Kat is guarded and constantly on the move when she sublets a room at the crumbling Shelley House, in the town where her grandfather's farm was and where her life changed when she was 10. Kat keeps to herself but her neighbors are trying to fight their eviction, since Shelley House is due to be demolished. Dorothy has lived in Shelley House for decades and designated herself the protector of the house and when one of the neighbors is attacked, Dorothy tries to find out what happened and drags Kat along with her. Overall, a story about a group of people trying to keep their home and the relationships that help support them. Both Dorothy and Kat have something in their past that is still causing them to feel guilt and although it was eventually explained, it did make for some aggravating introspection at times.

NOSY NEIGHBORS by Freya Sampson (The Lost Ticket) is another heartwarming adventure about forming a community. The story is set in London, most often taking place in Shelley House on Poet's Road – an aged Victorian converted to flats where seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling has lived for over thirty years. Across the landing lives Joseph Chambers who (accompanied by his dog Reggie) forms a one-man campaign against plans to tear down the house and replace it with a new development. Joseph is older, too, and takes in a boarder, pink-haired twenty-something Kat Bennett. There are a total of six flats and each of the other residents – Gloria, Tomasz, an unnamed anti-social young man, and a father and daughter – is preoccupied with his or her own issues. Gradually they come to know and care for each other. A special bond forms between Dorothy and Kat, but that is sorely tested by some tragic circumstances from the past. Overall, this is an uplifting read where initially lonely and confused characters grow and learn to support each other. Along the way, they solve a mystery or two while working hard at redeeming Shelley House. Book groups take note: discussion questions are included.

Heartwarming story of a community coming together to save one of their own or a house, both ?
Two neighbors-at-war band together to stop a dangerous criminal in their midst in this enthralling new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Ticket. Twenty-five-year-old Kat Bennett has never felt at home anywhere, and especially not in crumbling Shelley House. According to her neighbors, she's prickly and unapproachable, but beneath her tough exterior, Kat is plagued by guilt from her past. Seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling is Shelley House's longest resident, and if you believe the other tenants, she's as cantankerous and vindictive as they come. Except there's a good reason Dorothy spends her days spying on her neighbors—a closely guarded secret that no else knows and the reason Dorothy barely leaves her beloved home. When their building faces demolition, sworn enemies Kat and Dorothy become unlikely allies in their quest to save their historic home. But when someone starts to play dirty and viciously targets one of the residents, Dorothy and Kat suspect foul play in their community. After the police close the investigation, it's up to this improbable pair to bring a criminal to justice..
Dorothy and Kat are wildly different, the other residents are spectacular side characters, A book that had me gripped and just rooting for everybody. I love these people and the community they are slowly building. Now I need an epilogue five years out …

Nosy Neighbors tells the story of a group of people who inhabit apartments within the same building. Both the inhabitants and the building have seen better days. Throughout the course of the story, the inhabitants are being forced from their homes by a selfish landlord, who wants to destroy the building and build a more lucrative building; but the story is much more than that. It’s a study of misunderstandings and misguided grief. The characters are very well fleshed-out, although there are moments when their actions, or inactions, stumble. I thoroughly enjoyed the story as an example of ‘you never know what’s going on behind closed doors’.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 3.5⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: mystery 📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
This one was okay, I enjoyed it was it was a little slow for me

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Only Murders in the Building vibes
Cozy mysteries
Found family
Quirky characters
British reads
Slow burn
Dual POV
Heartwarming with a side of humor
Side of romance

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
I loved all the characters

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Slow throughout
Predictable

77 year old Dorthy has been living at Shelley House for decades. She keeps track of everything that goes on inside and outside of the building. When the land lord decides to demo the building to make new apartments, the tenets get together to fight back. However the main person rallying everyone together has been found unconscious in his flat…who did it?

I loved this book from start to finish! This is a great cozy mystery that had multiple plot points going on. I really enjoyed the pace and the writing of this book. The author does a fantastic job portraying each character and their personalities. This book goes between two characters points of view and it flows well. I thought the plot was interesting and so were the twists and turns along the way. It was a fun read!

I began reading expecting the labelled Mystery and Suspense genre, but to me it didn’t seem even close to that. The dual classification is Women’s Fiction. If you enjoy comical British cozy- (cosy) style novels, this may be your cup of tea. The camaraderie of two women, elderly Dorothy and younger Kat, to protect their historic building was charming. I appreciate receiving an Advance Readers Copy from the publisher, through NetGalley.

I have read other books from Sampson in the past and enjoyed them, so I was excited to read her latest. She did not disappoint. I absolutely adored the diverse cast of characters, including Reggie. There is depth and growth to the characters, particularly Dorothy and Kat. I appreciated that the backstory for the characters was woven throughout instead of just one big info dump. The story is well written, and I was thoroughly engaged and hated to have to put the book aside. Themes of community and forgiveness are key, and there is a small mystery to keep the readers guessing, as well. Alternating POV's (Dorothy and Kat) give the reader a well-rounded picture. There are numerous subplots involving the other characters, but it is not overwhelming. They all serve a purpose. The storyline may leave the reader pondering whether or not they make snap judgments on people without really knowing the person or the reasons behind their actions. Sensitive subjects (such as grief, addiction, abuse, and loneliness) are handled with compassion. This heartwarming book makes me look forward to future books from Sampson.

I initially wanted to read this book because of the fun and inviting cover! In this book, you meet a lot of interesting characters with lots of secrets. It’s a charming book that features the found family trope, with residents of the building coming together during a hard time where they potentially face eviction. It’s definitely not the “mystery” mystery book, but it is enjoyable and entertaining.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A cute, cozy British novel about a group of dissimilar neighbors coming together to save their building from demolition. It has a bit of everything- inter-generational friendships, a little romance, a dash of mystery, and a dog. A great choice to read when you just need a gentle "hug" of a book.

What started out as a cozy mystery soon became a delightful story of unlikely heroes and unlikely friendships. The Shelley House is facing demolition, and its inhabitants go from distant neighbors banding together to try to fight the developer trying to take it down. As the residents learn more about each along the way, they find they have more in common with each other and they each learn a life lesson about forgiveness either for themselves or each other along the way. The main character Dorothy is charming in that grumpy kind of way and also a bit humorous. This book will have you cheering for them all the way to the end. It was charming, entertaining, and just heartwarming.

I am a long time fan of Up Lit and Freya Sampson has added another gem to this genre with Nosy Neighbors! The whole building of curmudgeonly tenants coming together for a common goal, and person, was heartwarming and life affirming. This novel resulted in my Google search history littered with results for "dilapidated mansion flat rentals in the English countryside."

⭐⭐⭐ 3 Stars! Freya Sampson's books always have a motley crew of characters who eventually become close friends as they finally put aside their differences. This book reads like a cozy mystery. I had a hard time getting into the eBook but had a better time with the audio version.

As a nosy gal who wants all the tea, this book looked like it was going to be a fun read! Unfortunately, it was a DNFFN (DNF for now).

Dorothy is an old gal who is stuck in her ways. She wants everything to go her way and catalogs all the happenings at Shelley house.

Kat has never found her footing in the world. She has never found the place to call home and spends only a few weeks at each location.

The pair have teamed up to solve a mystery in their building since the cops have closed the case.

This book has so much potential but was a bit slow for me as you are slowly finding out every tenants secrets. I will absolutely be picking this up in the future and giving it another chance. If you're a cozy mystery person then I think this would be right up your alley!

3.5 stars, rounded up

When Kat Bennett moves into Shelley House as the (maybe illegal) room renter from elderly Joseph Chambers, she doesn't know what she's in for. Flat #2 holds Dorothy Darling, who has lived in Shelley House longer than most people can remember, she is the self-appointed house guardian and makes it her business to know everything going on inside and outside of the house. Four other flats hold tenants that form an interesting mix. When they discover that Shelley House is due to be razed to become a giant new building, the group decides to band together as much as they are able in an attempt to stop an unscrupulous developer from taking their homes.

I enjoyed this "found family" story. Although the "fighting the developer" parts were tedious for me (it's not a trope I enjoy reading about), I really liked the way the characters developed throughout the story. As we find out more about Kat's and Dorothy's backgrounds we learn why they act the way they do. It's a heartwarming (and at times heartbreaking) look at this motley group of strangers who become like family to each other.

This isn't really a mystery, it's more of a character study of how they learned to overcome difficult things in their pasts to come out stronger together. Plus, there's a wonderful dog Reggie who adds a great deal to the story in both funny and touching ways.

Thank you to @netgalley @PRHaudio and @berkleypub for the gifted copy of this book.

“Nothing brings neighbors together like someone else’s secrets… At Shelley House, the walls have ears, and they’re attached to a ragtag duo of busybodies ready to pry, snoop, and generally annoy their neighbors into solving a crime.”

This book is a sweet cozy mystery that leans into unlikely friendships more than mystery. Driven by a cast of characters that couldn't be more different, the story weaves secrets, mysterious attacks, and a common interest to save their home. As they work together they learn to see past appearances and stereotypes, shed layers and lean into one another.
A character driven slow burn, the found friendships in this book proves that although our lives may be different, deep down we're more alike than we realize.

This was such a cozy and charming story - not quite what I was expecting, but I loved it even more for that! Part cozy mystery, part found family, Nosy Neighbors follows Kat Bennett as she moves back to a town she never thought she’d return to. Kat sublets a room from Joseph and soon after she returns home to find him knocked unconscious on his living room floor. Was it an accident? Or is the shady owner of Shelley House responsible? Kat teams up with the curmudgeonly Dorothy Darling to get to the bottom of it.

I loved the characters in this book! Even the ones we’re meant to dislike are interesting and beneficial to the story. The story is told from both Dorothy and Kat’s POVs and I really think this added to the story. These two couldn’t seem more different from one another, but in following the stories from their POVs we see they have more in common than they may think. This cast of characters kept things entertaining the whole way through, and I was invested in the story. I really rooted for the tenants of Shelley House to save their home!

If you’re looking for a (mostly) lighthearted read that has some memorable characters and a sweet found family I think you’d love Nosy Neighbors. I can’t wait to read from this author again!

Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for a review copy.

**Many thanks to Berkley and Freya Sampson for an ARC provided via NetGalley!**

"People are almost always better than their neighbors think they are."- George Eliot

The residents of the historic Shelley House certainly have their minds made up about one another...and let's just say sharing a roof is QUITE enough 'closeness' for most of them. There's Omar and Ayesha, father and daughter who have lost the third member of their family (Ayesha's mom) and are still finding their new normal without her. Joseph occupies one of the other flats, a semi-curmudgeon whose best trait (at least in others estimation) is the ownership of his Jack Russell terrier, Reggie. The noisy yet mysterious tenant Vincent in the 4th flat, Tomas Wojcik (and HIS dog, a pitbull named Princess), and Gloria Brown (and a revolving door full of suitors) all have come to coexist in Shelley House...but not always peacefully.

At the center of it all, however, is Shelley House's self-named guardian and 'warden' of sorts...septuagenarian Dorothy Darling. Armed with her trusty notebook, she keeps a VIGILANT log of ALL comings and goings in the complex and ANY subsequent violations of the House Rules. Heard something go bump in the night last Tuesday? Dorothy can tell you ALL about it....or at least, everything she's been able to piece together with her eagle eyes and diligent ears. So it's no surprise that when Joseph illegally sublets his space to the pink haired, sharp tongued 20=something named Kat, Dorothy is skeptical and frowns upon the new neighbor. According to all, she's unapproachable at best, and Dorothy's reputation at the nosy, cranky old lady of the house precedes her too. But when both women are forced to spend SOME time together, it becomes evident that appearances aren't ALWAYS what they seem...and there are very good reasons that both women keep their distance from the outside world...and hold certain secrets close to the vest.

When the residents of Shelley House find out that Dastardly Developer Fergus Alexander is set to TEAR DOWN Shelley House, however, the residents are bound and determined to save the place they have for so long called home. They all find ways to band together...except for ONE resident, who holds firm in her wish to NEVER leave Shelley House...unless she leaves 'in a box': none other than Dorothy Darling, of course. Can her newly formed friendship with Kat and the deep bond these two have forged be enough to allow Kat to change Dorothy's mind...and encourage her to join the fight? Or are her scars from a tortured past TOO deep and TOO lasting to allow her to stand alongside her neighbors...and save the place she holds SO dear?

Freya Sampson is one of those authors I've been eager to try for quite a while now. I adore books that have a 'cozy' feel in general, especially with complex and interesting characters, and an emotionally charged plot, and Sampson's books seem to fit neatly in this subgenre, at least based on their descriptions alone. Although I was a bit nervous that this particular book would FEEL more like a cozy mystery (since it purportedly has a mystery at its center) I was absolutely still on board and eager to get to know the quirky personalities of Shelley House.

And I'll be honest, after a couple of chapters, the panic DID set in: there are a lot of characters here, and the opening bits establishing Dorothy and her semi-spying-but-mostly-notetaking-habits weren't really clicking. I had an early feeling Sampson was going to constantly be throwing bits and pieces and dribs and drabs about all of these characters at me...but that I wouldn't really get to KNOW them fully, let alone like them. A long character list (or longer than say, 3 or 4) can sometimes just feel like TOO MUCH...and I was a bit concerned I wasn't going to like Kat OR Dorothy enough to get emotionally invested in their relationship.

But by about 30% or so, ALL of that nervous energy turned into relief, and I was swept away by the emotional vulnerability and the depth and breadth of these characters...and MORE than fully invested in them, and in particular, the LOVELY and authentic relationship between Dorothy and Kat!

Even with all of the heartbreaking revelations from Dorothy and Kat along the way, there is still plenty of room for occasional levity AND for the interesting mystery to play out in the background...one that will keep you guessing, because it sure kept ME on my toes! Sampson effortlessly tied threads from both Dorothy and Kat's background and past into the present to not only inform their characters, but to draw subtle parallels between the two women as well. I liked that none of the neighbors were too OTT or goofy to draw focus away from the somewhat heavy and emotional tone of the book, but that this read still gave me the sort of warm fuzzies that you'd find standard in any cozy mystery. It was okay to have the villain, Fergus, being played as a bit larger than life because the relationship between Kat and Dorothy was SO authentic, grounding, and real.

And by the finale, I GUARANTEE you'll be rooting for the survival of Shelley House AND for the future of this unlikely pair that's one part Thelma and Louise AND one part Sherlock and Watson...with a bit of sass and brightly colored locks to boot!

(I mean, I'm ASSUMING Watson never dyed his hair...but the next TV or film adaptation can feel free to prove me wrong!)

4 stars

Nosy neighbors can sometimes be the worst and Dorothy was the stereotypical nosy neighbor! She spies, listens, and even invades the mail, she concerns herself with problems that don’t concern her, but it’s that help to save her neighbors. This book had some of the most outrageous moments that did not make the main character likable but made you connect with her. She was lonely and through that loneliness, she stayed the same person and would not grow. The book is one that have to read to understand.

Nosy Neighbors is a fun, heartwarming book about the impending demolition of an old apartment building in a small English town, Chalcot, and the people who live there.

Dorothy has lived in Shelley House for more than 30 years. She spends her days recording the activities of her neighbors, doing a visual inspection of the property, and punishing herself for a tragic accident that occurred many years ago. Joseph and his dog Reggie live across the hall. Upstairs are Ayesha and her father, Omar, Gloria (and her string of bad boyfriends), Tomasz and his ill-mannered dog Princess, and the antisocial tenant on the fourth floor.

Kat moves in to Shelley House, subletting a room from Joseph, just as the landlord gives them all notice that he is demolishing the building. Kat grew up visiting Chalcot, because her grandfather lived there, but after a family falling out, she hasn't been back until now. She isn't quite ready to move on yet, and she gets caught up in the neighbor drama after Joseph is attacked in their apartment. She stays to take care of Reggie, befriends Dorothy, and discovers truths about her family that change everything.

You don't get to choose your family, but you do get to choose your friends, and this book has so many wonderful relationships. Sure, Dorothy is prickly, but she's also loyal and caring, as Kat and the other neighbors discover. There are other characters who begin relationships (no spoilers), and you can't help but cheer for all of them.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book.