer of 2020.
