The narrator was great. I was able to keep each character separate. She told the story in such a what that kept me engaged.

The story! Keri Beevis can spin a tail. I was captivated right away. And hey you throw in some crazy neighbors and bam! I am hooked, I enjoyed the newness of the couple as well. Moving in together and even what the author let us believe to be budding problems. Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It was my first from this author but will not be my last.

Ellie and Ash are a couple who have just moved into a fixer-upper in the middle of nowhere, with only one neighbor nearby. Their new neighbors seem odd, but helpful, whenever Ellie finds herself in need or just lonely in the house, and she feels lucky to have made a friend so easily. But things take a turn when her new neighbor seems a little too invested in her relationship.

This was a perfect 5 stars for me, right up until the very last twist. If the book had just left that little bit out, I would've enjoyed it much more. But overall, still a really enjoyable audiobook!

What I enjoyed about the book:
- This was a different take for the neighbor trope, which I hadn't seen before.
- Each twist was shocking - I had no idea where the story was going at any point (in a good way). Each time I thought I had the plot figured out, I was quickly proven wrong.
- The pacing and tension of this book are great, I was on the edge of my seat, especially in the second half. But even in the first half, I thought the level of tension was great, and I was getting progressively more worried for them as the story went on.
- The narrator did a great job distinguishing each persons voice - there are quite a few POVs in this story, and quite a few characters continuously speaking, and it was very clear who everyone was. I felt like the voices really reflected them too (Benjamin's voice is appropriately unsettling and overly formal, etc.)

What I didn't enjoy:
- The final twist. While it was really shocking, I think this twist has fallen out of favor and seen as pretty offensive to some these days. I think it's kind of cheap to rely on it, especially with this book because I don't think that additional twist was really needed here. It was already pretty wrapped up, and while the additional twist was really shocking, it just felt like a little too much for me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.3 creepy Stars!
Ellie Sommers and Ash Bradley were introduced by mutual friends Rozanne and Pete and soon fell in love. They not only move into together but buy a home and are excited about their new place “Hazelwood Cottage’ located in an isolated area in rural Norfolk.
They cannot believe the low price of the house; figure it is because it needs some repairs and is located in such a remote area.
Benjamin Thorne and his sister Virginia live in the only other house in the area. Virginia has a disability believed caused by complications at birth; Benjamin is legal guardian and takes care of her.

Ellis works as an illustrator mostly for children’s books and is able to work from home.
Benjamin is one of the ‘people who lives next door’; he is shy but seems to want to be a good neighbor with Ellie. She finds him gentile and kind but isn’t sure about Virginia.
Soon Ellie learns that ‘Hazelwood Cottage’ has a dark history. It appears Louise Tanner the woman who was living in this home before them was murdered by her husband and their daughter Naomi was never found.
Hmm and now sinister things are starting to happen…. things have been moved ~ someone has been in the house moving them.

I am a psychological thriller fan. The reviews for this are outstanding ~ I could not resist ~ had to read it! Yep author, Keri Beevis delivers. My first novel by her and I will certainly look into another.

Have to admit, I did have a hard time with these unlikeable, foul mouth, f-bomb dropping, characters. Note: There was a point early in the story when Benjamin was protecting Victoria and Ellie was upset and cursed. Benjamin was shocked that Ellie, an elegant lady would use such a word! ~ I totally busted out laughing! ~)

My curiously was peaked in this story. What in the world is going on? (Ellie, of course, would say ~ what in the f#*% is going on?)

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Media ~ for this audio eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 18, 2022.

This audiobook was narrated by Shakira Shute ~ she did a good job performing the characters.

The People Next door is a suspense/thriller novel about a couple who move to a small town and their ~interesting~ neighbors. It looks like I am in the minority of people who did not enjoy this book...

What worked for me
- I think the narrator did a good job at doing the different voices for different characters and POVs
- Some of the descriptions literally had me with my mouth open in disbelief

What didn't work for me
- The first part was too slow and the way the suspense was brought up felt forced and made me annoyed with the characters, especially Ellie.
- I thought the Ash/ Elli's friend (already forgot her name...) storyline was so unnecessary
- The Big Reveal/ Twist: I'm about to be super vague because I don't want to "ruin" the "twist"... I thought that was a twist that would only be used once in suspense/ thriller history because while it was wild at the time that it first appeared, I thought that we all agreed by now that it is problematic...
- I was already going to give this book 2 stars because of the pacing but the twist lowered my enjoyment by a lot.

~~ I received an ARC audio copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this ARC! ~~

Wow if you like creepy this book is right for you! It grabbed be from the start as this story was so intriguing and suspenseful I couldn't put it down.

The story is set in a small English town where a couple had just purchased their first home. They are excited to move in but find they have strange neighbors living next door.
A lot of drama and roller-coaster rides in this story with a huge twist makes this a great story to read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape for this advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

A creepy and atmospheric book with a decent twist. I did the audiobook which was a mistake in my opinion. I didn't like the narrator and felt it ruined the book for me.

Ellie and Ash think they've found the perfect house to begin their life together. It is a charming rambling house in the country in a lovely setting. The nearest neighbor, Benjamin, seems helpful but his sister is a bit strange. Ash travels a lot for business and Ellie is happy to have such a helpful neighbor next door. Until she isn't.

This was a great read/listen, a story with a gothic element and shades of Miss Haversham. The author did a great job of painting a very atmospheric picture of this small, rather contained setting...two houses next door to each other. In fact, toward the end of the book when the action really ramps up, her descriptions were so compelling that I could clearly picture the scenes in the book as if it was a movie being played out for me. (This would make a great movie by the way!). Special mention to the narrator, Shakira Shute. Her clipped accent took me a moment to adjust to, but she really made each character seem real with slight changes and inflections in her voice, and at the very end of the book, her delivery of the last lines gave me chills!

Fans of old style mysteries and chilling domestic thrillers will find much to like in The People Next Door. Thank you to author Keri Beevis, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to this ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Whenever I read about cute little cottages in the rural English countryside with beautiful gardens, I become jealous and wish it were my house. Well, in this book Ellie and Ash move into one of these cottages in Norfolk, England. However, Ellie discovers that the new home has a dark past and I am no longer jealous that I don’t live in this house. Then Ash goes away on business and strange things begin to happen. Is Ellie in danger?!
This book was creepy in a good way and I enjoyed listening to it this past week.

A new home in the English Countryside, sounds like a dream. But sometimes dreams turn into nightmares.

Ellie and Ash have moved into a country home in Norfolk, England! They are excited, in love, and taking a big step in their relationship! Soon Ellie befriends their next-door neighbor, or perhaps it is the other way around, perhaps it is Benjamin who has befriended Ellie. Whatever the case, he seems nice, quiet, normal and who doesn't want to have a friendly, helpful neighbor?

Soon after meeting Benjamin, Ellie meets Virginia, his sister. She is not as welcoming or nice as Benjamin. Soon Ellie learns that Benjamin has been taking care of her since their mother died. People in the village are quick to tell her what a sacrifice Benjamin has made looking out for Virginia. She's different but harmless.

Soon strange things begin to happen. They seem small at first, just things that don't seem right, they don't feel right. Those nagging things you can't quite figure it out. You did lock the door, right? But it's unlocked, maybe not. You know, situations where you begin to doubt yourself even though you are certain you locked the door, because the alternative is frightening.

This was a fun listen and I enjoyed how the story unfolded. AS Ellie begins to learn the dark history of the house, the tension ramps up, there is a serious creepy vibe, with an underlying feeling of uncertainty. I loved the Gothic and atmospheric feel to this as well. One important thing to take away - never ignore those little hairs when they stand up on the back of your neck. They never lie!

I enjoyed the narrator and thought she pulled off the creepiness in the book. This made my time driving from here to there more enjoyable!

This was a great psychological thriller which delivered.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. Wow! I went into this book not knowing the synopsis. This story did not disappoint. I was on the edge of my seat the entire all the way to the last page! Would read from this author again!

I was starting to lose hope in this book during part 2, but those last few chapters saved it!
The tension built up during part 1 was on point (especially that scene with the the two guys and the washer) but then it all kind of vanished during part 2 until the very end. Most of part 2 definitely could have been cut with no detriment to the story.
Overall I'd say this is a worthwhile read with a shocking final twist.

The People Next Door is a dark and creepy read. The setting of the new home that Ellie and Ash purchase was spot on and the impending doom was gripping. The descriptions were very gory, and I was visibly cringing during some parts so this book is not for the easily triggered or sensitive readers. The narrator was stellar and did a great job with the different voices, especially when she needed to be super creepy. While I wanted to finish this book and was interested throughout, I did find this book a bit predictable and knew where the twist was going early on. What I suspected was what it turned out to be and I was disappointed. I also was dismayed with how the killer was brought to “justice.” I honestly cannot believe that ending was in line with the characters I got to “know.”

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to read and review this book to exchange for an honest review.

Email: DaniReadsTooMuch@comcast.net
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The People Next Door
By: Keri Beevis
5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This novel has all the creep factor. I could not help but the think of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
🏡
Ash and Ellie move into a beautiful home in a remote part of England. Their neighbor Benjamin develops a little crush on Ellie and feels she is in danger from her husband.
🏡
Benjamin has a sister and they come from a dark past. We quickly discover the home Ash and Ellie moved into have a past.
🏡
This novel is full of twists and turns and is a page turner. I cannot wait to read more by this author. If your into a dark thriller, I recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced audio copy. This is due out February 22.

Thank you Dream Works audio and NetGalley for this enjoyable audio book. Elly and Ash buy a house in the country. They have only one house nearby. Benjamin and his sister live there. Elly finds out that a horrible murder happened in the house and the estate agent did not tell them. The book is interesting and the narrator does a really good job of the voices and emotions. There are enough details to keep you engaged and it’s not so complex that you can’t pick up where you left off.

The People Next Door by Keri Beevis
Narrated by Shakira Shute

Be sure to read other reviews for this story because many other reviewers enjoyed this story much more than I did. Somewhere in the first half of the story I came down with f-bomb overload and felt that if I heard one more f-bomb I was going to throw my phone across the room. Alas, I heard many, many more f-bombs although I held myself back from throwing my phone because actions have consequences and I really like my phone.

This is a modern day story with a very gothic feel to it. Ash and Ellie have been together about three years when they move into an old, worn down, rural home in Norfolk, England. They both describe themselves as quick to anger but quick to forgive so they have frequent spirited spats but they are nothing really. Just Ash and Ellie being Ash and Ellie. Ash's best friend is Pete, whose wife is Ellie's friend, Roxanne. If Roxanne ever had any redeeming qualities, we don't see them here, because she is about the most abrasive "friend" in the history of fiction. That Ash and Ellie would spend any time around her shows that they have problems with their decision making abilities. You should hear her voice in the audiobook, if you didn't already know she was a witch, you'd know it by listening to every word she utters.

There is a huge issue with Ash and Ellie's new house and location that the realtor failed to disclose. Add to that fact that their only neighbors are very creepy. Benjamin is the caretaker of his unwell sister, Virginia, and although Virginia seems to be the most strange, it doesn't take long for Benjamin to close in on Virginia in the creepiest neighbor category. There is also a dark basement that is a lot more than Ash and Ellie ever bargained for and what you have is a story that will make your skin crawl and make you want to sleep with the lights on at night.

But Ellie makes some very unwise decisions and being in her head as she drops f-bomb after f-bomb, sometimes, three in a row, began to overshadow the story for me. I listened to the audiobook so it was right in my ears, every single f-bomb. I'd like to think most people use a more varied supply of obscenities, even in the privacy of their own mind. This is a very spooky story which gets a lot of things right but could have used some restraint in other areas.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for this ARC.

1.5 stars

A young couple moves to the idyllic countryside of Norfolk, but a series of break-ins and odd noises escalate into something much worse. I appreciated the prose and the way the story is structured, but key plot points and character motivations either lacked adequate explanation or were logically inconsistent to the point that the story felt contrived. The ending is horrendous, with a sadistic & cruel act passed off as justice, thus the low rating.

[What I liked:]

•I’m not a huge fan of novels with multiple first person POV’s, but in this book the different perspectives add nuanced layers to the story. The information the reader gets is filtered through the perceptions of the different narrators, not resulting in something as drastic as an unreliable narrator, but leaving room for doubt about where each narrator’s perceptions fall short of the full picture. The result is some nice added subtlety as the story unfolds.

•Ellie & Ash have a convincing romantic connection. Their uncertainties & strength of feeling for one another made it feel realistic.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•A lot of Ellie’s decisions don’t make sense. Would a person who’s terrified of heights really risk breaking their neck by recklessly climbing a trellis rather than ask for help from a kind neighbor, simply because they feel awkward around him? And for someone as anxious as Ellie, it makes no sense why would she stay in a house she *knows* isn’t secure when she believes she’s in imminent danger. Why not tell Benjamin what she found out so he can keep his sister safe? Why decide to get drunk now & go to a hotel in the morning? Why not just go now?

•I can’t mention examples without ruining the ending, but things start getting really weird by the 80% mark. Weird, yet clichéd.

•The ending is horrendous. Cruelly, slowly murdering a mentally ill person extra-judicially isn’t justice. No supposedly compassionate person would do such a thing. I hated this ending.

•This is minor considering all the above questions, but why wasn’t Ellie doing any freelance work? She mentions multiple times that money is tight (she feels guilty spending money on wine, she lets men she doesn’t trust into her house against her better judgment because she needs the 50 pounds from selling the washer, etc.). Despite this, she doesn’t work even part time after the move, spending all her time on replacing the wallpaper 🤷‍♀️

CW: murder, kidnapping, mental illness, substance abuse, infidelity, torture

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

Ellie and boyfriend Ash buy a "steal" of a house, unaware that a murder has taken place inside, and a teen has disappeared. When Ellie finds out about the tragedy, she starts feeling like something is really wrong and panics over everything. There's a lovely neighbor next door, but he's cautious about saying anything, and he has a really strange younger sister. This book sounds simple but is deeper than it originally appears. You become really concerned about Ellie as her paranoia increases.

The narrator is terrific and the book flies by. Recommended for general purchase.

Audiobook Review:⁣
Title: The People Next Door⁣
Author: Keri Beevis⁣
Narrator: Shakira Shute⁣
⁣
🅢🅤🅜🅜🅐🅡🅨: The People Next Door follow the couple Ellie and Ash as they move to their new home in the country. They have only one neighboring house, with the occupants Benjamin and his sister Virginia. The house is a fixer-upper, and they purchased it at a steal, but Ash has kept a secret about houses and it’s previous occupants. As Ellie is beginning to come to terms with the home’s history, strange things begin to happen. Is she being paranoid or is something more sinister going on?⁣
⁣
🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦: This audiobook had me hooked from the start. I thought the narrator did an amazing job with all the different character voices. The over all book is chilling and at times tense. It had some twists and I loved the ending. I thought some of the plot was a little predictable, but I still loved it. The author has a way of writing that makes you feel like you are with the character.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook copy of The People Next Door in exchange for an honest review.

This book definitely kept my attention throughout the entirety. Although I saw some of the twists coming, and expected some of the outcomes, the ending did surprise me. The main character Ellie was interesting; I feel like at times she annoyed me, but I also did enjoy her. The overall creepy, middle of no where house with weird stuff happening vibe was well done. I also loved the added character of Poppy the dog.

The narration was great, I do recommend this as an audiobook if you prefer to listen to your reads!

TWISTED!!! At first I didn’t think I was going to truly enjoy the book, it just started kind of “blah” for me. I don’t know at what point I was invested, it was still early on but holy crap does this book take you on a RIDE! And you better hang on to your hats because whoa…..!! You really truly “felt” these characters; you loved them, hated them, were annoyed or frustrated with them. You think something is one way and then you’re slammed in a totally different direction: I was excited when I figured out one thing but good gosh, this was gripping. At times I felt it was too long and that some things could have been skipped over or omitted but then later I didn’t think they could. This was great. A great, fun, unpredictable, vomit inducing ride. I can’t recommend enough and I will read more by this author! Thanks Netgalley for the ARC audio!