*Thank you to Celadon Books, Stephen Amidon, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion*

In this mystery, domestic thriller, there are a lot of POVs. Too many and it becomes confusing. I had a hard time keeping the characters straight. Locust Lane is the story of a young girl who has been murdered. The story starts off with a man who randomly sees a dog outside while driving home late at night. He hits the dog and gets out of the car to see if he is ok and the dog bites him.

Eden is the young girl who has been murdered. From the wrong side of the tracks, she's had a rough time and is now living with an older couple and has settled down. Jack, the son of a wealthy businessman, is dating Hannah. Christopher, having just moved here from out of the country is friends with Jack, who bullies him and others constantly. These three teenagers are the last three to see Eden alive. The multiple Points of view include Hannah's stepmother, Jack's mother and Michel, Christopher's father. Jack's mother, Celia, is having an affair with Michel. When it comes to Jack, things have happened before, although not this bad. Jack's dad knows how to take care of things. Do you see how this may be confusing?

Everyone in this book is guilty in some way. There are so many messy adults who are not good at parenting. And with money, lawyers and bought cops, the outcome is anyone's guess.

DNF. No interest in continuing or investment in the characters. Low ratings from trusted friends confirmed my choice to DNF. Thank you for the advanced copy anyway!

Locust Lane was an interesting mystery to read as a mother. When a woman is found dead, the story is told from the point of view of the parents of the teens suspected. As the story unfolds you learn more about the families and their dynamics and some of the past challenges they've had with the teens and it becomes harder to figure out clearly who may have done what and who is hiding information that might help to save their child. I liked the concept but some of the pacing was very slow and while the focus of the crime was on the teens, there was more details on the mothers than I thought I needed.

I love a book about rich people behaving badly, but unfortunately this one was way too much of a slow burn and it seemed to drag on. The ending was short, rushed, and the 'big reveal' was revealed on the last page-after I stuck it out through the whole book just to be let down as well by that ending. UGH.

I will give Amidon another try with his next book, but this one was pretty disappointing.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars.

I might be allergic to privileged kids and small communities in the north east of the US. I'm a private school kid too, but I wasn't acting like I created the little hills. These people are trying to get away with murder and abuse while putting all the blame on of course immigrants.

I don't find a lot of twist and turns that shock me or explain how this talk of privilege will play out or if there is a greater plan out there. I don't blame kids on anything: they do what they see. Their parents are all about status and CYA. Instead of teaching their kids right or wrong, they are encouraging them to be reckless and not to think about consequences as long as those consequences don't fall on them.

I don't know. It was a fast read and good for a reading slump, but characters and age old story just angered me.

Locust Lane grabbed me from the first chapter, and I finished it the next day. There is much more here than the conventional mystery/thriller; several of the characters affected me deeply. Will be recommending to book clubs as it is a compelling story that raises topical and searing issues for discussion.

This book was very intriguing. It is not a fast paced mystery/thriller, so one must go into it knowing that or it could be disappointing. However, it's very well written and the look at suburban teens through the eyes of their parents was really interesting to me. The central mystery is not all that mysterious, but that's also not really the point of this story. I liked getting to see the story from all the different angles and I was interested enough to keep reading because I had to know what happened to all of them. Very well done.

When Eden Perry is found dead in the most affluent section of Emerson, Massachusetts, the residents of this normally quiet town do whatever they can to protect their families. When it’s discovered that three teenagers, all from well know, powerful families, were partying with Eden the night she died, the detectives investigating her death have to figure out how far these parents will go to protect their children’s reputations. Told from multiple points of view, this book kept me guessing until the end. It was a quick read with some very unlikeable characters. While it seems to be marketed as a mystery/thriller, I feel like it’s more of a domestic suspense novel with a mystery component.

After teenage Eden Perry is found dead, the last known people to be with her are three other teens. Jack, Jack's girlfriend, Hannah, and their friend Christopher. What happened that night that led to Hannah's death?
The parents of the three teens are the primary narrators;
Jack's mom, Celia and Hannah's step-mother, Alice along with Christophers widowed father, Michel but we hear from Danielle, Eden's mother as well as a few others.

I would've loved to have heard some of this story told from the POV of the teens as well but that's just me.
This is a solid and enjoyable slow-burn murder mystery, brilliantly woven, intricately crafted plot that gathers momentum on every page, this is superb storytelling told in terse prose-a dynamic read that is both intensely gripping and deeply affecting.

I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to read more from the author.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 20%.

I found the premise of this book so compelling. But the book was just not for me. It did not pull me in after 20%. I would try this author again though.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book: Locust Lane
Author: Stephen Amidon

Thank you Celadon Books and Netgalley for granting me an ebook of Locust Lane. The following is my honest and independent review of this novel.

Rating: 4.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Locust Lane as though it was a good suspense thriller movie! I hope Hollywood will make the book into one.

There were several parties to keep track of whose lives revolved around a murder of a young lady named Eden Perry at the home of Bill and Betsy Bondurant, a well respected couple and elite members on Locust Lane, in an upscale, white neighborhood of Emerson.

Patrick appeared at the opening scene, attacked by a dog, and followed by a shadow of a man (?). Next was Danielle, the victim's mom.

The story then got interesting and complicated as three families revealed their relationships in the affluent town of Emerson.

The first family included the parents, Celia and Oliver Parrish, and their son, Jack. The second couple, Alice, the stepmother, and Geoff the father, with his daughter Hannah from a previous marriage.

The last party was a renowned and well respected French Chef, Michel, originally from Lebanon and his teenage son Christopher, who hung out with Jack and Hannah. They were the last people with Eden at the Bondurant's house before she was found murdered.

If you can keep these names and relationships straight then you will find the story exquisite, compelling and enjoyable. The detectives played an important role in Locust Lane but they were easily forgettable, unlike the three families with the teenagers, and Patrick.

The ending was less satisfying but more realistic in life than a tidy ending, but again, I thoroughly enjoyed the plot, multiple POVs, and how they dovetailed with each other. I don't usually read suspense thrillers but this book has changed my mind. I recommend Locust Lane if you like suspense thrillers.

I was provided a copy of this book to share with my Little Free Library. I was blown away. This was the first time I read a book by this author and it will not be the last. This story was fast paced, dark, a thriller, and must be read.

▪️ Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon
rating: 2 ⭐️
format: physical arc
length: 301 pages
pub day: january 17, 2023

The prologue for LL caught my attention, but the rest of the book just let me down. The plot kept me intrigued enough to keep reading, but boy, was this ever a slow burn ! There are 5 pov's in this book, which made things start off confusing. Once I got the hang of who was who, I kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing really happens until near the end. The ending was a whole other issue for me, and I ended up being really let down by the way things turned out. I didn't see the end coming, so finding out what the real story was is what kept me reading, but overall, this one was just a miss for me.

Thank you to @celadonbooks and @netgalley for my advanced copy !

I really enjoyed this domestic drama. I could definitely see this one as a true crime episode about murder in suburbia on the ID channel.

I thought that the story unfolds at a perfect pace and the drama and revelations never stop.

The epilogue was fantastic and wrapped the book up in the same suburban drama as how it began.

A slow burn of a mystery that takes place in affluent town.. 4 teens - one winds up dead and her mother is on the PROWL to uncover the truth.

I have never been a fan of MULTIPLE POVs because let’s be honest ..these seem to get me confused and lose my focus easily!!! I loved the premise of the story but I just felt like it was missing something - I may have to read it again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Stephen Amidon, and Celdon books for this ARC.

As I was reading this book I kept getting so mad at the characters. I have come to realize books where rich people play the "poor me" card, I get frustrated. Most of the characters in this book were terrible. I don't want to go into too much detail and give anything away, but if you like slow burns with unlikeable characters, this one's for you! 

I listened to the book and I thought the narrator did a great job. However, I would have liked it a bit more if there were different narrators to go along with the different POVs.

This book is really well written. The author did such a good job at writing the different POVs. Each character had a different background, and some with completely different social standings. The topics in this book are difficult, and I think they need to be talked about more. I was so angry throughout the entire book. It's just something you have to experience. As soon as I was done I had to message a friend and talk about it. It brought up that much feeling. It will leave you thinking more deeply on certain social topics.

Thank you to Netgalley, Celadon Books and Macmillan Audio for my copies in exchange for my review!
I will add bookstagrams link when I post.

A group of teens. A few parents. One shocking murder.

This book reminds you that one misstep, or a reputation that precedes you, can be your undoing. This is a great mystery/thriller with complications brought on by secret relationships, protective mothers, and a whole lotta miscommunication There was a lot of classism (and racism) but it created a storyline and a place for the unlikeable character development which I thought was well done. Patrick was the one redeeming character and I really would have liked to see more of him in the book.

The author takes a risk with the ending, but I thought it played out the way it was meant to - after all - there aren't always happy endings in life!

Thanks to NetGalley and Celandon Books for an advance reader's copy.

A well written, tense mystery about a group of morally questionable adults and their equally morally questionable children who are all, in one way or another involved in the murder investigation of a young girl

A young girl is murdered while hanging out with a group of friends, a drunk man sees the suspect, a young man is blamed who doesn't have the physical capabilities. This book was chilling, but at the same time drove me nuts. It's one of those books that still leave you hanging, and you question if there will be a prequel to sort it all out (honestly probably not with this one). 4 out of 5 stars for this reason. I received a copy of this book for my honest review.

Have you ever fallen hard for a book and you can’t put your finger on exactly why? It’s not an overall fan favorite, and the content isn’t anything to write home about, per se, but all you know is that you couldn’t put it down the entire time you were reading it, and once you finished it was difficult to move onto the next book because you couldn’t stop thinking about this one? That’s the only way I can describe my experience with Locust Lane. It’s your standard, run-of-the-mill crime fiction murder mystery, and yet it kind of isn’t.

Maybe it was the gripping prologue. Perhaps it was the fact that, even though the story is about a group of teens who are suspects in a murder investigation, it’s the adults belonging to these teens that we get all of the POVs from. It could even be the fact that, as I age, I have a greater appreciation for a thoroughly constructed, character driven novel of slow burning suspense than I do for the flashy, OMG A TWIST YOU WON’T SEE COMING type of novel. *although let’s be honest, we almost always see the twist coming a mile away, amiright? Whatever the reason, this one will stay with me along my reading journey forward.

The story begins with a gripping prologue with a driver hitting a dog (don’t worry, the dog is totally fine), and ends with an ominous stand off. After that, we kind of hit reverse on the pacing and gently ease into introductions of the characters telling this story. The murder really doesn’t become the main focus of the book until the second half of the book, so the first half is spent on revealing many juicy secrets that each family is hiding. Once I got past the 50% mark, the pages practically turned themselves and I couldn’t race to the end quickly enough to see how it all wrapped up. Speaking of, I was wrong about who the killer was. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense, but I was so sure that the author was trying to make me think it wasn’t one particular character, that I went all in in my guess, and I was pleasantly bamboozled. The ending was superb; plenty of closure but also a little door left open to let us wonder how the next phase might be handled.

Big thanks if you made it this far, and I hesitate to recommend this book to just anyone, because it will definitely require a patient and special reader to enjoy it, but if you enjoy slow burning novels of suspense with juicy, wealthy people’s secrets and deep character studies, give this one a try.