Member Reviews
Alexis and Sam firmly believe they are on the uphill side of the road to a new, happier life. They have bought a house in a community that they never thought they would have been able to purchase, Sam is doing extremely well at school and they are expecting their second baby!
However, the house is not what it seems and the neighbors all have secrets and these secrets start coming out when one of the neighbors is found dead. Then, Alexis makes quick friends with Blair, the murdered neighbor's widowed wife. As the women get closer it comes out that neither one of their lives are what they present and definitely not what it seems! This is a great domestic thriller!
I loved all the twists and turns and just when I thought I had it all figured out I was all wrong! If you love domestic thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat then this should be your next read!
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this one!
I started this book a few months back and I couldnโt get into to it so I put it in my not right now pile. I picked it up again and unfortunately it never hooked me and I found myself skipping to the ending quickly.
What the Neighbors Saw serves up mystery and drama against the backdrop of an affluent DC suburb. When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a house in a neighborhood they never thought they could afford, they are elated. With their second child on the way and Sam doing well at work, the couple feels like they are headed toward a new, happier life.
That life comes with a price tag. Their dreamhouse is a money pit and their neighbors all seem to have secrets. These secrets start to come out when their neighbor Teddy is found dead on the riverbank near their neighborhood. A well liked and respected husband and father, the neighborhood is shook when his death is announced a homicide. With no one apprehended for the crime, tensions rise and people start to crack.
Through it all, Alexis grows increasingly closer to Teddy's now widowed wife Blair. Blair is glamorous, charming, and beautiful. Alexis is drawn to her and the picture perfect life she seems to lead. But as truths are revealed in the mystery of Teddy's murder, it turns out neither women's life is what it seems.
This book was dramatic and suspenseful, definitely delivering on the Desperate Housewives vibes it claims. It is definitely a slow burn setting up Alexis' move to her new neighborhood and her developing friendship with Blair, but the second half picked up the pace and while I found the ultimate big reveal somewhat obvious, some of the tea along the way definitely dropped my jaw!
Thank you to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for the digital copy!
Available now!
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐จ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐ฏ๐. ๐ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
โCat Ellington
๐ "๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐" ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐:
For Woe is a pity,
And none too prettyโare its ugly cries
Bitter from the menace of bane,
Like cold, acid rainโ
Do the tears pour down from its lying eyes
For the one who eats the dust,
The same is serpentine:
Nipping at the heels
Of the gumshoesโ
Who have no abounding fields to glean
They are barren,
Laid wasteโ
Full of dead men's bones,
And arrogantly unchaste,
As they play host to hypocrisy
And keep company with misery
Whiffing the savory aroma
Emanating from the pit of its den,
Their crooked mouths water
For the succulent taste of sinโ
With needle-like teethโ
All the better to gnaw off the flesh of the blameless,
These are those beneathโ
Who prove themselves to be savage, grievous, and shameless
They are cunning; they are perverse
They are vindictive; they areโ for better or worse
They are the poisonous potion
Of a witches' brew;
They areโ the stars of the murderous mystery thriller
Currently under review
Dear reader? Shall we go get โem in the proceeding analysis? Well, alright, then, let's do it.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
๐ur leading lady, Alexis Crawford, has been on the come-up for practically her entire life. The high-poweredโand high-salariedโattorney has paid more than her fair share of dues, and she is worthy of the better life she pursues. The senior manager of a small consulting firm (and a law wiz), she shares her life with her husband and fellow attorney, Sam Crawford, the couple's toddler son Caleb, and little Caleb's Honduran nanny, Elena. They do alright, but Alexis wants moreโand she will have more.
As the pages of this spiteful tale begin to turn, we meet the Crawfords at their residenceโa quaint little row house in the heart of Washington, D.C. The day is hectic as Sam (working overtime to nab a partnership role at his prestigious law firm) and Alexis are moving quickly to make it to their appointment on time. They have an open house in River Forest, an exclusive community of multi-million dollar homes offset by lush forests and the scenic Potomac River. Alexis is desperate for an upscale change, but Sam? Not so much. At least not in the beginning. But he'll come around.
๐๐ณ ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ.
๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
The house that will soon belong to the Crawfords is a humongous million-dollar-plus fixer-upper that the couple plans to buy as is. 51 Shadow Road; that's the address. The 5,100-square-foot estate (boasting five bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms) needs a ton of renovation. But Alexis and Sam can't imagine the modifications the property will require (or the doctor's prices attached) until they close and move in. That was the first error of judgment, but no one seemed to care at the time. Alexis was so gung-ho about buying the homeโto get away from the urban environment of their row houseโthat she pressed Sam to secure the sprawling estate in its current condition. Plus, it was a steal; the previous owners could not wait to get the house off their hands. And so they went, they saw, they bought. 51 Shadow Road (a glorified albatross) now belongs to the Crawfords.
Sam might be grunting, but Alexisโpregnant with baby number twoโis beaming. She has finally done it! Alexis Crawford, of all people, has finally reached the pinnacle of society. Oh, if her poor, neglectful mother (๐ฐ๐ญ' ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ค๐ฉ) could see her now, she'd turn face down in her potter's field grave! If all the friends Alexis never had could see her now! If all her enemies could see her now! Rich, wealthy River Forest, here she comes! Alexis Crawford made it!
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ!
๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐: ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
Who wouldn't want to live in a spacious Cape Cod Revival in an exclusive community inside the so-called Beltway? Sam thinks the new neighborhood is too expensive and says as much, but Alexis is content to brush off his negative opinions because, one, they need more space for their growing family; two, their piggy bank is only a dollar short of morbid obesity; and three, they can use the change of scenery. They can do this, and they will. They are doing this; Alexis won't have it any other way. Plus, the Potomac River flows right through their new neighborhood; they can hear the relaxing sounds of rushing waters from their patio. It doesn't get any better than that. Here, in River Forest, is where their happy place awaits. Or so Alexis thinks.
Alexis also makes a mental note that she and Sam will need a more top-end vehicleโas their humble Honda Civic Hatchback, compared to the Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches, and Jaguars cruising the paved roads of the neighborhood, looks like a broken-down piece of junk.
๐๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ, ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ธ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ดโ๐ฐ๐ณ, ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด.
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
There's "Bennifer," there's "TomKat," and then there's ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐บ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ณ.
Blair and Teddy Bard are the so-called "Barbie" and "Ken" of River Forest. Blair is a talented interior designer, and Teddy, a highly successful businessman, is also a long-standing member of the Virginia House of Delegates. The sparkling couple shares three (secretly unwanted by Blair) children: Whit, the incompetent cross-country runner; Jamie, the soccer standout; and Rob, the badminton player. These three are all blond/blonde like their parents and troubled to various degrees. The Bards are outside their massive, jaw-droppingly beautiful home doing rainy-day yard work when they spot an odd, out-of-place-looking pair with a small child touring the neighborhood. Here, Blair Bard makes the acquaintance of her new neighbors, the Crawfords.
Alexis takes note of the striking blonde woman instantlyโas the woman is the type that always seems to have more on the ball in life than women like Alexis. Those types were always the most popular girls who led privileged lifestyles financed by their wealthy families, while urchins like Alexis could only attend a good college on a scholarship. They were the mean girls, the hateful girls, the spoiled snobs. And Alexis despised them โ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ณ.
Already, Alexis (seething in her reverie) is enemy-centered toward a stranger whose name she doesn't even know until the smiling woman approaches the Crawfords to introduce herself. Her name is Blair. Of course, her name would be ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ณ. Alexis should've known her name would be something like ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ณ. However, despite her name, this woman, Blair, seems nice. She's nothing like those snotty brats from Alexis's high school and college years. And with that, Alexis backhands the salty chip off her shoulder and lets her guard down.
It may not be so bad after all. Alexis might love living in River Forest. And they all might become great friends and neighbors, Alexis, Sam, and these two perfect people, dubbed "TeddyBlair" by their closest associates.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ; ๐๐ญ๐ฅ ๐๐ค๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ซ๐ฐ๐ฃ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ; ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ถ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐บ-๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
The postpartum blues are all over Alexis Crawford, like a cheap suit, two weeks after the birth of her second child, a daughter she and Sam named Carter. But Sam is always away from home these days, with an excuse of working overtime to get that promotion to partner status at his firm. He's also (a lot) more aggressive and mentally abusive toward his once-mighty wife. Every chance the tall red-haired Sam gets to remind Alexis of just how much she's let herself go (since having children), he jumps at it. A jackass and then some, the snide and malicious Sam only seems to feel better when Alexis feels humiliated and lesser. Perhaps it would have been better if Alexis had gone after a partnership at her firm. Maybe then Sam, who has suddenly taken to referring to Alexis as an "old lady," to put in some overtime on her already fragile self-esteem, would be more loving and supportive. Perhaps then he would have something to boast about. Sam Crawford is an awful excuse for a husband; that much is true. But Teddy Bard? Teddy Bard has it all. He's the kind of man any woman would love to have for a husbandโwhich is why Alexis couldn't help but feel envious when she caught a late-night glimpse of Blair "feeding" Teddy on one of the better couple's expensive sofas. Blair's golden head hung back, a look of otherworldly ecstasy on her flawless face, immersed in the passion of sensual oral pleasure. Alexis can only imagine the feeling because Sam hasn't made her feel that good in ages. She and Sam have not been intimate in monthsโand months; poor, pitiable Alexis.
Watching the erotic scene, her mouth agape, Alexis takes it all in, no pun. But what Alexis doesn't know, however, is that this would be the last time she'd see Teddy Bard alive.
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ.
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐.
The morning sun and misty dew of early autumn pair excellently in the limiting confines of the tony River Forest: another day, another peachy-keen day. Alexis is busy with typical activities involving her emotionally abusive husband and small children when she hears the whir of helicopter blades and the wail of police sirens. Something unpleasant has befallen their ritzy little cul-de-sac, but what could it be? What it could be is a bodyโdiscovered by a fisherman along the banks of the Potomac River. The corpse, brutally battered, with its skull crushed in several places, lay on the rocks beneath the trail. No one saw anything, so they all say, but authorities have identified the dead man as Teddy Bard.
For some (including Alexis), news of Teddy's remorseless murder comes as a jolting shock, but for others, not so much. The inhumanity of his death, right out in the open, speaks volumes. Who would want to kill such a nice man like Teddy? What damaging information did Teddy have in his arsenal? And against whom did he plan to use it? Who wanted their secrets to remain unknown? Who hated Teddy enough to crush his skull to dust? Behind their white-washed tombs, disguised as prime real estate, which of the wealthy River Foresters can sleep at nightโknowing they committed a heinous murder?
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ?
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
As the narrative changes course to turn its glaring spotlight on the other residents of River Forest, Old Scratch breaks forth to gather up his obliging bondservants and shove them in it. As it happens, they number quite a few. Meet them as follows:
โข Jennifer looks like a pin-up girl reminiscent of ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ, ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ช๐ฆ! With luscious curves in all the right places and a doll-like face to match, many, including Alexis, wonder what the striking brunette sees in her tall, blubbery, sloppy, hot-headed, jealous, possessive, miserable, and unhandsome husband, Jeff. Perhaps it could be his money, as Jeff is nothing if not filthy rich.
๐๐ช๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ๐บ-๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฆ๐ง๐ง ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ (๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด) ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ-๐ฅ๐ฆ-๐ด๐ข๐ค ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ, ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฑ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ, ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ช๐จ, ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด๐ด.
โข Brash, big-boned, and Brazilian is the backstabbing, underhanded, two-faced, and ultra-horny alpha female named Laura. The 51-year-old vamp and her shady husband, Shawn, are the founders of a highly profitable security companyโthat Teddy wanted to snatch out from under them, much to their dismayโwith agents stationed worldwide. But the dubious couple, especially Shawn, makes Alexis nervous; she thinks there is something suspicious about the former military man turned soccer coach. Why is Shawn always out in the woods, near the Crawford house, stalking the wee hours, claiming to be searching for his missing drones? Why is Shawn even operating drones in the neighborhood in the first place? And what nefarious activities have his little drones been recording? Did those drones record the killing of Teddy Bard? Are Shawn and Laura concealing information that may be vital to the murder investigation?
๐๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต-๐ด๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ ๐ข ๐ด๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ณ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ณ๐บ, ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ถ๐ณ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต.
โข They might be new to money, but Silicon Valley tech company founders Emily and Dylan are worthy of River Forest, regardless of what that self-important elitist, Blair, thinks. Emily, the genius coder, is a mousy, annoying, unsophisticated, relatively unattractive, arrogant, famous-name-dropping heifer; and Dylan, the conceited half-Pakistani man-whore, is one adulterous affair away from an incurable venereal disease, an unspeakable deathโor both. Dylan likes to screw around, and Emily knows this; nevertheless, she stays married to him, preferring to blame the other women rather than her philandering, vulva-chasing husband. Emily is a dishrag and a doormat; she has no class, and her self-esteem is bottomless. But that fancy Blair? She's so confident that it makes Emily sick. ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ณ is the ultimate woman; she's everything the formerly poor Emily isn't. And Emily is envious, jealous, covetousโand enraged. Emily wholeheartedly believes that Dylan and Blair are carrying on (an affair) behind her back. And she sets out to prove it. She even uses a staged lunch date to recruit an unwilling ally to act as a second pair of eyes: her fellow doormat, Alexis.
๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ณ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐บ-๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ณ'๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐บ, ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ข๐ด๐ด? ๐๐ญ' ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ต ๐ช๐ฏโ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ๐บ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ.
โข Old man Mack likes them young; Mack likes them helpless. Old man Mack enjoys domination while engaged in copulation. Old man Mack is powerful, dangerous, and minted; Mack will pulverize any man (or woman) who dares to cross him. As he has done before, so will he do againโall one has to do is give him a reason. Mack can be a terrifying adversary, a man without mercy. And everyone in River Forest knows it. The old geezer gets what he wants when he wants itโor else. Old Mack will make one's blood run cold. And if he singles someone out, it will never end well. His eyes are beady, greedy, and lustful. And they are now roving the body of Alexis Crawford, the new neighbor. She looks ripe; she seems lost. She looks lonely; she seems sultry. She's quiet. She's defenseless. She's exotic. She's ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ.
๐๐ฎ๐ฎ, ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ณ๐ถ๐ช๐ต? ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ข๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ sฬถcฬถaฬถrฬถsฬถ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ต๐ด? ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฆ'๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉโ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ hฬถaฬถvฬถeฬถ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ (๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ) ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ-๐ด๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ, ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
These all populate the cul-de-sac of great wealth and influence. And each one harbors a dangerous secret capable of destroying the others. Attempting to keep herself busy while Sam is away, yet again (and now that he's made partner at his firm, he has more excuses to spend as much time away from Alexis and their children as possible), Alexis has taken to a new hobby: gardening. And she's become quite good at it. Weeds have joined her growing list of enemies. And it's not until her pruning saw goes missing that Alexis realizes something is off.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐บ. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฉ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐(๐): ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
One woman could ask, โHave you seen my husband?โ Another woman could say, โI know you're having an affair with my husband!โ Followed by another woman who could say, โI'll have your husband in as many ways as I want him; he'll do whatever I aฬถsฬถkฬถ tell him to do.โ And then some other woman could demand, โStay away from my husband, you lying, whorish bitch!โ
But there is a forbidden woman who is like the harlot foretold in wisdom. She sits at the door of her house, calling out to the men who pass by, who go straight on their way. She entices the simple man with the sweetness of stolen water and the pleasantries of secretly eaten bread. She lures the simple man with the lie of her husband being away on a long journey, and with much seductive speech, she invites him into her bed, perfumed with myrrh, aloe, and cinnamon. But the Reaper is already there. And the hard object tenting her sheet is not the erection of a manโbut a scythe.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ตโ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ฎ๐ฐโ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ช๐ด๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ถ๐ด๐ต, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด, ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
Conniving, deceptive, hypocritical, cunning, adulterous, callous, malicious, jealous-hearted, passive-aggressive, sleazy, whorish, ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง-๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, vindictive, scandalous, vile, and ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด are the Housewives of River Forest. And Andy Cohen himself couldn't clip muzzles on these rabid bitches. No one can stop a dog from returning to lap up its vomit, and no matter how often the sow has a bath, even still, she will return to wallowing in the mire.
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.
It's been six weeks since Teddy's murder, and the investigating detectives still have no leads in the case. Alexis is the only person who seems to care about what happened to Teddy, and Alexis Crawford is nothing if not tenacious. She is determined to learn the truth about who killed Teddy Bard and why.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ-๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต ๐ญ๐ช๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด? ๐๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ช๐จ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต? ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ฆ๐น๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ข๐ญ. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ตโ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ-๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ-๐ฅ๐ข๐ฃ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ (๐ฃ๐ณ๐ถ๐ต๐ข๐ญ) ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด๐ฃ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ.
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
Narrated in the dual viewpoints of kindred spirits Alexis Crawford and Blair Bardโtwo women who will form a somewhat co-dependent bondโ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ธ, co-starring Beryl Edwards as Blair's mean-spirited and bitter mother and Detectives Rich Bryan and Thomas Kim, two investigators around whom the residents of River Forest unbelievably continue to run rings, is a relatively well-written pincer grasp on the psyche; a composition of short, choppy chapters that read fast and ooze intrigue.
It is not until her plot on these pages nears its end that Melissa Adelman pushes down the plunger of her detonator to ignite a thunderous boom, blowing apart the mystery of the violent murder of Teddy Bard and the elaborate conspiracy that led up to it. Some readers might find this strategy annoying, but here, Adelman will command forgiveness as her debut thriller boldly defends her honor, revealing intrinsic character development and flawless dialogue.
Adelman's strengths as a storyteller reveal themselves in the pros of her (literary) script. On the other hand, however, her weaknesses, minor as they might be here, are exposed in the cons, whereas the author left too many holes open in her haste to (finally) end it. With this novel, Adelman was on a roll until her storyline became too bloated. There was some extra fat the plot could have done without, sure, but still, I understood Adelman's vision, and I must commend her for a job well done, even if a few blemishes caused the effort to fall short of a five-star review from me.
I do not possess the ability of a psychic, but if I had to guess, I would say that Melissa Adelman has what it takes to only get better with each succeeding effort, given she learns from her limited number of mistakes with this work.
My initial introduction to ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ธ was with ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐๐ฐ๐ญ. 8 (Macmillan Publishers, 2023), and I enjoyed the selection; I looked forward to completing the title. And so I have, and here we are. Melissa Adelman earned a new fan in me with this particular effortโof which she should be very proudโand I eagerly await her next release. Dear reader, I don't just recommend ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ธ; I highly recommend the title, especially if you like your mystery thrillers gritty, dramatic, action-packed, and unpredictable.
Happy reading, all.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐: It is a pleasure to thank St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Publishersโin association with NetGalleyโfor the complimentary copy of ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ธ for my reading pleasure.
Analysis of ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ธ by Melissa Adelman is courtesy of Literary Criticism by Cat Ellington for ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ต๐ดยฉ.
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: The "Callous Poem" included in my analysis of ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ธ is an original piece created (by me) only for dramatic effect and to serve as a portion of my review.
ยฉ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ . ๐๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง. ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐๐.
I love a juicy thriller, and WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW delivered. It was more slow burn pacing but there were plenty of twists!
I paired the book with the audiobook and loved reading this way.
*many thanks to the publisher and Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy
I enjoyed What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman. It did move a bit slow at times, but I loved how the author pulled everything together. Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
A terrific read that delivers it all - two fascinating first-person POV protagonists who may or may not be reliable; a colorful posse of flawed and mostly unlikable neighborhood characters; a terrible murder and the mystery surrounding it; and all the juicy gossip and secrets of an uber-wealthy, beautifully-written, literarily-rich take of TVโs Wisteria Lane.
When new mother Alexis and her lawyer husband Sam move into their dream house - a ramshackle mansion, alone in its decrepitude on a street of picture-perfect estates in a DC suburban area - they underestimate both the work they have in front of them, and the limitations their budget will impose.
Alexis is a vulnerable and relatable character, whose attempts to fit in with her glossy new neighbors finally seems to be on the right track when she hits it off with the woman across the street, the lovely and supremely confident Blair. Some ten-years older, and a successful interior-designer with multi-generational wealth behind her, Blair may be Alexisโs ticket to finally achieving emotional acceptance (self and otherwise) and the start of a new and more fulfilling life.
But as the plot twists and turns, a body and a mystery, (with clues that keep on coming but do not easily add up), coupled with the secretive and sinister ongoings revealed in this fractured community, lead Alexis onto a path that may in fact be fraught with personal danger.
A suspenseful and engrossing read, this is a book which this reader thoroughly enjoyed, right up to the satisfying (and only partially-guessed) humdinger of an ending.
A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.
This book kept me engaged the entire time. There were a few places where I questioned the choices made for characters, but overall this was a good book.
I flew through this and did not want to put it down! A domestic thriller about how the grass is not always greener on the other side. Al little tough to keep track of the ancillary characters who ended up not being very important to the overall storyline but overall a fun read!
Excellent, twisty turny book! I may have got confused a time or two, but it definitely kept me me reading. So many characters and side stories, but all wrapped up perfectly in the end.
Thank to netgalley, St Martin's press and the author for the chance to read this advanced copy.
Super underwhelming read. Ugh, talk about unlikeable characters. Sure, I always enjoy when there are multiple unreliable characters, but these were ones I just couldnโt even begin to like. They were justโฆ obnoxious. While the twists were good, the whole story just felt like one Iโve read before, and not in a good way. And the reveal of who the killer was - extremely predictable. However, it does have a good pace once you get through the first part of the book (it felt like it took forever to setup the story) and it kept me turning the pages, at least. But, all in all, I just didnโt love it.
I spent the majority of this novel wondering where it was going when the ending happened and all was revealed. Wow! This was worth the build up and the wondering. I enjoyed reading about Alexis, a struggling new mother to two young children. Her husband, Sam, was a horrible human being and a total jerk to his wife. Blair seemed so welcoming and like she was being a good friend but it became obvious fairly early on that something else was up with her. I don't want to spoil the ending but, boy, was something really up with her. The rest of the neighbourhood was filled with awful people doing awful things so when the ending happened I really wasn't surprised.
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press for a copy of this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Alexis and Sam are young DC area professionals with one child and one on the way. They decide to move to an enormous fixer upper in an expensive neighborhood that is a bit out of their price range. Alexis grew up poor and thinks this will be a great neighborhood in which to raise their kids. Unfortunately a neighbor quickly ends up murdered on the trail behind the houses and in addition to doubting that moving to the neighborhood was the right move, Alexis becomes suspicious of other neighbors wondering if one of them may be the killer.
This sounded like a good book and it had a surprising ending, but it was really boring for most of it. I didn't like Alexis much at all. Always whining about the budget and the dumpy house, all the while employing a live in nanny while on materinity leave. Blair was also awful. I hated Sam and really all the rest of the neighbors. I just didn't care about any of these people and the side stories about the neighbors, which I assume were meant to provide suspicion were just kind of boring. I did find the ending to be suprising, although quite farfetched, but I don't think it was enough to redeem how bored I was through the first 90%.
This was a solid thriller with an unexpected ending that I didn't see coming. I usually can guess the ending, so that was a nice surprise.
This started strong, but kind of fizzled for me. Mixed feelings about it being a debut novel - perhaps that's why it felt like it fizzled? I can see where this would be more enjoyable if my mood had been in a different place when I picked it up, so I may try again after some time has passed.
I have to say that the premise of this book is what initially drew my interest. I saw a few reviews that likened it to Desperate Housewives. I feel like that is an accurate description for the most part.
I really like books that are set in a neighborhood where we get to know many of the residents. This book was focused mainly on Alexis and Blair. I would have liked to see the points of views from some of the other neighbors as well. It would have felt more engaging.
I did like how the story started with a murder. I was eager to find out what happened. However, as the story progressed, it lacked the sense of urgency it had in the beginning. If it had been able to carry that all the way through I would have been able to give it a higher rating. Also, the twist was not my favorite.
I think the characterization was well done. The writing was insightful and flowed nicely. The idea of the plot was clever and imaginative. I think the execution could have been tweaked to take this good read to a great read. There was enough things that I liked, however, to make me want to check out other works by this author to see how her writing evolves.
I was really excited to begin reading this book. It started strong but kind of started to fizzle out. The story was good but didn't necessarily have a shock to it to keep me super hooked on the story.
This was a wild ride! Iโm shocked this is a debut novel, because it sounded like it was written by a seasoned thriller author ๐๐ป
Books like this are usually hit-or-miss for me, but I loved the drama and suspense of the neighborhood, the secrets, and the twists and turns! I was hooked from the first chapter and couldnโt stop reading. Who knew the DC suburbs were so wild ๐คฃ
There was a twist at the end that was (very) wild - still not sure how I feel about it. Also, if my husband talked to me the same way Sam talked to his wifeโฆ๐๐ชฆ (this would be him)
If youโre looking for a unique read, give this one a try!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a gifted copy
A riveting neighborhood mystery sparked by a family man being found dead on a trail. Intriguing and so good!
Alexis and her husband Sam buy a fixer upper in a really prominent and wealthy neighborhood. Things seem to be looking up for the both of them as Sam is close to making partner at his firm but, then a man is found on the trail dead. Cops canโt figure it out and the tension in the neighborhood is evident. Alexis and the widow, Blair are becoming fast friends. But what is truly going on in the neighborhood? What secrets are hidden?
I enjoyed this read. It kept me interested and wanting to read more. It had the perfect amount of suspense and mystery to allow the story to be believable. Itโs a win for me so Iโm giving it 4 stars!
Short synopsis: Alexis and Sam buy a run down home in an affluent neighborhood. The neighbors welcome them with open arms, and they are living in bliss until a dead body is found.
My thoughts: I love a good domestic thriller, especially with the wealthy behaving badly, and the scandal involved!
This is your typical popcorn thriller with a fun setting, and some twists and turns.
Ultimately it was a little bit too slow paced for my liking. I like a thriller to be a bit more bingeable, but the length was just right for this!
Read if you love:
- Home remodeling
- Wealthy neighborhoods
- unexpected twists
- hidden secrets
- red herrings