What the Neighbors Saw | Melissa Adelman | Minotaur Books | Pub: June 13, 2023 | Pages: 304
I was sold the minute I read this was a cross between desperate housewives and The Couple Next Door.
I believe this Melissa Adelman’s debut novel, and I must say, it’s pretty good for a first novel! This was beautifully written and kept me entertained all the way through.
The story begins when a young, affluent couple chooses to invest in a fixer-upper in an elite neighbourhood. Sam hopes to become a partner in his law practice as Alexis prepares to give birth to their second child. Despite the problems with the house and their financial burden, Sam and Alexis simply know that this is their ideal forever home. Everything seems to be going great, until their next-door neighbour is murdered on the neighbourhood trail.
The narrative is told from different POVs, between Blair (the murderer man’s wife), and Alexis (the new neighbour). Beyond Teddy's passing, I didn't think much else happened in the first half of the novel, but I believe this was done on purpose so the author could depict the interactions between the neighbours. The speed quickens once Alexis learns a secret that would have been worth dying for. There were a few twists, one of which was pretty original.
Overall, I did enjoy reading the novel and would recommend it to anybody who enjoys a secretive, deceitful neighbourhood drama.
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an electronic ARC of this book via NetGalley. As usual, my reviews are my honest and unbiased opinions.
Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door in a chilling story of murder and intrigue set in a well-to-do DC suburb.
Sometimes the darkest acts occur in the most beautiful houses…
When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.
But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.
In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair and Alexis must reexamine their friendship and decide how far they are willing to go to preserve the lives they have so carefully constructed.
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