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.

Alexis and her husband Sam buy a rundown house in an ultra-wealthy suburb of DC. But they soon realize the idyllic neighborhood is not as safe as it seems. What The Neighbors Saw is a meandering soap opera-like novel, replete with bed-hopping spouses, perverted neighbors and, of course, a murder. The characters are all extremely unlikeable, pretentious and filthy rich, none with redeemable qualities in a plot that was a slog to get through. The reader keeps waiting for some event to liven the action, and when it finally occurs, it’s almost an afterthought, and way too late to save the book. It’s an easy read, but it’s maddeningly repetitive, and the ending was so out of nowhere that it’s beyond belief. A more fitting finale would have been a giant sinkhole swallowing up the entire neighborhood and it’s despicable residents. I received an arc of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Secrets, nearly impossible to uncover, are planted inside this book.

Alexis knows what she wants: an impressive house that will make her friends smile in the DC area. Her husband, Sam, goes along although he’s not as thrilled with the idea.

Right now, they live in a rowhouse inside the beltway which is convenient to everything with the Metro. But Alexis has decided that it’s too small with only 1500 square feet.

Her real estate agent has found a 1927 cape cod with 5100 square feet just under $1.7 million in a neighborhood of $3 million properties. The author notes that it’s a “few minutes” to drive from Northern Virginia to downtown DC. What is she talking about? It takes more than a few minutes for the lights to change in DC! It’s more than a few minutes to drive one block in DC.

Alexis convinces Sam that this is their perfect forever house even though it needs a lot of work and on top of their budget. Then he notices as a runner that it’s next to a trail that goes to the Potomac River. Plus an area to build a pool!

Shortly after they move in, there’s a murder. Their neighbor, Teddy, was found on the Potomac River. Everyone gives their condolences to his wife, Blair, and that’s when Alexis meets her. Then Sam and Alexis meet the other neighbors.

The beginning is exciting and then it drifts into a mindless end of neighborhood chats of entitlements, jealousies and affairs. There is the talk of big jobs, vacation homes and travels. So, who murdered Teddy? That is the big question. The characters are all annoying like those with big cars in DC that think they own the roads and parking places. The end brings it all together in an unexpected way.

My thanks to Melissa Adelman, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of June 20, 2023.

What the Neighbors Saw was a solid 3 star domestic thriller. I thought the concept was good and the twist at the end saved it for me. I found it to be a little dragging at times, but I was still interested enough to keep reading. I really didn’t connect to the characters either. I found the main character’s husband very off putting and found myself annoyed with her because of it. I think if you are a fan of domestic, Desperate Housewives type thrillers, you’d enjoy this one!

Thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy!