Thank you Minotaur Books, #partner, for the advanced copy of What the Neighbors Saw in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection.
Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: June 20, 2023
Summary:
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.
My thoughts:
Neighborhood dramas seem to be a new trope this year and I’m all for it. Give me all the Desperate Housewives intrigue with a side of murder and I’m one happy camper! And for a debut novel, Melissa Adelman sure knows how to create a captivating tale, that’s for sure!
This was a slow-burn, engaging mystery that kept me engaged right from the start. Alternating between two points of view, that of Blair and Alexis, I loved getting to see the story unfold from each of their perspectives. This one really kept me guessing right up until the very end, with some crazy twists that I did not see coming!
I love a good addicting read and this one very much was that. I loved that nobody was who they seemed to be. Everyone we meet has their share of secrets and that is just one of the themes explored in this book. This was such an impressive debut and I will definitely be looking forward to reading more from this author!
Audio thoughts:
I loved that there were two narrators for this one, one for each of the main characters. Hillary Huber and Sarah Hollis did an amazing job bringing this one to life and I found myself completely immersed in their narration.
