When I saw the description of this as Desperate Housewives meets The Couple Next Door, I was immediately intrigued. I love a messy neighborhood. Alexis and Sam purchase a fixer upper in a wealthy DC suburb, with their second child on the way and lofty career aspirations. All seems to be going well, until their neighbor is found murdered on a nearby trail. Is this well to do neighborhood actually safe?

This story pulled me in as we little by little got insight into the messy secrets each person was hiding. Alexis’s friendship with the newly widowed Blair and the alternating POVs kept me interested in the story, but it was a slow burn. At times I felt like it was paced a bit too slow, especially since most of the characters were unlikeable to me. The main character was also given an eating disorder, which I didn’t find relevant to the story at all. Overall, I pushed through and was satisfied with the ending, even if it did take a bit to get there. I would recommend if you enjoy suspenseful, slow burn thrillers.

Thank you to Melissa Adelman, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review. This book is due to be published on June 20, 2023.

Hard to get into for me at first but as I kept reading I really enjoyed it ! After I got into the story it was fast paced and kept me intrigued !

I enjoyed this book about Alexis and Sam, the young couple who find a fixer-upper in a prestigious neighborhood.. Sam is fitting in well with the wealthy neighbors but Alexis finds herself feeling inferior.
When a neighbor’s husband is murdered on the running path nearby all the quirks and seediness is revealed. Who could have murdered Teddy becomes a case of several possible suspects.
The book stays interesting as much is revealed about Alexis’ background and the widow,Blair.
The book got very in-depth with several characters and we learn that the rich have many secrets .
I enjoyed the home descriptions and reading about the lavish parties. I could sympathize with Alexis and her story. Blair seemed pretty perfect until her secrets were revealed. A fun page turner that kept me guessing!

Desperate House Wives meat The Couple Next Door... maybe. Murder, cheating, lies, money pit of home.

It kept me interested for the most part but I guessed the killer early on (which i usually don't). Didn't see all the twists but had an inkling about one.

Enjoyable bit no wow factor for me. Was slow going at first with trying remember who was married to who.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is boring. Marketed as a thriller, a murder mystery, but it is not at all thrilling. Nothing happens for like 85% of this book. It focuses predominantly on random hijinks in the neighborhood and keeps forgetting that a murder just happened and the killer hasn’t been caught.

Alexis, the main character, endures a ton of abuse for being the only POC in a neighborhood of rich white jerks but seems content to just accept it. Her husband Sam is straight up abusive to him, she acknowledges that he says mean shit to her, but then just… accepts it. Blair is actually fairly likable until you find out she’s the mastermind for every terrible thing that happens in this book.

Overall - this book needs more editing to pick up the pace.

I really enjoyed this book. Fast paced and interesting. The only problem was there were too many characters to keep straight. I had to make a note of who was with who as a couple etc. Was glad to have read it and happy to have a pre-release copy from Netgalley for an honest review

Alexis and her husband Sam are excited to be moving up in the world when they buy a rundown house in an exclusive neighborhood. But they soon find out that the neighborhood is not as idyllic as it seems when their neighbor Teddy is found dead.

I was intrigued by the idea of this book and I’ve really enjoyed other books with similar premises. This one just didn’t do it for me. It took a looooong time for anything of substance to happen. And even when it did, they payoff just wasn’t that great.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the advanced read copy on exchange for my honest review.

This one was just not for me. Absolutely nothing worthwhile happened until about halfway through the novel. When the big "reveal" was given, it was so far-fetched that I laughed out loud. There was also a lot of backstory given on Alexis that wasn't really pertinent to the story. Overall, this was a dud for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I am thankful to netgalley for allowing me to receive this book and I enjoyed it greatly. It had characters I didn't particularly like but the storyline pulled me in and kept me turning pages. I had my suspicion about events and at times I was right and other times I was way off course. I will definitely read this again in the future before long.

This was a great domestic suspense thriller book that had me engaged until the very end! This is a mix of "Desperate Housewives" meets "The Couple Next Door" and I couldn't be more excited to see this hit the shelves!

Alexis and her husband Sam buy a neglected Cape Cod house in an exclusive DC suburb, and their glamorous neighbors welcome the couple with open arms. But the neighborhood’s picture-perfect image is shattered when their neighbor Teddy 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.

Melissa Adelman has created a smart, taut, suspenseful novel about the lives we lead, the secrets we keep, and what people will do to keep them hidden. Highly recommended. #WhatTheNeighborsSaw #NetGalley #SaltMarshAuthors

A young couple, Alexis and Sam, find themselves reaching for a higher rung on the ladder of life . . . a yearning to give their offspring the best that they can afford. Alexis is pregnant with a second child and tired of the current accommodations, so an active search for their forever home is launched.

When an old estate in need of serious TLC becomes available in a prestigious DC neighborhood, it’s a foot in the door and a deal they just can’t pass up. Upon closer inspection they learn more about the state of the aging house and the surroundings . . . the more they realize that this daring leap was taking a much bigger risk than they had ever anticipated. A strange sense of instability is growing, death and danger seem to be lurking both inside the walls and out. Could the strategic move that was meant to cement their place in society, seal a ruinous fate for Sam and Alexis?

Preorder and find out June 20, 2023.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for an advanced copy of What the Neighbors Saw for my unbiased evaluation.  3.5 stars

I was sold the minute I read this was a cross between desperate housewives and The Couple Next Door.

I believe this is Melissa Adelman’s debut novel, and I must say, it’s pretty good for a first novel! This was beautifully written and kept me entertained all the way through.

The story begins when a young, affluent couple chooses to invest in a fixer-upper in an elite neighbourhood. Sam hopes to become a partner in his law practice as Alexis prepares to give birth to their second child. Despite the problems with the house and their financial burden, Sam and Alexis simply know that this is their ideal forever home. Everything seems to be going great, until their next-door neighbour is murdered on the neighbourhood trail.

The narrative is told from different POVs, between Blair (the murderer man’s wife), and Alexis (the new neighbour). Beyond Teddy's passing, I didn't think much else happened in the first half of the novel, but I believe this was done on purpose so the author could depict the interactions between the neighbours. The speed quickens once Alexis learns a secret that would have been worth dying for. There were a few twists, one of which was pretty original.

Overall, I did enjoy reading the novel and would recommend it to anybody who enjoys a secretive, deceitful neighbourhood drama.

I adored this book! The voice immediately drew me in, the mystery was compelling, and the drama between the neighbors, particularly Blair and Alexis was fascinating. This really is domestic suspense at its finest— sharp prose, lovely characterization, and perfect pacing. I read it in a day! Thank you to the author and publisher for the e-arc. #netgalley #domesticsuspense #whattheneighborssaw

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. I was hooked from the first chapter. And wow, what a twist I didn’t see coming. Definitely a neighborhood I don’t want to be a part of but one I was happy to read about. Language ⚠️

This was a great book about terrible people! It was a well written thriller that stayed twisty and absolutely unhinged. I don’t want to spoil a thing but if you are looking for an absolute insane story about the rich and horrible please read this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this amazing debut in exchange for my honest and tbh shocked review.

This book made me feel uneasy in the best way. Thriller type books are not usually my jam, but I was so intrigued and couldn’t read fast enough. I’ll definitely recommend this to my thriller friends.

When a young couple with two small children find a house they’re able to afford in a secluded and upscale enclave, they immediately put in an offer and move. Shortly after moving in, one of the neighbors is murdered. With everyone on neighborhood watch for their own personal reasons, more questions keep coming up. Was it a neighbor who committed the murder?

Overall, this was a fast-paced thriller that I got through quickly. However, I found it difficult to really like any of the characters. I can’t say from personal experience that I know what it’s like living amidst the wealthy and feeling like an outsider, but it seemed to make Alexis paranoid and turned her husband Sam into a jerk. I guess it just goes to show even those with money are insecure.

3.5 star, rounded up to 4.*

NetGalley sent me an email blurb of this book suggesting that based on my reading history I would enjoy this story. They were not wrong. While it is somewhat predictable and belongs solidly in the genre of domestic thriller, there were unique elements to the story that made me like it more than I might have were they absent.

What the Neighbors Saw follows young professionals Sam and Alexis, expecting their first child, as they decide to move into a big old house in a tony neighborhood. The house becomes a source of friction in their marriage and bludgeoned to death while on his morning run along the trail. Another neighbor has connections that continually cover-up his creepy predilection for assaulting young prostitutes, and another couple is having marital issues and dragging everybody on the block into their drama.

I particularly enjoyed the characters Blair and Alexis and I really liked that they weren't one dimensional.

I'd read more by this author, and I will recommend this one to fans of thrillers.

*with thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for this honest review. This book will be released for sale on June 20, 2023.

A couple moves into an upscale neighborhood, into a house they can barely afford, and you’d think spending all of that money would ensure safety, right? Not so much.

Almost immediately, one of the neighbors is found murdered. As the book plays out, there are a lot of zigs and zags until the mystery is unraveled.

I really enjoyed this book and it kept me guessing until the end. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with a free advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.