A deadly neighborhood if you ask me!

Alexis and her husband Sam have moved into an exclusive neighborhood. This is what Alexis has always wanted. She wanted prestige and safety and she hoped her fixer-upper could deliver just that.

When Alexix moves to the neighborhood, she is pregnant with her second child. Sam is trying to become a partner at the firm he works at. Due to the financial drain the new house has become their relationship is strained. Sam belittles her and keeps on reminding her that when she changed her job, she made a mistake (getting paid less money, and no good promotions in her future). Thankfully, Alexis has in her corner, her live-in nanny who helps her out with anything her kids need.

Despite her marital problems, Alexis likes the neighborhood until Teddy, a successful handsome man, and father of three, is found murdered while jogging a trail on the bank of the Potomac River.

Alexis worries about the murder. Who did it? Is one of the neighbors responsible for it?

Alexis feels bad for Blair, the widow, and can't stay away and offers support. Soon a friendship develops until Alexis finds herself trying to piece together a deadly secret Blair might have.

A slow burn with some good twists, although I guessed the important ones.

From the main characters, I found myself liking Alexis and not so much Blair. All the neighborhood men were awful including Sam who was such an inconsiderate bully. I have no clue why Alexis would have picked him for her husband and father of her children. Thankfully, she had a live-in nanny because he was no help.

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Minotaur Books via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

What The Neighbors Saw is a domestic thriller told from the POV's of two women, Alexis and Blair. Alexis is married and pregnant with their second child while Blair is recovering from the death of her husband. As the two women become friends, secrets are revealed and problems spill over until everything finally comes together.

This one just didn't do it for me. It felt like it dragged on and on. By the time it got to the plot twists I just didn't care. The characters were quite annoying to say the least. Which could be an asset to the story if textbook whiney rich people are something that interests you. There was nothing to bring these characters out of two dimensions. They didn't have anything, good or bad, about their personalities that separated them from TV clones.

When I read the blurb and it said Desperate Housewives meets The couple next door I knew I was in! The community is thrown into upheaval when one of the neighbors is found dead and nothing in this picture perfect neighborhood is as it seems!
Thank you #minotaur and #NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Thank you @stmartinpress @minotaurbooks for the #gifted copy!

Oh how I wanted to like this more 😕. While hoping for a gripping thriller, I found this book veering more towards gossipy drama.

The main characters came off as naggy, & I couldn't connect with either 😬 . Sam, the husband, was particularly unlikable 👎🏼, he was truly awful!!

The anticipated twist lacked the intended shock, with predictability undermining its impact. Despite potential, the execution fell flat, leaving me with a lukewarm experience 🤷🏼‍♀️

⚠️ bulimia, body shaming

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
◽️ alternating POV’s
◽️ gossip
◽️ a wealthy neighborhood
◽️ a murder

I really enjoyed this book! This had multi POV, which you know is my favorite. I loved getting to know the main characters and the relationships with their spouses & neighbors. 

There were a lot of times I said "what the what"!!! I didn't expect that ending. I think I finished this book in a day and a half? I flew through it. I loved the details that Alexis put together about her neighbor Blair. I would never have thought about it like her.

I also really liked that not everything revolved around Teddy's d3ath. (Yes, it is annoying that I can't spell certain words, but IG doesn't like it)
This is definitely a contender for top 23 in 2023!! I never would have guessed this is her first novel!

Alexis and her husband Sam seem to be on the right path in life. Sam, it seems, is about to be made a partner at the law firm he works for, Alexis is pregnant with the couple’s second child, and they have just bought their dream home, a Cape Cod house that does need a bit of work. Luckily the neighbors, who all seem so glamorous and well put together, welcome their new neighbors with open arms. All seems right in Alexis’s life, for a time, but soon the image of perfection that surrounds the neighborhood is shattered when Teddy, a long-time resident, is found dead on the banks of the Potomac River. While many are desperate for answers, they are less than prepared when secrets begin to make their way to the surface, secrets with the potential to change the lives of many who knew Teddy, and Alexis is no exception.

This novel was just okay in my opinion. It seemed like there were a lot of details and information presented that had little to nothing to do with the storyline, almost like it was there in an attempt to dissuade or trick the reader into thinking a certain way or just for filler. I also struggled to relate to any of the characters; they were either too unrealistic or too different from an average person. I really struggled to make it through this novel and I’m not sure I would have read it all if it wasn’t a review copy.

This book was pretty good. Lots of character development, and a good story line to follow. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future

This story is told in dual first person from Alexis and Blair. Alexis and her husband buy a house in an exclusive DC suburb though their finances are probably not conducive but justify the purchase with the thought that they are buying the worst house in the best neighborhood. Tons of arguments over renovations and priorities ensue. Blair and her family live in the house across the street.

There were some time jumps on this one that left me reeling, taking me out of the story and disrupting the pace as well as telling me background information that I might have enjoyed in a different format. I also had some issues with logistics in some of their situations, especially with regards to the home purchase and subsequent renovations. Several of the characters, but especially Alexis, were very inconsistent.

For most of the book, except for the initial murder, the neighbors were boring. As things began to develop later in the book, several of them were behaving badly, but for the most part had negligible to zero consequences, though that’s unsurprising given their positions in society. I didn’t even feel like it satisfied my gossipy neighbor quota. For a book about naughty neighbors in an affluent neighborhood, I thought it was rather disappointing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for a copy provided for an honest review.

We do love peaking into windows, don't we? Neighborhood mysteries like this let us do just that, without being that creepy neighbor : )

Adelman crafts a supposedly safe suburban neighborhood filled with awful people doing awful things. A bit too much for me, but others might enjoy this luxury yacht of novel go down in flames.

What a great book by an author new to me. I wish there had been less plot holes but the propulsive nest of it made up for anything it was lacking. I thought they said it was a character in and of itself and I really enjoyed this book.

THis was a edge of your seat book. Sam and Alexis move into a new house in an up and coming neighborhood. As they get moved in things start to drastically change. It is defineatly not what Alexis saw thei future as..

It is a must read book.

Alexis and Sam firmly believe they are on the uphill side of the road to a new, happier life. They have bought a house in a community that they never thought they would have been able to purchase, Sam is doing extremely well at school and they are expecting their second baby!
However, the house is not what it seems and the neighbors all have secrets and these secrets start coming out when one of the neighbors is found dead. Then, Alexis makes quick friends with Blair, the murdered neighbor's widowed wife. As the women get closer it comes out that neither one of their lives are what they present and definitely not what it seems! This is a great domestic thriller!
I loved all the twists and turns and just when I thought I had it all figured out I was all wrong! If you love domestic thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat then this should be your next read!
Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this one!

I started this book a few months back and I couldn’t get into to it so I put it in my not right now pile. I picked it up again and unfortunately it never hooked me and I found myself skipping to the ending quickly.

What the Neighbors Saw serves up mystery and drama against the backdrop of an affluent DC suburb. When Alexis and her husband Sam buy a house in a neighborhood they never thought they could afford, they are elated. With their second child on the way and Sam doing well at work, the couple feels like they are headed toward a new, happier life.

That life comes with a price tag. Their dreamhouse is a money pit and their neighbors all seem to have secrets. These secrets start to come out when their neighbor Teddy is found dead on the riverbank near their neighborhood. A well liked and respected husband and father, the neighborhood is shook when his death is announced a homicide. With no one apprehended for the crime, tensions rise and people start to crack.

Through it all, Alexis grows increasingly closer to Teddy's now widowed wife Blair. Blair is glamorous, charming, and beautiful. Alexis is drawn to her and the picture perfect life she seems to lead. But as truths are revealed in the mystery of Teddy's murder, it turns out neither women's life is what it seems.

This book was dramatic and suspenseful, definitely delivering on the Desperate Housewives vibes it claims. It is definitely a slow burn setting up Alexis' move to her new neighborhood and her developing friendship with Blair, but the second half picked up the pace and while I found the ultimate big reveal somewhat obvious, some of the tea along the way definitely dropped my jaw!

Thank you to @netgalley and @minotaur_books for the digital copy!

Available now!

I love a juicy thriller, and WHAT THE NEIGHBORS SAW delivered. It was more slow burn pacing but there were plenty of twists!

I paired the book with the audiobook and loved reading this way.

*many thanks to the publisher and Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy

I enjoyed What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman. It did move a bit slow at times, but I loved how the author pulled everything together. Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

A terrific read that delivers it all - two fascinating first-person POV protagonists who may or may not be reliable; a colorful posse of flawed and mostly unlikable neighborhood characters; a terrible murder and the mystery surrounding it; and all the juicy gossip and secrets of an uber-wealthy, beautifully-written, literarily-rich take of TV’s Wisteria Lane.

When new mother Alexis and her lawyer husband Sam move into their dream house - a ramshackle mansion, alone in its decrepitude on a street of picture-perfect estates in a DC suburban area - they underestimate both the work they have in front of them, and the limitations their budget will impose.

Alexis is a vulnerable and relatable character, whose attempts to fit in with her glossy new neighbors finally seems to be on the right track when she hits it off with the woman across the street, the lovely and supremely confident Blair. Some ten-years older, and a successful interior-designer with multi-generational wealth behind her, Blair may be Alexis’s ticket to finally achieving emotional acceptance (self and otherwise) and the start of a new and more fulfilling life.

But as the plot twists and turns, a body and a mystery, (with clues that keep on coming but do not easily add up), coupled with the secretive and sinister ongoings revealed in this fractured community, lead Alexis onto a path that may in fact be fraught with personal danger.

A suspenseful and engrossing read, this is a book which this reader thoroughly enjoyed, right up to the satisfying (and only partially-guessed) humdinger of an ending.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

This book kept me engaged the entire time. There were a few places where I questioned the choices made for characters, but overall this was a good book.

I flew through this and did not want to put it down! A domestic thriller about how the grass is not always greener on the other side. Al little tough to keep track of the ancillary characters who ended up not being very important to the overall storyline but overall a fun read!

Excellent, twisty turny book! I may have got confused a time or two, but it definitely kept me me reading. So many characters and side stories, but all wrapped up perfectly in the end.
Thank to netgalley, St Martin's press and the author for the chance to read this advanced copy.