Debut thriller

I really enjoyed this thriller set in the affluent suburbs of Washington DC. The characters were very interesting, each with their own challenges and the atmosphere of the book kept getting a little darker each chapter. Definitely diverting!

Thank you to the publisher who lent me a time limited e-arc via netgalley with no obligation. This review is optional and my own opinion.

I was provided both a print and an audio arc of this book via Netgalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

I enjoyed that this had two narrators to distinguish between Blair and Alexis' perspectives. I enjoyed both narrators performances and felt they did a good job.

This follows Alexis after she and her husband Sam move in to a dilapidated house in the DC suburbs. The house is in their dream neighborhood and perfect for their growing family. Unfortunately the house came with a hefty mortgage, and at every turn they are sinking more and more into repairs just to make it safe to live in. Alexis has just given birth to their second child and with the financial burden and stress of the new house that strains her marriage even more. When their neighbor turns up dead a few weeks after they move in, Alexis begins to notice that her neighbors have strange night time behaviors as she is up for nighttime feedings with her little one. Her husband is growing more and more irritated by the house and trying to make partner at his law firm and thinks she is just being paranoid. As she begins to befriend some of the women in the neighborhood she finds that some of her paranoia is warranted.

Our other perspective comes from Blair, whose husband has just been murdered. She quickly befriends Alexis and is happy to have someone to lean on after such a tragedy. As the women begin to grow close, strange things continue to happen in their luxurious neighborhood. Things aren't always what they seem in the carefully constructed neighborhood of wealth and priveledge.

I found this to be pretty predictable. I kind of had the whole thing figured within a few chapters. There weren't very many red herrings to mislead the reader, you just weren't clear on the motivations which aren't revealed until much later. This is pretty low on the thrill and suspence aspects, which is not my type of thriller. I prefer heart pumping fast paced action. This is slow burn and follows the characters through their day to day lives until the truth about what happened is revealed. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. They were all self absorbed and shallow, I didn't like any of them and that makes it hard for me. Alexis made alot of questionable decisions, but she was supposed to be a very intelligent woman. I'm not a fan of the domestic thriller where the female character is supposed to be really smart but she keeps doing dumb things.

I believe the author was trying to make a statement about motherhood, body image and marriage and how that changes a woman and her relationships. While that is accurate, it didn't really work for me. While this book didn't work for me, I think there is an audience for this book. There is no gory crime scene and there isn't alot of police procedural stuff going on. I you enjoy a slower burn domestic thriller this is a good one to check out, it isn't what I'm looking for.

When Alexis and Sam find a fixer upper in a neighborhood they never thought they could afford they jump at the chance to buy it. But shortly after moving in a man dies in the woods behind their home. As they meet more of their neighbors they find that each of them has something to hide. There they find that even the most beautiful of places can be ugly when you look past the surface.

This one is a slow build thriller. Much of the story focuses on Alex as a new mother and meeting the neighbors - some experiences being more pleasant than others. As you learn more about the neighbors it becomes more unclear why or who could be a suspect. I enjoyed the build of this one but found the revelations to be unrealistic.

Melissa Adelman's highly entertaining debut, WHAT NEIGHBORS SAW, is a fresh new domestic suspense cat-and-mouse thriller that uncovers a shocking twisty secret in an affluent, upscale neighborhood where appearances are essential and dirty secrets are to be kept behind closed doors.

Set in an affluent DC suburb neighborhood, River Forest, we meet Alexis and Sam, and baby Caleb who are buying a 1927 Cape Cod Revival house that needs a lot of repairs; however, they are delighted to get into this sought-after neighborhood.

It has room for a pool and an excellent walking trail. Alexis is excited about meeting the neighbors, even though they do not have the money for designer clothes, cars, and renovations like their neighbors. They have a Honda and a live-in nanny that will be living in the basement.

Alexis is pregnant, a consultant, and is on maternity leave. Sam is an attorney. (I disliked Sam). Later she gives birth to a baby girl, Carter.

Blair and Teddy are neighbors with a beautiful home with three children. Alexis wants to get beyond her past and is excited when glamorous Blair befriends her.

But the neighborhood's picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – is found dead on the trail behind Alexis/Sam's house.

The neighborhood is stricken and shocked, and an investigation is underway. Tensions are high among the residents, and long-buried secrets are slowly unraveled.

Told from alternating POVs of Blair and Alexis, we learn the dark secrets behind closed doors. Alexis is more competent than others give her credit as she begins sleuthing to learn more about Blair and Teddy. How far will they go to protect their secrets?

The ongoing mystery—who murdered Teddy and what motive? Inside or outside the neighborhood?

I LOVED the audiobook narrated by (favorites) Hillary Huber (Blair) and Sarah Hollis (Alexis) for a hilariously wickedly evil performance with a Desperate Housewives vibe blended with dark humor for a superb listening experience.

A chilling tale of deception, DNA, dark family secrets, duplicity, and unfaithfulness that will keep you reading/listening into the wee hours of the morning until the final shocking twist.

For fans of Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door, Nora Murphy's The Favor, Lisa Unger's Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six, Sally Hepwoth's The Family Next Door, and BA Paris, The Therapist.

In WHAT NEIGHBORS SAW, the characters are mostly misbehaving, manipulative, and selfish, with a lot of backstabbing and jealousy; however, the TWIST is unexpected and jaw-dropping and an entertaining popcorn thriller!

I can't wait to see what's coming next from this talented new author. Highly recommend the audiobook!

Thanks to #MacmillanAudio for a gifted ALC and #MinotaurBooks for an ARC via #NetGalley for review purposes. #MinotaurInfluencers

Blog review posted @
JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: June 20, 2023
My Rating: 5 Stars
June 2023 Must-Read Books

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
4.5/5 STARS

This is a neighborhood mystery/thriller

Similar Books:
The New Mother
Speak of the Devil

Synopsis:
Alexis is pregnant with her second child when her and her husband move into a high end DC neighborhood they can barely afford. When one of their neighbors is murdered, multiple secrets get uncovered within the cul de sac.

This was a good neighborhood thriller. I like a nosy neighbor mystery and this did not disappoint. It was a little predictable and there was a lot of foreshadowing but I still liked it. It is told from the POV of two neighbors each with very different backgrounds. The chapters were short and it was an easy,fun read. Great debut novel!

Thank you Minotaur Books for the ARC! 🏡🖤👀

This one was ok. It was similar to other thrillers I’ve read. Nothing that made it stand out as spectacular. But in itself, it was ok. I’d read more by this author and would recommend it to others.

A good thrilling story. I loved the twists and the drama of all of the neighbors. It goes to show that even “important” and “high powered” people can be keeping secrets. I did figure out who was responsible in a sense, but it still had a good twist at the end that I didn’t see coming. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend!

This house is too good to be true? It just needs a little work. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. The views are to die for and the neighbors?! Well, they're a treat too. If that's not enough, you've got THE address for good schools. Is there even a downside other than the kitchen?

Married professionals with 2 young children, Alexis and Sam, are moving in! The worst house in the best neighborhood. Their nanny is coming too. It isn't what you're thinking. They don't come from money, a fact Alexis will remind you of an eye-roll inducing amount of times. She was a scholarship kid raised by a single parent and they've worked really hard to finally be in an exclusive neighborhood.

It's a stretch financially but worth it for the peace of mind.. until a body is found off a trail nearby. Did they waste all of this money finding a safe neighborhood only to be researching security yet again?

This draws Alexis closer to the neighborhood ladies but the finances and stress of constant house hiccups have put a strain on her marriage. They are an insufferable couple. It's hard to pity either of them.

Alexis turns everything back around to the color of her skin which is annoying and doesn't really lead anywhere. It's thrown in haphazardly to have her be offended by neighbors or perhaps to tell us how deserving she is of these luxuries as opposed to the others nearby. Regardless, it didn't land for me. Alexis always wants to relate to "non-white" people and seems huffy when the other people of color don't treat her like she's part of some club. It was very snobby and judgemental. She's a negative and whiny person.

That almost ruined the book because I'm telling you, Alexis and Sam are obnoxious individuals whose children I do pity. Luckily, if you ignore that, there's a pretty good neighborhood story going on, although it's a big long and has a lot of fluff that could have been saved in the drafts.

It was all worth it in the end because I was full on shocked! Mouth agape. Jaw on floor. Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit but the end was fun and I really enjoyed it and look forward to more from this author but I hope she leaves out some of the stuff I mentioned next time.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the chance to read, listen and review. The narration was fantastic.

Thank you to Minotaur Books & NetGalley for the e-arc! WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW is out 6/20!

MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY:
Alexis and Sam move into a fixer-upper in an out of their league neighborhood, with intentions of doing renovations little by little. Alexis is on maternity leave, home with their two young kids, while Sam is working tons, trying to make partner. Shortly after they move in, their neighbor is murdered. Alexis becomes friends with his wife, and slowly involves herself in all the going ons of the neighborhood.

MY THOUGHTS:
Honestly, this book felt familiar in that there was nothing special about it... wife at home, husband at work trying to get a promotion, sneaky neighbors, spying. It all felt blah and unexciting. There was a slow start, and even halfway through I didn't really care who was the murderer. I think Alexis was really hard to empathize with... she came off as pathetic, had minimal bond with her children, and her husband was awful, quite frankly. Plus the amount of day drinking in this neighborhood was shocking. It was a quick read, which I'm thankful for. Really, it was just fine, but so similar to so many other books.

Read if you liked THE NEW MOTHER by Nora Murphy or watching THE WATCHER on Netflix.

Sam and Alexis buy a fixer-upper in an elite neighborhood. Shortly thereafter one of the neighbors is pushed off a cliff while out jogging. Much of the story is about trying to find the murderer and describing the neighbors. While the story drags for a good part of the book, the ending is a bit different from other domestic thrillers. However, like most thrillers the premise is a bit out there but not totally unbelievable.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

WOW! What. A. Thrill ride! If you love thrillers, you're going to want to grab this new release from Melissa Adelman! "What the Neighbors Saw" is one part "Desperate Housewives," two parts "Real Housewives of D.C." and some vodka thrown in for good measure.

I devoured this book in one sitting - I could not put it down. Transitioning between the voices of well-to-do housewife Blair & new mom Alexis, Adelman's writing style leaves you turning the pages quicker than you can read them. The juiciest gossip. The wealthiest of settings. The deadly drama. So much suspense wrapped up in these pages. Grab it for your next beach vacation!

Couple with 2nd baby on the way moves from DC to a high end suburb. In this seemingly perfect neighborhood, a mysterious murder takes place. Coupled with home repair issues, marriage strains, and an unsolved murder, main character Alexis is on edge and questioning moving there.

Likes:
Setting was relatable as I live in the (middle class) DC suburbs
I could understand the relationship strains
Desperate Housewives-esque relationships between the women in the neighborhood
Dislikes:
Not enough suspense
The red herrings were not believable
The ending was kind of boring

Alexis and Sam are eager to escape DC with their toddler and baby on the way when they see a bargain of a house in a ritzy, exclusive suburban neighborhood outside of Washington DC.. It's too good to be true, and more and more repairs seem to crop up almost daily while Alexis is on maternity leave and Sam is gunning for partner to help pay for it all. Then their neighbor, a Virginia legislator, is found dead on the rocks on the hiking trail behind their neighborhood, and a naked, screaming woman shows up on their porch. It seems like more than just repairs threaten Alexis' happiness, and even her life.

What did the neighbors see? Nothing, really. I mean, Alexis saw something, but no one saw Teddy get murdered, no one, despite the neighborhood being full of rich, paranoid people, including a couple that owns a security firm!

This is a debut novel, and it's not bad for a debut, but it's really missing that edge of your seat vibe you generally get from thrillers. Everything just seems so...low stakes. Alexis loses a big saw, and everyone just kind of shrugs it off. The guy across the street has a history of manhandling women, but it's no big deal, really (well, that is pretty true to life, old white men tend to get away with just about everything). Heck, someone from the neighborhood is murdered, but...no one really seems to care, not even the cops. All the plot twists and elements seemed a lot like the points in a game of Whose Line is it Anyway?

I think once the author gets another book or two under her belt, she'll be a force to be reckoned with in the thriller genre, so I'll definitely keep reading her books, this one just left me feeling a bit flat. If you like low stakes thrillers, definitely give this one a read.

What did the neighbors see? A whole lot of nothing in my opinion. This book was a quick and easy read. It was interesting enough however it lacked thrill and suspense. Sure, it had a decent amount of drama to keep the story interesting. Definitely got the Desperate Housewives vibe going on. The characters were written in a way that they are just the right level of unlikeable to fit the narrative of the story (not in a bad way). The book itself was a bit repetitive with the details of the characters and their lives. Unfortunately, this book did fall a bit flat for me. I was hoping the author would have taken the ending in a different direction. There wasn't much of a plot twist. and some of the details felt a bit rushed and unlikely to happen towards the middle to end of the book. The book needs more excitement to keep the reader engaged. Overall, I did enjoy the book. I liked the duo perspective of the neighbors. This is a good slow burn suspense if you aren't looking for a fast-paced thriller. I give the book 3/5 stars.

I am here for the neighborhood drama and secrets!!!!! I love those types of plots. This author didn’t disappoint with that. Alexis and Sam move into this fancy neighborhood but into a home that needs a ton of fixing. They are expecting another baby, and the pressure is on. And on top of that someone gets murdered, there are no leads. She befriends Blair, the widow, but there was something about her that was OFF. EVERYONE has secrets in this book, I couldn’t stop reading the book, it was a page turner for sure.

Thanks Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

I did find this to be a slower-paced book. Even with the murder within the first few chapters, there was no real suspense or danger. There were a few moments with someone sulking around the houses in the dark staying in the shadows, but it never felt like anyone else was in any danger. Once we get to the last maybe third of the book, Alexis starts getting suspicious of one of her neighbors and does some sleuthing of her own, and that's when everything gets revealed. When this happened, I wasn't shocked by who was behind everything, it was like oh, yeah that makes sense. Although there was this thing that happens after the big reveal that I didn't see coming which was a pleasant surprise.

While this book didn't completely hook me, I did enjoy the overall story and would definitely check out this author's future books.

When Sam and Alexis move into the "perfect" neighborhood, the disappointments are mounting up and the activity in this quiet cul-de-sac is anything but perfect.

Alexis's poor self-confidence is compounded by what she sees as her post-partum body, the money trap that is her new house, and her husband's demeaning attitude. She's the only person of color in her wealthy neighborhood, and that is weighing in her thoughts as well. So, when her neighbor Blair takes her under her wing, Alexis finally starts to relax and feel like she belongs.

Adelman does a great job of describing the creepiness of those "perfect" neighbors, the issues with being the least wealthy residents in the neighborhood, and the secrets behind the facades. I felt there was something missing in the characterizations, but I think it was an attempt to maintain the mystery behind their backgrounds - which wasn't as big a deal as I thought in Alexis's case. I would describe this as a domestic thriller and would read more by this debut author.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for an advance reader's copy.

Alexis and Sam are a young couple with a son and another baby on the way. They need to find a bigger place to live and think they've found the perfect house in an idyllic neighborhood. But a number of the neighbors have secrets that get revealed over time. And the pressures of renovating a house and Sam working extra hard to get promoted at work reveal the flaws in their marriage.

The author did a good job of describing the neighborhood and bringing the characters to life. However, for me the pacing of the story was very slow until the very end when the most important secrets were revealed.

I'm typically a big fan of neighborhood dramas, but What the Neighbors Saw fell really flat for me. I felt like it moved really slowly, even after the death of one of the neighbors. I found all of the characters to be complainers and it seemed like they were constantly telling others how wealthy they were. I honestly didn't feel like this was a thriller at all. The major twist doesn't happen until around the 80-85% mark and even then it's not something that will shock or surprise you.

I do think this had a lot of potential and all in all, it was fine, but there was room for a lot more to happen.

Thank you Minotaur Book and NetGalley for the eARC!

Wow, oh Wow....great book!
Debut book by author Melissa Adelman. That is a name to remember. Can't wait to read more by this author, she is an incredible writer.

Alexis and husband Sam buy a fixer upper in a beautiful affluent neighborhood in the suburbs of D.C. The couple is thrilled. They never dreamed of being able to find a home in such a prestigious neighborhood. But their home has endless problems and needed updating.
Not long after moving in one of the neighbors was found dead on a trail near their home. The neighbors are in shock about the news,
The homes in the neighborhood may be big with perfect lawns. But what is hiding behind the walls of these home are lies and secrets. Neighbors become suspicious of one another.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own,
Thank you Netgalley the opportunity to read and review this book.