In the picture perfect neighbourhood live the picture perfect families, their perfect lives filled with gossip and ennui. That is, until 5 year old Billy never makes it home from kindergarten. Look deeper and the perfect veneer shatters, as the messy lives hidden underneath collide.

There are multiple perspectives in this, and it's really as much a domestic character study as a suspense story. Maybe it's my place in life - a mum in the suburbs - that made this at times biting, almost satirical portrait of "bored mom" suburban life resonate with me. As a mum I also, of course, felt very invested in the outcome for Billy.

This is one of those books that I was really enjoying, but constantly thinking "please have a solid ending, please don't just be predictable, please bring the goods in the end!!". A book like this can be a great journey but have the whole experience tainted by a so-so ending - at least for me.

Unfortunately my fear for the ending turned out to be more prophetic than paranoid. I admit it's hard to impress me with endings in this type of story, and I certainly wasn't. The whodunnit was pretty glaring from about halfway through, with no real extra surprises or points of interest, and a "oh. I guess that's it." climax (and no one likes those heyyyy). The motive, to avoid spoilers, was something I consider quite a lazy and frankly harmful choice. The attempt at a Gone Girl moment just made me sigh. It's been done people, let's move on.

I also thought the key plot point of a 5 year old walking three blocks to school by himself was frankly ludicrous, and a 5 year old not only having a phone but reading and writing texts requires a pretty huge stretch of the imagination for anyone who's ever met a 5 year old.

I enjoyed a lot of my time reading this but unfortunately that was marred by the lackluster way it came together in the end.

Oak Hill really is the perfect neighborhood. Until a child goes missing walking home from school. We get a close look at the neighbors, and all is not perfect in Oak Hill.

There are a lot of domestic, suburban thrillers out there, but this one was unique. It has a kidnapping story as the backstory, and there are several characters that we get to know. While I had some ideas of what was going on , I didn’t figure it out myself. My favorite part was getting to know all the different neighbors.

“Who’s more dangerous: the stranger who picks you up on a highway or the people in your neighborhood?”

The Perfect Neighborhood comes out 7/12.

A fairly enjoyable, though not quite fresh, cosy suburban mystery/thriller with a terrible climax!

The domestic drama was fun, and the whole story felt like a season from Desperate Housewives. I’m not into suburban domestic dramas, you know how they all seem pretty much the same - wives bitching about the next-door neighbours and lamenting about their distraught lives, a Mr Darcy like neighbour whom everyone eyes but pretends not to, lots of eavesdropping, sleeping around and stuff like that. Well, this was no different, however, the story gets an extra punch once Billy Barnes, a five-year-old goes missing from the Oak Hill neighbourhood. The mystery is told from the POV of multiple characters, giving it a thrill, although some of the POVs don’t add anything to the story.

I hated the climax. This whole thing about children kidnappings somehow involving a childless couple is not only gross but an overused storyline. We need to get over it. Please, high time! The kidnapper was described as a nice person throughout most of the story, with special emphasis on them being a caring spouse. All of a sudden, they come out as an unstable (no mention of any mental illness though) person who was kidnapping the kids because they wanted a start-over.

I did enjoy Alterman’s take on friendship. Not everyone we see everyday or confide our secrets in, are our friends. This distinction between calling someone an acquaintance and a friend could be fine but makes a lot of difference to our lives and peace of mind.

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Publication Date: May 17th, 2022.

TW: Children Kidnapping, Grief, Death of a Child (Miscarriage), Alzheimer’s, Divorce, Substance Abuse, Alcoholism, and Infidelity.

This was an engrossing, well written domestic suspense/mystery. The author included many different points of view and suspects, so it wasn't easy to guess the ending.

This is a fast-paced, easy reading suspense novel. I recommend this one to thriller./mystery lovers.

This was a great suspense novel, a bit of a slow burn but once you got past the first few chapters it was really enthralling. I liked the dynamics between the characters and enjoyed how everything built up through the book.
I did unfortunately guess the who dunnit but loved the multiple points of view and thought the ending and how everything wrapped up.

This neighborhood is not so perfect. Neurotic and dysfunctional at best. The story was a bit slow at times but the characters were well developed and blended their lives and families throughout the block. Typical suburbia full of drama that could've been avoided and an affair here and there. Overall, a fun read.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc

The Perfect Neighborhood pulls you in right away with juicy neighborhood gossip. The small intro reveal at the end of the first chapter sucked me right in. As a 30-something suburban mom, I’m the target demographic for this book, and I just guzzled it down like after work wine. I like that it’s written from the point of view of multiple first-person women narrators, and it wasn’t just the story itself that kept me intrigued. Liz nailed all the little details, and I laughed at how spot on they were. For example:

-Rachel’s every mom home decor. (YouTube Trey Kennedy's Every Mom's House Decor)

-Lindsay’s more expensive than caviar elbow cream her husband slathered on her shoulders

-Christopher waving as a bag of dog poop dangled from his wrist

-and "Don’t worry, it’s Sunbrella!"

Although I wished for the story to speed up at times, I didn’t guess what was going on until very close to the reveal, and I’m thankful for being able to remain in suspense. I’d definitely recommend this modern Mayberry, worst-mom’s-nightmare story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an advance review copy in exchange for my honest review.

This starts as your typical posh neighborhood female gossip story and quickly turns into a domestic suspense. The author gives us a lot of insight into the three characters from whom the points of view are told. It hooks you immediately and is quite engaging, although slightly predictable. I give it a 4.5/5.

Liz Alterman paints a thrilling and entertaining picture of modern world suburbia with its inhabitants, intelligently packaged into an exciting whodunit and at the same time a sensitive portrait of characters that could live next door to anyone of us. A page-turner you don't want to miss.

The neighborhood of Oak Hills seems perfect to an outsider but the residents of the community all have secrets. Allison Langley leaves her has-been rock star husband which provides gossip fodder until a 5 year old boy goes missing. The story is told from multiple points of view and the secrets are revealed throughout the story. It was a quick read and details are slowly provided to get to the ending. I think that some of the relationships could have been developed more but overall you were kept guessing until the end. Definitely recommend to anyone wanting a good thriller/mystery.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for a review.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. Other readers may enjoy it more, but I could not get into it and ultimately did not finish it.

The book starts with the disappearance of 5-year-old Billy. He was walking home from school, but he disappeared on his way. I found it unbelievable that a 5-year-old kid can walk home alone from school, but this is a private, posh neighborhood where everybody knows everybody, and children can roam around safely. Besides, it was just a short walk, and they have a crossing guard who guides the little children.

The story is told from three main POVs -- Cassidy's, the babysitter who was late on that day Billy disappeared, Rachel's, Billy's mom who was wrecked with guilt for letting Billy walk alone, and Allison's, the m0del-actress neighbor who abruptly left her home. The chapters are short and jump from the different POVs making it a fast read. The author introduces openings on who the kidnapper would be that you will keep on guessing who did the crime. I found it gripping until the end.

If you love domestic drama, this book will not disappoint you. It's pretty much like watching Big Little Lies or Desperate Housewives where there are dark secrets lurking behind beautiful houses with manicured lawns and the wives deal with boredom by gossiping about the neighbors.

Trigger Warning: You may want to avoid this book if you have difficulty reading about kidnapping. It also touches on miscarriage and infertility.

I got this copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good whodunit, page turner, however, I can say I figured out who did it pretty early on and was hoping there would be a twist.

The author does a good job of portraying the characters and goes in-depth about who they are and how they operate. Seeing the different perspectives of the women of the town wasn’t hard to follow and flowed well.

2/5 stars ⭐️⭐️

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book very much. The plot felt like the kind of story that you have already read or watched at least a dozen times: your typical 'Criminal minds' or 'CSI' episode. THE PERFECT NEIGHBOURHOOD is most definitely a slow-burner that prefers psychology over action, resulting in a story where eventually not much is happening.

The book is constantly repeating the same routines, fears, problems. This setting increases a sense of claustrophobia that plays well in the general context of the novel - an idyllic neighbourhood shaken by a missing child case - but contributed to my dislike.

The only character that I found intriguing is Allison: she is very relatable, and you can see that a lot of thought and effort went into building her psychology.

I love anything regarding neighbors. I am not sure why but I just love the drama between all the neighbors. I thought this was well written. I enjoyed this book so much. It gave me everything I love about the neighbor books. It had secrets. Amazing!

he Perfect Neighborhood by Liz Alterman's "engrossing novel is a thought-provoking read about the dark side of suburbia and the secrets of close-knit communities..."

I couldn't have said it better myself. The book begins as typical neighbors gossip and pine for what the other one has, including their husbands. It was hard to put down! In this Norman Rockwell safe community, 5 year old Billy Barnes was walking home alone from school and never shows up, the whole town is put under a microscope. My first thoughts he is too young to walk alone, but then the neighbors were all so trusting. Until, a lot of secrets surface, affairs exposed and guilty thoughts from his anguished mother Rachel over working instead of being home with him. Unlike a lot of latchkey kids, he had a sitter that waited for him on the doorstep, but that day she was late, so she carried the guilt and grief because she had secrets to hide why she was late. When another child in her care goes missing, this raises significant implications on her.

A hair-raising chill will run through your body when the truth becomes more lies and people aren't as they appear in this fancy neighborhood. The trust put into others will have you question what is lurking in their dark minds and how they ever got to that. The story flows thoughtfully through 3 POVs, Rachel, Cassidy, the babysitter and a famous actress, Allison who also lives in this not so close-knit neighborhood. Keep your enemies close....

I think this is probably a 4.5 for me. I wish we could give half stars. LOL! This book kept me guessing throughout. I only had an inkling of the culprit once or twice and then pushed it away thinking that can't be it! LOL! It did seem to wrap up super quickly compared to the pace of the rest of the book. It was kind of like someone said to the author, "Ok, time to wrap this up." LOL! That's really not a huge negative. And I did really like that she gave us an epilogue for each character and where they ended up. I hate when books just end and you don't know what the aftermath was. So this one wraps up things really nicely in that regard.

I would like to offer a TRIGGER WARNING for this book though. It does depict miscarriage and infertility as the basis for one character's story. So please know if you are sensitive to that topic, you might want to skip this one. It's not graphic or super detailed, but enough that if someone has just experienced either of these, it might not be the best book choice.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

All of a sudden Allison, a model, leaves her Rockstar husband. And then the real trouble starts—a 5 year old goes missing and then another child—both watched by the same babysitter. How are these
three events connected—the two abductions and the departure of Allison. Step brothers and babysitters are all under investigation. And how is a neighbor who recently returned from Afghanistan connected?

Curious, more curious and most curious. The departure of a woman is understandable but losing two children? Loss and grief are partners in this mystery. Liz Alterman has done a terrific job at helping us actually “feel” a sense of grief and loss and to what great lengths one may go to stop the pain.

Maybe many neighborhoods are not so perfect after all.

I read The Perfect Neighborhood by Liz Alterman and it was not the typical plot that I could see the ending coming. Kids were disappearing, and it did keep me guessing what was going on. There were many suspects with the way Alterman set up the storyline and designed her characters who all had their flaws and secrets. I was thrown off track and didn't see the ending coming, which is unusual for me! It was a quick, easy read and not crazy wordy. Glad I got to read this one!