I finished the book at the same day I got its digital copy! Its fast pacing, thrilling, absolutely scandalous, mysterious thriller makes your jaw drop! At least that’s what happened to me as I reached the last quarter. One of the twists was totally shocking. The author plays with us so adroitly!

The plot promoted as Desperate Housewives meets The couple next door which makes sense. But I have to say nothing desperate about the wives who keep really earth shattering secrets.

The only thing rubbed me wrong was the unlikable POVs of the book. Don’t get me wrong. The writing style is capturing. Alexis and Blair seem like opposite characters. Alexis comes from poverty, depressed, insecure as Blair is confident, wealthy, pretty, bold, arrogant. But there are so many common qualities they both have. You’ll find out as soon as you start reading their perspectives.

The story starts Alexis and Sam’s house hunting that results with buying a neglected, mostly dilapidated Cape Cod house which seems like money trap, needing extra reconstructions.
They recently welcomed their baby boy and Alexis is pregnant again. Their budget is tight. But they try to take their chances.

At their first day,they meet with their future neighbor, handsome, successful businessman Teddy and his three teenage sons. He and his wife Blair seems like ideal happy couple but when we read what happened behind the closed doors, both of the couples have troubled marriages.

A few weeks later, fishermen identify a dead body on banks of the Potomac. That body belongs to Teddy. Blair is devastated because her husband’s death is announced as homicide. Who may have killed him?

After Teddy’s death, Alexis spends more time with Blair. Their blooming friendship attracts attention of their neighbors as neighborhood becomes more divided. Then Alexis finds out something which rocks her world! Ok! I’m stopping right here!

I didn’t like Alexis and Blair but the smart writing style , quick pace, shocking revelations absolutely earned my four stars!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.

This would be a five star simply for the fact I couldn't put it down. Which, as a bookseller, with a ton of books to read, currently reading, etc, is a FEAT.
The writing was taut - no waste of adjectives nor adverbs, which I appreciated.
It's the plot that brings it down for me.
Without any spoilers, the plot becomes a bit far fetched.
To be honest, there are no likeable characters. Even Alexis is not a very empathic character.
A lot of side stories here, which tend to drag it down (but yet I kept turning the page!).
So, a three for plot, a five for well crafter writing and the ability to hold my attention continually.
Will be a highly recommend read to my customers.

Alexis and husband, Sam, are on cloud nine when they purchase a house in a trendy DC suburb. The neighbors are welcoming, Alexis is expecting and her husband’s law career is flourishing. But the suburb is in an uproar when neighbor, Teddy, is found dead on the river bank. Police begin looking into the lives of all the members of the little community, convinced that the killer is somewhere among them. Meanwhile, Alexis forms a close friendship with Teddy’s widow, Blair, even as neighbors begin to turn against neighbors. The truth about Teddy’s death will either draw a line under Blair and Alexis’s friendship, or one through it.