Not a Happy Family

Not a Happy Family reads like a modern-day parable railing against the power of greed. The hunger for material satisfaction drives each character. The Prologue sets the scene: The narrative slowly pans down into Aylesford, over massive homes with manicured lawns and sturdy gates, where “children are greedily finishing off their chocolate bunnies and foil-wrapped eggs, gauging what’s left and eyeing how much remains in the baskets of their siblings” (1). This line encapsulates the Merton children—greedy, never sated, and always eyeing what their siblings have, consumed by the pull of greed. Like those unsettlingly predatory children, overstuffed on their chocolates and eager to pilfer the candy of their own siblings, the Mertons regard each other as competitors and try to position themselves favorably to preserve their own portion of their family’s money.

The one thing that brings the Merton children together is a threat to their joint wealth: Rose Cutter. Rose is a family friend—but she is also the same person who cheated Dan out of his money, which has left him in a tough spot. More importantly, she is an unexpected variable; an unplanned usurper of the inheritance. The siblings are outraged and immediately plot to stop even the possibility of having to split $26 million four ways instead of three. Rose, for her part, is also self-admittedly greedy; she scammed Dan because she was confident about an opportunity in stocks, and never made a backup plan for it falling through.

Audrey, Fred’s sister, also acts on greed. She believes she is owed half of her brother’s estate because she has kept the secret of his murdering their father. She investigates the Merton children nonstop, utterly convinced that one of them murdered her brother—and, more importantly, interfered with him changing the will for her. The secondary characters in the novel cannot resist the pull of greed either; Jake, Jenna’s boyfriend, promptly asks her for $5,000 after Fred and Sheila’s deaths, which signals to Jenna that he will only ask for more and more money over time. Even Ellen, who is a relatively moral character, is delighted to learn that Rose will inherit some of Fred’s fortune. The only person who does not act instinctively out of material greed is Irena, whose greed only manifests as a desire to be a maternal figure in the children’s lives.

Jenna murders her parents for threatening to change the will, which would cost her a large portion of her promised fortune. She is less openly materialistic than Catherine, and not as desperate for cash as Dan, but she is still furious at her parents. Like a child who got grounded for bad behavior, Jenna lashes out—only, her version of lashing out is murder. The novel makes no mention of Jenna moving into a nicer house, getting a nicer car—changing anything about her lifestyle. This implies that, while greed was a major driving factor in Jenna’s behavior, it was not her primary motivation, which makes her actions all the more chilling.

Secrets and lies have plagued the Mertons for generations. From Fred’s murder of his father to Catherine’s theft of her dead mother’s earrings, Lapena shows how secrets and lies can poison families.

The murders are the biggest secrets. First is Fred’s murder of his father, a secret that he and Audrey keep for many years. Second is Jenna’s murder of Fred and Sheila. Only the readers get concrete confirmation of Jenna’s guilt; the detectives only find meager DNA evidence, and Jenna plants doubt within the family, claiming she was framed. Long before the Jenna reveal, the siblings and their significant others are proven to be liars over and over again—to their spouses, to each other, and especially to the detectives. The Merton children, Lisa, Ted, Jake, and Irena all cover for each other and throw each other under the bus in equal measure, a technique that Lapena uses to ensure readers do not know who to trust.

Other secrets plague the Mertons as well. The children are shocked to learn that their father had an affair with a former employee, and even included the child of that affair in his will. Dan eventually confesses to investing his and Lisa’s money into Rose’s investment scheme; Rose, in turn, is forced to confess to the fraud. She is also cornered into admitting she knew, months ago, that she was in Fred’s will—something her mother was certain she did not know. Catherine never admits to stealing her mother’s earrings off of her body, and Jenna, the only person who knows, gleefully sits on that knowledge. Jenna, naturally, never confesses to the murders, nor does she ever confess to poisoning Audrey.

The detectives shape the novel’s counterplot by suggesting the need for accountability and transparency. The more the detectives investigate the Merton family, the more evidence they expose of the family’s penchant for keeping secrets. Audrey is a similar agent of truth, although she is motivated by selfishness and greed. In the end, the detectives are defeated—only Audrey’s pursuit of the truth suggests the potential for future justice, as she closes in on Jenna’s hidden evidence.

In the meantime, however, secrets and lies take a huge toll on the family and those associated with them. Ted and Lisa grow increasingly doubtful of Catherine and Dan’s innocence, and their relationships are greatly strained as the investigation continues. Jake immediately abandons Jenna at the first sign of police pressure, backpedaling on the alibi he provided and cutting off all contact. Ellen is devastated to learn of Rose’s crimes, and is condemned to forever wondering whether Rose inherited Fred’s supposed psychopathy. Jenna, who, Lapena suggests, really did inherit Fred’s violent tendencies, weaponizes the toxicity of secrets just before she parts from her siblings. After she implies that one of them framed her, she drives off, cheerfully thinking about how Lisa and Ted have no confirmation that their spouses are truly innocent—how what she has said will forever haunt them.