Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door in a chilling story of murder and intrigue set in a well-to-do DC suburb.
Sometimes the darkest acts occur in the most beautiful houses…
When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, they are ecstatic. Sam is on the cusp of making partner at his law firm, Alexis is pregnant with their second child, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. Things are looking up, and Alexis believes she can finally leave her troubled past behind.
But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy – a handsome, successful father of three – is found dead on the steep banks of the Potomac River. The community is shaken, and as the police struggle to identify and apprehend the killer, tension in the neighborhood mounts and long-buried secrets start to emerge.
In the midst of the turmoil, Alexis takes comfort in her budding friendship with Teddy’s beautiful and charismatic widow, Blair. But as the women grow closer, the neighborhood only becomes more divided. And when the unthinkable truth behind Teddy’s murder is finally uncovered, both Blair and Alexis must reexamine their friendship and decide how far they are willing to go to preserve the lives they have so carefully constructed.
WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW
Melissa Adelman
When I finished the book, I hated every character and felt lucky to have the neighbors I have. That is worth the price of this book alone.
WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW is a recently released neighborhood thriller by Melissa Adelman. Its stars Alexis and her husband Sam. After scraping together all the funds they could, they were able to purchase their dream home. A Cape Cod fixer-upper in an affluent suburb of DC.
All is not as it seems and shortly after moving in, their next-door neighbor Teddy is found dead. Putting an end to the dream of safety and security within the neighborhood. We follow along as Alexis tries to fit into their new neighborhood which includes, not surprisingly making friends with Teddy’s widow, Blair, and trying to solve the mystery surrounding Teddy’s death.
To make the neighborhood safer, of course!
WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW is basic with only the negative things to set it apart from the others. Months from now I likely won’t remember the specifics of the story, but I will remember that Alexis pissed me off.
As a reader, I feel that when you introduce a main character that is problematic you must correct that problematic behavior within the text. It’s not enough that I as the reader understand that the behavior is problematic, I need to know that the author understands that that character’s behavior is problematic as well. Otherwise, I’m left thinking this behavior is acceptable.
Unfortunately, with Alexis, she had a lot of thoughts about race and heritage and wealth and class, and none of those comments, interior or otherwise, were corrected. I understand it’s supposed to be part of the fun that these characters are so bad. It felt a lot more like unchecked racism than any fun I’ve had lately.
I might be the only reviewer that feels this way. For me, WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW is average and skippable, problematic, and forgettable.
Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copies!
WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW…⭐️⭐️
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