The End of Her by Shari Lapena is a psychological, domestic suspense novel that is fast-paced and full of secrets, surprises, and twists. Patrick and Stephanie are a happily married, financially stable couple who are parents to 4-month-old colicky twin daughters. Both are sleep deprived when Erica comes into their lives. Erica is Patrick’s dead first wife’s best friend who comes to blackmail the couple by accusing Patrick of killing his first wife and threatening to go to the police to have the nine-year-old case re-opened and further investigated. Stephanie is shocked by the accusations Erica makes. Erica has several tricks up her sleeve as Stephanie begins to worry that maybe her husband did have something to do with his first wife’s death …and what if she and her daughters are next?
The story is told through multiple points of view - new parents Patrick and Stephanie, Patrick's business partner and his wife, and another couple who know Erica from long ago. They all have had dealings with manipulative Erica who has an evil side and tries to extort money from all of them. The author provides some backstory on these characters so readers learn their motives and connection to each other, with most having some morality issues themselves.
I recommend The End of Her to readers who love a domestic suspense and juicy ‘he said/she said’ mystery. I went back and forth between believing Patrick was innocent, and then being sure he was a killer. I found this novel to be very enjoyable and entertaining. With the well-paced story building uncertainty with each page turn, The End of Her is hard to put down and will keep you guessing until the very end.