Someone We Know: A Novel

Someone We Know is a 2019 mystery thriller by Shari Lapena, a Canadian author best known for her 2016 bestseller The Couple Next Door. A terse whodunnit with plot twists and satirical humor, Someone We Know probes the complacency and paranoia of its suburban setting, where everyone has secrets and no one quite knows their neighbors. A New York Times bestseller, Someone We Know uses its murder-mystery plot to explore themes of trust, deception, parenthood, alienation, and the ambiguous boons of modern technology.

This guide refers to the 2019 Penguin Books paperback edition of Someone We Know.

Content Warning: The source text contains a graphic description of murder, as well as instances of substance use disorder and sexuality.

Plot Summary

In first-person point of view, the brutal murder of a young woman is graphically described by her unidentified killer, who kills her with a hammer. The text then shifts to third-person omniscient narration, and three days later, in the idyllic Hudson Valley town of Aylesford, a twenty-something lawyer named Robert Pierce reports his wife Amanda missing to the police. Twelve days later, an Aylesford suburban mother named Olivia sees text messages on her son’s cell phone suggesting that he breaks into neighbors’ houses at night.