We’ve all been there – that moment of panic when you realize you’ve sent a message to the wrong person or group. But what if that one careless tap of ‘send’ unleashed a chain of events that would destroy lives, shatter families, and expose the dark secrets lurking beneath the perfectly manicured lawns of suburban Dublin? Andrea Mara’s latest psychological thriller, It Should Have Been You, transforms this universal fear into a masterfully crafted nightmare that will make you double-check every message you send.
At the heart of this gripping tale is Susan O’Donnell, a postpartum teacher on maternity leave who accidentally sends a bitchy message about her neighbors to the entire Oakpark WhatsApp group instead of to her sisters. What begins as an embarrassing social faux pas quickly spirals into something far more sinister when Susan receives her first death threat, and then a woman with the same address – but in a different part of town – turns up murdered.
The Art of Escalation: Mara’s Masterful Plotting
Building Tension Through Ordinary Moments
Mara demonstrates her expertise in the thriller genre by grounding extraordinary events in the mundane reality of modern suburban life. The story’s foundation – a neighborhood WhatsApp group – is instantly recognizable to anyone who’s lived in a residential community. The author’s intimate knowledge of these digital spaces, with their mix of helpful neighbors and passive-aggressive commentary, creates an authentic backdrop that makes the subsequent horror feel all the more plausible.
The escalation is methodical and brilliant. Susan’s initial embarrassment transforms into genuine fear as mysterious incidents begin plaguing her household: a brick through the window, threatening texts, and most chillingly, moments where she finds her baby Bella in places she didn’t leave her. Mara expertly blurs the line between paranoia and genuine threat, keeping readers guessing whether Susan is losing her grip on reality or if someone is genuinely targeting her family.
A Web of Interconnected Secrets
What elevates this novel beyond a simple case of mistaken identity is Mara’s intricate plotting. The author weaves multiple storylines together with the precision of a master craftsperson, revealing connections between characters that initially seem coincidental but prove to be devastatingly significant. The revelation that Susan’s husband Jon has been having an affair with murder victim Savannah Holmes adds a layer of complexity that transforms the narrative from a straightforward thriller into something more psychologically nuanced.
The supporting characters – Susan’s sisters Greta and Leesa, the Geary family, and the various neighbors – are all fully realized individuals with their own motivations and secrets. This ensemble approach prevents the story from becoming a simple cat-and-mouse game, instead creating a complex web where every character’s actions have far-reaching consequences.
Character Development: Flawed Humanity at Its Core
Susan O’Donnell: An Imperfect Protagonist
Susan emerges as a compellingly flawed protagonist. Mara doesn’t shy away from her character’s less admirable qualities – her gossipy nature, her moments of poor judgment, and her struggles with postpartum depression and intrusive thoughts about harming her baby. These vulnerabilities make Susan feel authentically human rather than heroic, and her journey toward understanding and accountability feels earned rather than imposed.
The author’s portrayal of Susan’s mental health struggles is particularly noteworthy. The depiction of postpartum anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and the fear of being judged as an unfit mother adds depth to the character while addressing real issues that many new mothers face but rarely discuss openly.
The Geary Family: A Portrait of Suburban Dysfunction
Perhaps the most interesting character development occurs within the Geary family. Initially presented as antagonists upset by Susan’s message, they gradually reveal themselves to be a family struggling with their own demons. Celeste’s perfectionist facade crumbles to reveal a mother overwhelmed by her children’s problems, while her daughter Nika and son Cody represent different responses to adolescent pressure and family dysfunction.
The transformation of these characters from seeming villains to complex individuals dealing with their own traumas is one of Mara’s greatest achievements in the novel. By the end, readers understand that there are no true villains here – only people making increasingly desperate choices.
Technical Mastery: Mara’s Evolved Writing Style
Narrative Structure and Pacing
Having established herself as a formidable voice in Irish crime fiction with previous novels like No One Saw a Thing and Someone in the Attic, Mara demonstrates continued growth in her craft. The narrative structure of It Should Have Been You is particularly sophisticated, employing multiple perspectives and timelines that gradually converge to reveal the full scope of the tragedy.
The pacing is expertly controlled, with moments of intense action balanced by quieter character development scenes. Mara understands when to accelerate the tension and when to allow readers to catch their breath, creating a reading experience that feels both urgent and emotionally satisfying.
Authentic Dialogue and Setting
The dialogue crackles with authenticity, particularly in the family dynamics between Susan and her sisters. The banter, support, and occasional friction between the three women feels genuine, grounded in shared history and genuine affection. The Irish setting is vividly realized without resorting to stereotypes, presenting modern Dublin suburbia as a place where old-world community values clash with contemporary pressures.
Thematic Depth: Beyond the Thriller Framework
The Cost of Secrets and Lies
While It Should Have Been You delivers all the suspense readers expect from a psychological thriller, Mara embeds deeper themes about the corrosive nature of secrets and the unexpected consequences of seemingly minor actions. The novel explores how small deceptions and social media missteps can snowball into life-altering disasters, making it particularly relevant to our hyperconnected age.
The author also examines the pressure to maintain perfect facades in suburban communities, where the fear of judgment can drive people to increasingly desperate measures. The Oakpark community becomes a microcosm of modern society’s emphasis on appearance over authenticity.
Family Bonds and Feminine Solidarity
The relationship between Susan and her sisters Greta and Leesa forms the emotional core of the novel. Their unconditional support for each other, even in the face of terrible revelations, provides a counterpoint to the fractured relationships elsewhere in the story. Mara’s portrayal of feminine solidarity – extending even to her treatment of former antagonist Celeste – offers hope amid the darkness.
Areas for Improvement: Minor Critiques
Pacing in the Middle Act
While the opening and climax of the novel are perfectly paced, the middle section occasionally feels slightly drawn out. Some of the investigative elements, particularly Susan’s attempts to piece together the connections between the murders, could have been tightened without losing impact.
Resolution Complexity
The revelation of multiple interconnected plots and the resolution of various character arcs, while generally satisfying, occasionally feels overwhelming. Readers might find themselves struggling to keep track of all the various deceptions and their consequences, though this complexity also reflects the messy reality of how actions ripple through communities.
Comparative Analysis: Mara’s Place in Contemporary Crime Fiction
It Should Have Been You stands favorably alongside recent psychological thrillers like The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman and The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides. Like these works, Mara’s novel combines intricate plotting with genuine emotional depth. However, her focus on domestic realism and community dynamics gives her work a distinctly Irish flavor that sets it apart from its British and American counterparts.
Compared to Mara’s earlier works, this novel shows increased confidence in handling multiple plotlines and a more sophisticated approach to character development. While maintaining the page-turning quality that made No One Saw a Thing a bestseller, It Should Have Been You demonstrates growth in thematic depth and emotional resonance.
Final Verdict: A Suburban Thriller That Resonates
It Should Have Been You succeeds brilliantly as both a suspenseful thriller and a perceptive examination of modern community life. Mara has crafted a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever sent a regrettable message, struggled with family dynamics, or wondered about the secrets their neighbors might be hiding.
The novel’s greatest strength lies in its refusal to provide easy answers or clear-cut villains. Instead, Mara presents a complex moral landscape where good people make terrible choices and the consequences of those choices ripple outward in unexpected ways. This nuanced approach elevates the novel above standard thriller fare, creating a work that lingers in the mind long after the final page.
While not without minor flaws, particularly in pacing and the complexity of its resolution, It Should Have Been You represents a significant achievement in contemporary crime fiction. Mara has created a thriller that is both entertaining and thought-provoking, confirming her position as one of Ireland’s most compelling crime writers. For readers who enjoyed her previous works or those seeking a psychologically rich thriller grounded in recognizable modern anxieties, this novel delivers in spades.
