'The Mistress Next Door' by Lesley Sanderson

Cheating husband, a wife with a past, this book will keep you on your toes. This cozy mystery wasn't my preference. I normally don't love reading about cheating husbands. I wish the story line was flipped and focuses more on her past and less on finding out who the husband was cheating with. However the ending was a great bombshell that you might not have seen coming.

Soooo creepy! This book was a little predictable but I still I really enjoyed it! This book was fast paced and kept me hooked!

3 / 5 ⭐️‘s

“The Mistress Next Door” by Lesley Sanderson

A missing child, a secret past and a cheating husband…

This one didn’t wow me but kept my attention and overall was a good story with a decent plot twist.

(Pub Date: 02/15/23)
This ARC (audiobook) was provided by the publisher via @Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one kept me on my toes -- so many unexpected twists and turns. I had no idea how it was going to resolve and was completely shocked! The writing was good and easy without being corny or over the top.

I found this to be a good domestic thriller. There were so many interwoven tales of infidelity, love, abuse, you name it. Harriet’s daughter goes missing one day, but is found several hours later. Harriet’s husband Oliver annoyed me to no end. He works long hours, and could barely be bothered when he learned his daughter was missing. I also didn’t like Harriet’s big secret, and I feel like many authors do this same thing- builds up this terrible secret that no one can find out about, but then the big secret is revealed, and it’s not even that bad. Otherwise, this was an enjoyable and fast paced read. The narration was fantastic!

Harriet and Oliver appear to be a typical suburban married couple with three girls. They live in the cozy and tight nit neighborhood of Prospect Close. Oliver works in banking and Harriet is a self employed business owner. Everything appears to be great on the outside but not all is as it seems.

Overall, I enjoyed the audiobook which I received courtesy of NetGalley. It was a very relaxing read with minimal suspense and nice tidbits of drama and gossip. However, I felt the story was a bit drawn out at times. It constantly hinted at a past traumatic event but at the end it fell flat and not worthy of the buildup.

This one was really slow for me. The suspense grew INCREDIBLY slow, however, the last 25% of the book is jammed packed with drama, unraveling secrets, and a shocking motive. I REALLY enjoyed the ending!

Great narration, nicely paced story that kept me guessing up to the end. The main character could have been slightly more likable, but I think the way she was presented added to the mystery of the story as it unwound. Worth a listen.

Harriet has three daughters. One of them goes missing one day, only to be found playing hours later. She is relieved, until she learns that a "nice man" took her to where she was found. She gets even more worried when she starts receiving threatening messages, and she is now afraid her biggest secret will be revealed. All of that while she is trying to determine if her husband is cheating on her, and who with...
The first quarter of this book was amazing and got me hooked. But then, the story lost steam and kinda lost my interest, and the lack of tension after the beginning made me seriously doubt this was a thriller. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, and the writing was not for me. The premise was good, but it fell flat, and the dual timelines was confusing. I listened to the audio book, and the narration was great.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Harriet and oliver live in this well to do close with their twins and new baby. Oliver is always working kate and away. Harriet is worried hes cheating she has a secret from her past that threatens yo destroy het life.
The title drew me in . The story is told ftom harriet's point of view. The past is interweaven to develop the characyer and gets you hook as you want yo know her past. She is well written. Her husband however despite being a main character lacked something for me he seemed a bit too detached from the story and i found it gard to believe in him.
Its a sliw burner whixh keeps hooked Cleverly written to draw you to the wrong conclusion before trying it all up at the end. Well worth a read.. It did briefly loose itself in the middle before a fabulous reveal endung. After such a slow burn it was a good reward part iof me wanted the ending to be longer and slightly more dramatic.
A fabulous dolud read. Highly recommended

This book was not for me; however I was hopeful. The characters were not built enough for my preference and the plot twists did not feel thought out. The thriller aspect was underwhelming for my taste. I am sure there are others who would appreciate it and kudos to the author for her creative energy.

Thank you netgalley and bookouture for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It had a good range of people to suspect, although I did not find that the ending was particularly shocking, I liked the set up of Prospect Close, as it cleverly created that claustrophobic feel that added to the tension and mystery.

I normally do not read thrillers, but I wanted to step out of my comforts zone. You have a family living in a community that is small. This book has suspense, secrets, lies and so much more. When I started reading this book, I have to say I had a suspect in mind already. But the twist changed it all. I do have to say that Oliver did frustrate me! Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. If you enjoy a good thriller, check this one out.

To be completely honest, I’ve never heard of Lesley Sanderson, but the cover of the book and title caught my attention. I’m very happy it did because this will definitely not be the last book I read by Lesley. I give this book five stars out of five! I loved the way it was written. I found it easy to follow and I found each chapter interesting. I was not able to predict who The Mistress was and when I found out, I was shocked. It is a book that I needed to finish because I needed answers! Thank you for giving me an advanced copy! I raved about it on my Instagram story multiple times.

The Mistress Next Door is a twisty, compelling thriller that had me fooled more than once when I thought I'd figured out what was coming. The surprises were well-constructed, and I could feel the protagonist's stress acutely.

Like many domestic thrillers, this book almost feels like an indictment of the concept of marriage. All of the marriages or long-term relationships presented in the book are toxic and burdened with secrets. The protagonist, Harriet's husband Oliver is, in particular, an absolute disaster of a spouse.

From the beginning, the readers know that the mistress lives in Harriet's neighborhood and that she seeks to ruin Harriet's life as vengeance for some unnamed sin that Harriet committed in her past.

Harriet, an overwhelmed mother to three young daughters, knows nothing at the start of the novel. Oliver is on a business trip to France, and she eagerly awaits his return. But when she starts receiving threatening notes and spotting evidence of Oliver's infidelity, Harriet is forced to reckon with both the future of her marriage and the consequences of her past.

The reader gets glimpses of that past through flashbacks to Harriet's adolescence, and it becomes increasingly clear that Harriet, both past and present, has been surrounded by some deeply cruel and judgmental people. I found myself furious with every character in this book at one point or another, including Harriet.

On the whole, the Mistress Next Door was extremely engaging, but I'm not sure that I can say I enjoyed it. That said, for the many people who love for their thrillers to be emotionally turbulent and full of deceit, this would definitely be a winning read.

I was very intrigued by the title and the image for the audiobook cover. I enjoyed the narrator but struggled with the children’s voices as they were a little creepy. The story overall was underwhelming to me. I wanted more character development. I absolutely hated Harriet’s husband Oliver. He was a gaslighting troll who didn’t deserve any woman but I get why it was done. I figured out the twist about half way through. Overall I enjoyed the audiobook as it kept me interested.

The audiobook was a big success for me. Listening at 2.5x gave me no issues whatsoever and made this a quick read, under 4 hours.

I never felt much suspense building up, but the story itself was engaging, mainly because red herrings kept it interesting. While I wasn't in love with the MC, their actions were easily believable given the whole context of the story. A few good commentaries to be made on decisions parents make, how relationships ebb and flow, and modern day interest in seeing how "others" live.

Overall: 4 stars

I'll tell my students about: language, alcohol, trauma, affairs, murder, child death

**Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the free ALC prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Unfortunately, this book didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I had the audiobook and ebook so I simultaneously listened and read. I think I might have had trouble keeping the plethora of characters straight if I wasn’t reading both.

The narration on this audiobook was lovely. The narrator’s voice was pleasing and I will never be able to say zebra again without thinking about this book/narrator.
I give the narration ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

What I liked:
The tension built up about the event in the past
The tension of what the husband was up to.
The tension surrounding who could be sending the notes.

What I didn’t care for:
The rush of action at the end
The huge amount of characters
The slightly confusing conclusion.
The ending seemed less climatic than I anticipated after all the buildup.

I will be posting this review on Instagram (link below) as well as Amazon and Goodreads.

I love a good thriller, and a good domestic thriller has the potential to be even better. However, in the case of The Mistress Next Door, I felt like the pacing was pretty slow for the first half and then there just seemed to be too much going on in the second half. I wish things had felt a little bit more evenly paced throughout. The general premise of the story was interesting though and if you enjoy a domestic thriller, you will enjoy this one.

Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for this ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Totally creepy! This book was not at all predictable. I really loved it! A must for all thriller lovers!