What the Neighbors Saw is Melissa Adelman's debut novel. There were elements of the book that I really enjoyed - the main characters, Alexis and Blair, were well developed, and I loved the setting of the neighborhood. I thought that the author did.a great job of bringing perspective into Alexis' journey of moving into an upscale neighborhood expecting that it would drastically transform her life - but then learning that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. The pace of the book was great and I read it within 24 hours.

What I didn't love about the book is that I felt like it had a bit of an identity crisis - it was definitely a slow burn domestic mystery, but also seemed to want to have elements of other genres through some side plots and commentary. The main focus of the book was the murder of Alexis' neighbor Teddy, but the reveal of his murderer ended up being a fairly minor plot point and didn't have much mystery to it.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and will definitely be looking for future books from Melissa Adelman!

✨What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman✨

Genre: Thriller
Pages: 296

📚 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.

📝The synopsis for this story was interesting but unfortunately this was not for me. The MCs Alexis, Blair and Sam were incredibly unlikeable. Sam was particularly terrible which made the ending fairly predictable.

The plot starts off strong but then devolves into an overdone wealthy neighborhood drama.
I will say that the author is a good writer. I can definitely see myself reading future books by her, but I think the story itself was my issue.

💫Thank you @netgalley and @minotaur_books for my egalley💫

I’ve read quite a few of these neighborhood mysteries and I’d say this one was average. The story promised to be interesting with a young, upwardly striving couple move into a wealthy neighborhood and soon afterwards a man who lives nearby is murdered. I found mainly of the characters unlikeable at worst and unfathomable at best, meaning it became hard as the story progressed (slowly!) to invest in the outcome. The twist at the end was a good one and redeemed the book somewhat. I didn’t dislike it but didn’t love it either.

To me this had the feel of a mystery set in a house similar to Agatha Christie story, but instead of a mansion, hotel, resort, etc. ; it’s a neighborhood. A young couple moves to an exclusive neighborhood near DC where they can raise their family. The wife, Alexis, is feeling stuck as she’s left her legal job to be with her new baby and care for her other child before returning to work. Not long after moving in, their neighbor is killed on a nearby trail and the mystery begins. We get a glimpse of the various people and families that live there and suspect several could be involved in the murder of their neighbor. The grieving wife, Blair, befriends Alexis who is shocked at the attention. Alexis can’t help her curiosity and is trying to get a bead on the neighbors. There is scandal, nosey neighbors and some mean girl activity too. Easy and somewhat fun read.

You have to love a neighbourhood drama! This was a good read and I'll watch for more from this author!

I really wanted to like this book but nothing major really happened and it dragged for so long that I wasn’t really invested. The premise seemed promising which made me push through but I think the dual POVs from Alexis and Blair took away from the novel. The murder wasn’t really the center of the story so many times I questioned what certain things had to do with the plot itself because there was a lot of rambling going on.

Then once the murder happened we don’t really get anymore excitement until nearly the end of the book. I didn’t really care for any of the characters which made this fall flat for me. There were a few twists and turns but nothing substantial enough to make up for the slow pacing. The ending was a little predictable which I figured out a little earlier on who the murderer might be but the second person involved was a little surprising.

Overall, it was meh the characters lacked depth and didn’t really add to the atmosphere of the book. I wanted more from this and I really didn’t believe the motive behind the murder was worth it. Can’t say I recommend because the book was really iffy for me. Special thanks to the author, minotaurbooks, & netgalley for my advanced copy!!!

This was definitely a slow burn, but man did it pack a punch. I really enjoyed this one. I love a good neighborhood thriller. Highly recommend!!

*Thank you @minotaur_books for the copy in exchange for an honest review.*

What a great summer read! The dialog kept me invested until the end. I didn't see all of the twists and turns coming but I loved the ending.

A bit of a slow burn but once you are inside the gossip and secrets of the community you won’t want to put this one down.

If you're looking for a twisty thriller with murder and mystery, this is not the book for you. What I thought was going to be exciting, turned out to be a character-driven story with a murder that just so happened to occur. That plot point became secondary to the many other random things that happened throughout.
I did really like the ending, because it was a twist I did not see coming, but you have to get through the majority of the book to get there and I'm not sure it's totally worth it.

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman is a dark domestic thriller. Alexis and Sam are new parents. They move to an exclusive neighborhood outside of DC and things quickly take a turn. A neighbor is found murdered and everyone is suspect. This is a novel full of wealthy people and their secrets. Alexis struggles to feel like she belongs because of her rough childhood. Her marriage is becoming strained with her husband working long hours. Everything is out of sorts and the murder close by has everyone in the neighborhood on edge.
This book was fun to read. I’m a sucker for rich people and their devious ways. There are enough twists and turns to keep anyone interested. I am looking forward to more books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This is a juicy neighborhood drama. The husband of one of the fixtures in the neighborhood is found dead. As the police investigation ensues, secrets, lies and deceit being spilling out 👀

This was a good story, but it had some very unlikable characters. Some good twists and turns, and this domestic thriller, but it was just okay for me. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

A tale about how nothing is ever as it seems.

I liked this story and thought it was written quite nicely. Some parts were predictable to me, but when you read as much as I do, that tends to happen.

Recommended for those who like domestic suspense.

This book started out promising with an interesting premise. Will the new residents fit in with their snooty neighbors? Will they be shunned because of race and lack of money? Almost immediately, we have the murder of a neighbor thrown in to the mix and the story seemed to slow down.

I didn't really care for any of the characters and the writing seemed disjointed at times - - but it kept me reading. The slow pace continued until the end when the author seemed to decide it was time to wrap things up and threw together some unlikely twists to end the book.

This book isn't bad - it's good for a casual summer read - but I sense it could have been better.

Wow. Good thriller. I have to admit that I had no idea of who the killer was. After I read it, I admit I felt foolish for not seeing it. Definitely loved the twist in the end. The main characters were pretty good together. I liked the women’s relationship overall. Thank you to Netgalley for the early read.

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman was a book that I did not read through an educator's lens.

Adelman's book had promise, but lacked the character development needed for everyone. I didn't really care about what happened to them in any way. The twists were predictable to the trope for the most part, except for the neighbor's marriage secret. This was an odd twist in the story that seemed thrown together and out of place with the rest of the book.

I’ve been on a streak of reading neighborhood themed books, and this may be the most messed up one of them all! A young couple moves to a very posh neighborhood in what could be called a fixer upper that the neighborhood would rather knock down. Everyone in the neighborhood has a story and each one is so different than the last. The question is which story is the most deviant? Loved this one - it makes me grateful to be normal and wonder who comes up with these things! Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the read.

I love a good rich neighborhood thriller. It was a quick read that I couldn't put down and wanted to see how in ended. Gave it 4 stars instead of 5 just because there are many different neighbors that I had trouble keeping track of who was with whom but overall a good debut novel.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you Netgally for this ARC!!!

This book has me in a choke hold from the beginning it’s your typical neighborhood with different societal backgrounds and add in a murder behind the new residents’ house. One of the “twists” wasn’t much of a twist in my opinion however the other twist I did not see coming at all. I love the relationships that all of the characters had although I didn’t really care for the characters much which I usually don’t enjoy reading but Adelman did it in such a wonderful way that I was just interested to keep reading and finding out more.

#ARC #What the Neighbors Saw #thriller #mystery