This book took me by surprise! It has been one of my favourite thrillers I have read this year. I had to finish this in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed this one! Thank you for this ARC.

Alexis and Sam move their family, two young children and one housekeeper, to a desirable neighborhood outside D.C. Unfortunately, the house needs much repair. Blair and Teddy are neighbors who seem to be thriving as a couple. Despite the age difference the two women have much in common as is revealed through the storyline. Alexis, raised by her mother alone, wants no contact with her; Blair’s mother is super-critical of her daughter. Teddy is found dead one morning and the community reacts as each one is under suspicion. Slowly their secrets are revealed. No one is blameless, yet Alexis gradually pieces together the truth. Melissa Adelman’s characters are rather cold; as their twisted fates slowly play out, I feel detached and far from caring.

Genre: Murder/Thriller/Suspense
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: June 2023

I just can’t catch a break with murder thrillers lately. I keep going from bad to worse to just plain silly. Well, this one is, for the most part, believable but also campy. A young couple buys a run-down house in a neighborhood they can not afford. From then on, the plot and its twists are soap opera-like. Maybe this was the author’s plan. Perhaps I would have warmer feelings if I read this one on the beach with a cocktail. Then I could laugh along with the plot.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

Alexis & Sam move into a quiet suburb of River Forest in what they feel is their dream home just outside of D.C. Alexis is expecting their second child so this home will give them lots of room to grow. Soon as they move in, they are inundated with neighbors dropping by with welcoming gifts.

Alexis warms up to Blair and they spend more and more time together. When Blair's husband is found murdered, the whole quiet neighborhood is on edge. Little encounters set Alexis on alert regarding all her neighbors.

It's not long before the dream home eats into Alexis & Sam's savings, leading them to conflicts. What Alexis first thought of as a beautiful place to raise a family, now has become seeped with second-guessing and wanting to flee.

This was hard to put down once I started reading and several times my heart went out to Alexis and how her expectations of how people saw her. I thought her mother came across as cold until Alexis had flashbacks after having her own child to realize her mother had shown a tender side. I was bothered by the treatment of the nanny, who for efforts of compassion received blunt or harsh retorts back. The reason for the murder was shocking, but the ending was poetic justice.

I received an ARC from NetGalley via St. Martin's Press and I have voluntarily reviewed this book.

I struggled to stay interested in this one. It was partly just rambling and i didn’t really feel for any of the characters. No one was particularly likeable. A lot of mundane details and bickering. It was also contradictory. They don’t have money but they have a live in nanny? Idk this one rubbed me the wrong way.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of, What the Neighbors Saw, by Melissa Adelman, in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really interesting. As we have all moved to new neighborhoods, you don't really know what you are getting into and what your new neighbors are really like and this is the same with this book. There are a lot of secrets, deceit and drama within the neighborhood. I didn't like all the drama that was happening between the neighbors. It was almost too much for me. I kept reading to find out what happened, but didn't see the ending coming and I was a little surprised.

When a new couple moves in to a swanky new address, they are desperate to fit in. But, there’s more beneath the surface if they’re glittering new neighbors.

It’s a "Be Careful What You Wish Fo"r tale with consequences.

A carefully constructed thriller this book may seem slow to some readers.

3.5 rounded up to 4..

Thank you Netgalley, author, and the publishers for allowing me the opportunity to read this e-arc.

Alexis and her husband Sam are delighted to be able to buy a house in an exclusive DC suburb. The house might be very run down and need a lot of work, but Sam is hoping to become a partner soon in the law firm where he works and Alexis will go back to her more relaxed legal job after her maternity leave for their second child, so they plan to fix it up gradually. A few months after they move in, their feeling of safety in their new neighbourhood is shattered when their neighbour Teddy Bard is murdered on the trail behind their houses, leading through the woods to the Potomac River. No one saw anything that morning (despite the title!) and the police have no forensic leads to go on.

There are plenty of secrets in this neighbourhood and none of the neighbours turn out to be very pleasant. Alexis is insecure and unconfident after a difficult upbringing by her single mother. She forms a close friendship with Teddy’s widow Blair, admiring both her style and her beautiful home. Blair also becomes a refuge for Alexis as Sam becomes difficult and argumentative, always criticising Alexis and refusing to help around the house or with the children.

Narrated in alternating, short, snappy chapters by Alexis and Blair, this is a character driven suspense which unfortunately spends a long time getting to the suspense. The characters were also a little too stereotypic to be really interesting, particularly the main characters, wealthy housewife Blair, insecure Alexis with her feelings of inferiority and the unlikeable Sam who expected his wife to be his cleaner, housekeeper, child minder, as well as super trim and fit, well dressed and have a career to match his own. Nevertheless, this is an entertaining read as long as you enjoy a slow burner and are not expecting a fast paced suspense. The last 10% of the novel was very enjoyable with an excellent twist, but unfortunately not enough to reward the effort required to get there.

Loved the premise of this book and was super thrilled to receive an early copy! While the story was interesting, I felt like the characters were not likable at all so it was hard to get into. The first 1/2 was a bit slow but the ending made up for that with a great twist.

The description for this book really made me want to read it. It sounds like a new couple moves to a nice new neighborhood, make friends, then someone ends up dead and we have to figure out why and who. Typical domestic thriller.

The narrators are Alexis and Blair. Alexis and her husband Sam buy a house in a rich neighborhood that needs a lot of fixing up. Blair is married to Teddy and a pillar of the street. There are various other neighbors that ran together. Early in, Teddy is murdered but there is surprisingly little development of this major plot point. Most of the chapters are about Alexis fretting about not fitting in, how crappy her husband is, and how she hates her new house (that she insisted they buy??) and Blair eating/drinking/doing interior design. Very slow and not much happens until the end when the motive and killer are revealed. Came out of nowhere and far fetched.

2.5 stars

Thanks in advance to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

This story kept me on the edge of my seat from page one to the end. The plot twist was chef kiss. I wanted more, I needed more. This was one of my favorite reads in quite some time.

This book was right up my alley, so that made it all the more frustrating when it just didn't connect for me. The biggest issue was that not one character was likeable. The main character, Alexis, complained incessantly about not being able to afford all the repairs on her million dollar home. She was so wore out on her paid, extended maternity leave that she was overly dependent on her live-in nanny, who of course was "like family." The book was basically every trope and stereotype of rich people as a base, and then went on to add on the most lavish, unbelievable subplots that all threads of reality were lost.

It's hard to describe the plot of this book without spoilers, but the basic premise is Alexis buys a new house, a neighbor is killed and Alexis befriends his widow. In the midst of the investigation, all kinds of secrets come to light and some relationships may not survive the fallout.

While I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped to, I did enjoy parts of it and will be interested to see what this author does next.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advance copy.

Young couple, Alexis and Sam, have found the house of their dreams, the most dilapidated mansion on the block. They seem to be in love. They introduce themselves to the all-american white family, Blair and Teddy (and kids), living next door to where they are buying. We can hear Blair's thoughts re the brown-skinned Alexis moving in next door, yet after Teddy is found murdered, an unlikely friendship develops between the two. What's that all about? You will have to read the book to find out.

The neighbors all have their secrets. There are rich people excesses to ogle, some peeping, and plenty of extra-curricular activities.

Sam soon turns out to be a serial sh*t, who cares first about about himself and about keeping up with the Joneses, rather than taking on the more basic repairs to the fixer-upper. He should have focused on the windows before starting on that swimming pool! To be honest, Alexis is not very appealing either, and the neighbors are all horrid, too.

So who killed Teddy? You'll never guess. Well, maybe you will, but I didn't. There are a couple of good twists at the end - one seemed a bit contrived, and the characters could have been more developed, but the plot was good and kept me reading.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this debut novel by a promising new author. I enjoyed.

What the Neighbors Saw - Melissa Adelman
Alexis and Sam both fall in love with a neglected house, in an exclusive neighborhood, excited for the life they think it could bring. Sam is working towards being partner at his law firm, and Alexis has stepped down to a lower paying job to have the balance she needs while raising kids. As they moved into the house, they never could have expected the home they loved to be such a money pit, causing a strain on their marriage.

Alexis steps out of her comfort zone to try to make friends with the neighbors, especially Blair. When Blair’s husband Teddy is found murdered, their friendship is taken to the next level as Blair takes Alexis under her wing, and shows her the ins and outs within the neighborhood.

With an unsolved murder in the neighborhood, and the money pit of a house, tensions are high between Alexis and Sam and she finds him growing distance. Can Alexis save her marriage all while living under the pressures of Blair, the neighborhood, and motherly expectations.

I feel bad that I didn’t just love this book. It had a lot of great aspects, and I was left guessing who could have murdered Teddy until the very end. In the beginning, I wasn’t a fan of Alexis. I found her letting herself be treated like garbage by Sam, and her desperation to be friends with Blair to be cringy. But as I learned more of her story and her background, I found myself to be a bit more sympathetic. I feel the book followed some stereotypes and played into the whole “desperate housewives” persona and just wished for a bit more depth. In the end, I decided to give ⭐⭐⭐/5!
Thank you Netgalley and St.Mattins Press for the ARC!

This book meet the description of Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door. However, it is a bit slow paced and none of the characters are likable or particularly intriguing. The ending has big surprises readers may enjoy, though I was relieved to finish as I did not want to spend any more time with the characters or in their neighborhood. Recommended for readers who enjoy DH & TCND, and mysteries about wealthy, unpleasant people. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 stars rounded up because I could not stop reading to find out the WHODUNIT.
This is a book that appealed to me because of the setting- a wealthy neighborhood in the Washington DC area. A young couple Alexis and Sam buy a house (cash sucking fixer upper) in an affluent neighborhood. Shortly thereafter one of the neighbors was murdered and the police and Alexis begin investigating.
The plot was intriguing and the characters universally and pleasantly unlikeable. I did feel the reader never learned enough about the murder victim to solve the crime themselves.
The initial part of the book was slow and the relationship between Alexis and Sam seemed quite odd. Most of what happened in the first half of the book seemed puzzling. I kept thinking why did they buy this awful house in this awful neighborhood. Too bad one can't meet all the neighbors before you buy.
I did enjoy the twists in the latter part of the book and the ending was surprisingly satisfying!
This is a good pick for fans of domestic drama with an emphasis on drama.
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the ARC to preview and review honestly.

good book with two different point of views of a new mom and neighbor that becomes a widow. This all happens over a couple of months and things are happening in the neighborhood from a death to crazy neighbors and items going missing. Loved that alexis was trying to figure out the murder and what happened on that night. I loved that alexis also figured out something else about blair .

A young couple and their 2 children move into what they believe to be an affluent neighborhood, even though the house they have purchased is a fixer- upper. As they discover the personalities of the neighbors, it becomes apparent that things are not always what they appear to be
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced. Copy of this novel.