What the Neighbors Saw

Alexis and Sam are about to become second-time parents and he’s on the fast-track to making partner at his law firm. It seems like the perfect time to find the right home to raise their family in, and when they see a large Cape Cod home in an affluent suburb of D.C., it doesn’t take them long to decide they’ve found it.  Their optimism and dreams silence the reality that it’s an older house in serious need of renovation that will cost them in ways they haven’t even imagined yet. 

And then there’s the issue of their new neighbors …

This neighborhood boasts money, success and a host of individuals who’ve climbed to the top in one way or another. At the summit are Blair and her politician husband Teddy. When Teddy is found murdered near an exclusive jogging trail by the river, the whole neighborhood gets drawn together to support Blair. It sounds lovely, but soon the perfect veneer on all these people’s lives start crumbling, and it’s clear to see that Sam and Alexis don’t have the only messy “house” in the neighborhood!

The story is narrated alternately by Alexis and Blair, both of whom had less than stellar upbringings and seemed to find a kindred spirit in the other. I enjoyed their interactions the most. Blair was my favorite. She’s flawed … yes, but she’s also kind of fascinating! As a reader, I wanted to know more about her and get inside her head. She oozed confidence but also had an air of mystery around her, and that made her chapters fun for me. If the whole book had been told from her perspective, I’d have been all in. Then there’s Alexis …

Here’s where things fell apart for me a little. I found Alexis to be neither likeable nor unlikeable - somehow as a character, she just existed. For such a major character to be so forgettable is a problem for me. She’s supposed to be very smart and on leave from a high-paying consulting job, but she reads as mousy, insecure, whiny and given to foolish decisions. Added to that, Sam is an unbearable and emotionally abusive douchewad, and neither of them seem to ever be paying attention to their two young children. Her chapters weren’t bad … just not as enjoyable.

Throw into the mix a hodge-podge of interchangeable dysfunctional neighbor couples who I could never keep straight and a plethora of “neighbors gone wrong” scenarios, and the story got bogged down in too much unbelievable silliness.  I thought the motivation for the murder was pretty unique and creative, but the actual whodunnit and why they were involved was a bit mundane and anti-climactic.

Despite the flaws, I was fairly engaged in the story, and I think it’s a decent debut.  The writing is very good, and with a more nuanced, less predictable plot, this author has the potential for a really stellar book in the future!

★★★ ½ 

Thanks to Minotaur Books, NetGalley and author Melissa Adelman for this digital review copy to honestly review. The book is out today!