They buried their secrets, but not deep enough…

This is the perfect tagline as it is not metaphorical at all! A body is discovered a lot over from the McCullough's vacation home (Orcas Island. The body of a young girl is found during new home construction. From multiple point of views we begin to narrow down what might have transpired and who has a secret to hide. Hannah is the young new wife of Allan and it is her POV to start.

It might be a bit tough to settle in with so many voices but the book really hits it's stride midway and the slow burn erupts to a roar! Chance does a great job of weaving many, many character's stories together and this is a novel I would recommend.
#harlequintrade #thebodynextdoor #maiachance

The Body Next Door: A Slow Burn With a Satisfying Payoff

Maia Chance's "The Body Next Door" is a suspenseful thriller that offers a captivating story, but be prepared for a slow burn in the first half. While the premise itself is intriguing – a seemingly perfect life shattered by a buried secret – the initial chapters take time to establish the characters and setting.

The strength of the novel lies in its exploration of facades. Hannah's picture-perfect life crumbles as she's forced to confront a dark past linked to a mysterious cult. The suspense builds as we wonder just how much her husband, Allan, knows about it all. Their dynamic is particularly interesting, with Allan's controlling nature adding another layer of mystery.

The introduction of multiple perspectives adds depth to the narrative. We get glimpses into the minds of strangers who, like Hannah, have their own secrets. However, this can feel slow-going at times, especially in the first half.

If you can persevere through the initial pacing, "The Body Next Door" rewards you with a suspenseful second half. The mystery surrounding the unearthed body deepens, the secrets unravel, and the characters' true colors are revealed. The Pacific Northwest setting adds a layer of atmosphere, with its wild beauty mirroring the characters' internal struggles.

Overall, "The Body Next Door" is a good choice for readers who enjoy character-driven mysteries with a slow-burn approach. The well-developed characters, the intriguing premise, and the satisfying conclusion make it a worthwhile read despite the initial pacing issues.

I loved this book because it was nothing that I expected. I expected to be reading a thriller murder mystery that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time but instead I found myself laughing out loud and falling in love with all the damaged characters. I loved Caroline Coopers character and found myself cracking up at the insanity of her POV. I had a hard time keeping track of all the POVs originally but as soon as I hit part 2 and everything was clicking I couldn’t put this book down. I felt like I was a part of the investigation as I began to understand how everyone was connected. It was weird to get through part one and not feel any suspense about the murder, but the suspense kicked in as soon as I made it to part two. I really enjoyed the fast pace of part two and think it balanced out the confusion of part one. I took off one star since being so confused in the beginning was a little rough but it was totally worth pushing through.

Highly suggest keeping the release date of this book in mind!

Wow, this book..... where should I begin? I suppose, first of all, I should start by saying this story wasn't exactly what I expected. I mean that, however, in the best way possible. I absolutely was enthralled with Greene's gift, his "tricks", and felt they added a whole lot of something special to what could have just been an average mystery. I didn't find anything "average" about this book, however. It is told by multiple narrators (who are all first person voices in the present day) and in a third person perspective in the past (which is only Greene's voice), which sometimes annoys me in some books- not in this case, though... None of the narrators were just for show, and all served a purpose in advancing the storyline. There were several characters I absolutely despised, and I was happy with theirs endings. This books was twisty, enchanting, and EXTREMELY hard to put down. The ending, I felt, was the absolute best way this book could have been wrapped up- everyone essentially got what they deserved, good or bad. (Well, perhaps the poor dead young woman, obviously). This is the type of book that makes me want to say SO MANY THINGS, but has me against a wall, because saying these "things" will ruin the book for others. I'll just say that this was most definitely worth reading- it's different in the best way possible, and it's incredibly enjoyable and entertaining. The characters, the writing, the plot..... every aspect of this novel comes together to pull the reader in, and keeps them sucked in until the very last page. My final thought: Word of mouth will sell this book, and I am both delighted and thankful that my mouth will be one spreading my opinions for months to come.

Very good book. Page turning! Definitely kept me on the edge. This is my first book by this author, but I'm hoping to read more soon.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read The Body Next Door in exchange for my honest review. I would round this up to 3.5 maybe even 4 under different circumstances. I thought this was a powerful story of oppression and power. There were at least half a dozen POVs but it’s mostly handled well. My biggest distraction was that it looks like and is summed up like a domestic thriller when in fact it’s magical realism with a cult twist. It’s very good, but I was thrown off.

The body next door follows the impact of shallowly buried remains being found in a building lot on the lives of several people through their different POV.

It is a little tricky at the beginning to figure out who’s who and what timeline were in and if the events being told are before or after the remains being found, but once you get comfortable with the dual POV things heat up and get really interesting from there out.

I immediately had a soft spot for Hannah, I liked her narration, she seemed like a really interesting character with a questionable past and I found myself rooting for her as time went on.

Although lots of clues are giving it’s hard to give a prediction as to what you think has happened / is going to happen until close to the end. This book definitely keeps you on your toes.

I’m a huge fan of the cover image for the book, the colours are gorgeous! I will be looking out for more of this authors work :)

I wanted to like this book, but it got so lost in the sea of similar thrillers, that I just wasn’t invested. I’m sorry.

Let me just say, I don’t often dole out 5-star reviews. I’m a lover of the thriller genre, and find myself outguessing most stories. This one was different. The crossovers in the plot line are intense, so I could see it confusing some readers, but I loved the way Chance wove the complicated web. I absolutely recommend this for thriller enthusiasts like myself! I’m a huge fan of Gillian Flynn, and this work reminds me of her.

I will say, I received an advance copy from the publisher by way of NetGalley and there were some formatting issues on kindle. For some reason, in words that begin with the letter f there was often a space after the f (e.g., f inished). Toward the end, there were also missing headers when the narrator/POV changed. I trust these will be corrected by the time of final publication and they did not deter meaningfully from the excellent storyline.

Thank you so much to The Hive program for allowing me to read and review this ARC!
Multi-POV's in thriller books are my jam because it really adds to the whole "whodunnit" aspect. The plot really shifts part way in and I was absolutely hooked from there. So many things you never saw coming. As others said the beginning was a tad difficult with figuring everyone out but really happy with the wild ride this took me on!
I will post about this release on my bookstagram @thatbookishteach by the end of May as well as on release day.

This book definitely takes you on a wild ride! The beginning was a bit hard to follow due to multiple POV’s but once you start to find out who everyone is and it all starts to come together it’s impossible to put down!

Very good book. Page turning ! Definitely kept me in the edge. My first book by this author but hope to read more soon

The body next door follows the impact of shallowly buried remains being found in a building lot on the lives of several people through their different POV.

It is a little tricky at the beginning to figure out who’s who and what timeline were in and if the events being told are before or after the remains being found, but once you get comfortable with the dual POV things heat up and get really interesting from there out.

I immediately had a soft spot for Hannah, I liked her narration, she seemed like a really interesting character with a questionable past and I found myself rooting for her as time went on.

Although lots of clues are giving it’s hard to give a prediction as to what you think has happened / is going to happen until close to the end. This book definitely keeps you on your toes.

I’m a huge fan of the cover image for the book, the colours are gorgeous! I will be looking out for more of this authors work :)

Publish date: August 6th

Thank you to Maia Chance, Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for the EARC

The Body Next Door
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I absolutely loved the ominous atmosphere of this book, which was sprinkled with a touch of magic. Once I got a feel for the many characters telling the story, I was fully immersed in it. What's not to love about a cult gone wrong? And when you add in a murder mystery, I'm all in. Thrillers rarely end on a happy (ish) note, but this one wrapped up the story perfectly. If you're a fan of thrillers, then this one is a definite must-read.

I almost gave up on this one. It started fairly slow and was kind of all over the place, but somewhere along the line, the plot did a complete 180, and I was hooked. I absolutely loved it!

really fun little thriller thats really well done. i would def recommend this one and i feel so lucky to have read it so early