Book Description 

You press send and your message disappears. Full of secrets about your neighbors, it’s meant for your sister. But it doesn’t reach her – it goes to the entire local community WhatsApp group instead.

As rumor spreads like wildfire through the picture-perfect neighborhood, you convince yourself that people will move on, that this will quickly be forgotten. But then you receive the first death threat.

The next day, a woman has been murdered. And what’s even more chilling is that she had the same address as you – 26 Oakpark – but in a different part of town. Did the killer get the wrong house? It won’t be long before you find out…

My Review 

I’ve gotten into thrillers lately, so I was very excited about the opportunity to read this book, especially since it involves local social media groups, which have become a truth universally acknowledged as a hotbed of drama. 

Also, I can relate to the premise of a similar address because I live at 123 Mice Street in MyTown and I used to get packages and deliveries for 123 Misch Street in MyTown. I even once got a package for 123 Mice Street in NextTown. 

But I digress. This is supposed to be a book review not my trials and tribulations. 

Anyway, Susan accidentally sends what was supposed to be a private text message with (true) gossip about several people to a community WhatsApp group and the next day, a woman with the same address is murdered. 

It’s easy to deduce that the murder is connected to the spilling of secrets and is an unfortunate case of mistaken identity. The truth is so much more complicated than that; as the book jumps from various points of view (and even back in time to before the message was sent), a tangled web  begins to emerge. 

One of the most interesting things about this book is that while the book could have been set anywhere because local drama is universal, the book is set in Dublin. Most of the books I’ve read lately have been set in the US or the UK with a smattering of books set somewhere in Europe and even a handful in Australia. But as a Maureen, I appreciated seeing names like Aoife and Maeve rather than Bella and Ava, for example. It made for a nice change of pace. 

Speaking of pace, the book started out at a decent clip, but quickly picked up and as the secrets began spilling out and the plot thickened, and by the end, it felt almost frenetic with everything going on. The multiple points of view was a nice touch to keep the pace moderated, and each of the characters had a distinct voice and it was easy to remember who they were. Another interesting touch is that some of the characters used first person while others used third. 

I would absolutely recommend It Should Have Been You. This book was completely bananas in the best way. This is my first experience reading one of Mara’s books, but it won’t be my last. I see that Mara is behind the Peacock series All Her Fault, so I’ll be adding that to my queue as well.       

I received a digital ARC of this book from Penguin/NetGalley