Book ~ "The Couple Next Door" (2016) Shari Lapena

From Goodreads ~ Anne and Marco Conti seem to have it all - a loving relationship, a wonderful home and their beautiful baby, Cora. But one night when they are at a dinner party next door, a terrible crime is committed. Suspicion immediately focuses on the parents. But the truth is a much more complicated story. 

Inside the curtained house, an unsettling account of what actually happened unfolds. Detective Rasbach knows that the panicked couple is hiding something. Both Anne and Marco soon discover that the other is keeping secrets, secrets they've kept for years.

Anne and Marco are married and have recently had a baby named Cora.  They were supposed to go next door to their friends' place for supper but the babysitter cancelled at the last minute.  Their friends made it clear that it was a no-kid supper so Anne and Marco decide to leave Cora home with the baby monitor turned on and they would check on her every half hour.  This works out okay until they go home at 1am and discover that the baby is gone.

Anne and Marco immediately contact the police who start the investigation.  Detective Rasbach, the lead police office, suspects the couple and sets out to prove they are involved.  Did the parents have something to do with Cora's disappearance or was she kidnapped and if so, by whom?

This book has been on the best seller lists for months and I finally got a chance to read it.  It was an interesting story with lots of twists and turns to throw you off and get you thinking in different directions.  I liked the writing style.  It's written in third person perspective with a focus on wherever the action is.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

I didn't find the characters particularly likable.  Why did Anne and Marco think it was okay to leave their six-month-old baby alone next door with a broken monitor while they got hammered with their neighbours?!  Though supposedly happily married, we discover that Anne and Marco were keeping secrets from each other.  Anne was close to her wealthy parents even though she had married Marco against their wishes.  They were supportive of Anne and would do anything they could to help her but I found them cold.

I look forward to reading other books by this author.