Not entirely sure how to feel about this one. Normally I love a good multiple POV story, but there were just way too many POVs in this case. It made it hard to really connect to any one side of the story. I did enjoy some of the twists and turns when the storylines started to finally come together. But there were also some plot points that just felt out of left field and that I could have done without.

I was intrigued by the plot however the story didn’t hold my attention. It wasn’t my favorite, thank you for the advanced copy.

I flew through The Body Next Door, completing it two days. I started it on the plane to Germany, after my in-flight reading of Passenger to Frankfurt, and finished in the weird jetlagged morning.

The Body Next Door is a suspense thriller that opens with, well, a body discovered next door to luxury vacation home. Construction has unearthed the body of an unknown young woman, right next to the wealthy McCulloughs’ vacation getaway on Orcas Island. I loved how the unearthed body represented all the buried secrets on the island, bringing up all the history, secrets and connections that different people needed to keep hidden.

Rich husband Allan McCullough and his young trophy wife Hannah, and their two children seem to all have a perfect life, with Allan as such an Obvious Bad Guy that I looked forward to him getting his terrible comeuppance and I knew — with my thriller-reader spidersense — that there had to be more to the story. From the start, Hannah seems to so deeply dislike the island, so why do they even have a vacation home there? And she seems to know a lot about a place where she doesn’t like to spend time.

There are multiple perspectives and timelines in The Body Next Door, which is confusing and disorienting at first (and a few times later in the book, to be honest). I don’t love when thrillers jump to an unrelated storyline with an unrelated character, this feels more like a commercial interrupting the real program. Especially when the narrative leaves the island and picks up with a violinist with an eating disorder. It takes a long time for the payoff for the jumping, but it’s worth it for the amazing wrap up, with a bizarre but lovely found-family at the end. This is an element I love in fiction, but we don’t often get in a suspense story, so I especially enjoyed the way everything finished. What I’m saying is, just roll with the jarring narrative jumps in the beginning for a satisfying conclusion.

Readers already know in a dual-timeline thriller some of the characters are going to overlap, and sorting out who is who, and what their connections are to the cult storyline, is a large part of the mystery. The Orcas Island cult uses nicknames like Kestral and Littlest, which felt believable for their community, and avoided the usual nickname-fakeout (you know the nickname-fakeout, right? It’s a thriller where sweet Liz was actually evil Betsy this whole time!). One of the stories has a child narrator, so even though my thriller-reader sense told me that the unnamed mother was going to return, I didn’t guess how. As we see more of the cult, the Allan’s marriage, and the distant storyline with the Stradivarius violin, the book also raises thoughtful questions about control and safety through all the storylines.

The Body Next Door has a supernatural aspect, which I really loved, but you do have to be in the mood for the unexplained. It’s easy for an ability to become too powerful and start to work as a get-out-of-plot-free card, automatically rescuing our heroes from danger. Here, though, it added to the sense of mystery and to the feeling that this story was happening on the fringes of the visible world. Other elements of the story had that feel too, with the parental neglect of the cult-y community, an older man with an underage wife, a crush that’s more of an obsession, etc. There was an overall feel that the shadowy mysteries of the book were happening in the semi-visible margins of our everyday world.

Anyway, that’s about all I can say about the atmosphere without revealing plot events that would be spoilers, and this is such a layered and twisty story, you’d really want to discover each new development at the author’s pace.

This was a lifetime movie in print form. I couldn't put it down, I needed to know what happened and every twist of fate and how everyone was connected and yes, it was great. (Yes, it's a run-on sentence but that's how twisted and good it was.)

It did get kind of troublesome, waiting for all of the pieces to come together. But once it did, everything made sense.

End result: cults are bad. Finding your people is good.

Thank you netgalley for the advanced preview audio book. I just love getting advance copies! This one lives up to the hype!

After shallow buried remains were recently unearthed by a construction team on an island amidst vacation homes, the ongoing police investigation unfolds to figure out just who is the deceased girl and who killed her. The investigation unfolds through various points of view which can be a bit confusing at first, compounded with keeping together past and present, but I was truly surprised at how hooked I got into this story.

This is my first read by Maia Chance and it had a lot to offer - twists, turns, culty vibes, and a sprinkle of magical aspects. If you are able to suspend your disbelief in the magical parts, definitely give this book a chance!

I love any book set in the PNW, so that was an automatic win for me!

Hannah is the FMC, and she has a crazy hidden past that we chip away at as the story unfolds. Her husband Allan has his own dark past, and he’ll stop at nothing to keep his secrets.

Cults, lost love and murder. What else could you ask for in a thriller novel? I definitely recommend this one!

Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

Hannah McCollugh has the perfect life: a loving husband, two children, and money. Then when a body is found next door to the McCollugh’s island home that they use for vacations Hannah decides to go to the island to find out the truth. Hannah believes her husband killed her older sister so that they could marry since she was sixteen at the time. Plus a boy named Green who is the father on Hannah’s daughter has an ability to communicate to inanimate objects and make them do whatever he wants. I thought the book was really good but it was just a little too far fetched.

This book was just ok for me. The dual timelines kept things somewhat interesting, but I didn't love the characters or the story.

I really enjoyed this book! The story was captivating and kept me wanting to read more until I found out what happened! I love books that have to do with cults, so I flew through this. The only reason I didn't give five stars is the multiple povs was a little difficult for me to follow. I typically don't read books with more than two povs, so it was slightly challenging to remember and keep things straight. Overall, excellent book!

Thank you to MIRA Books for the digital copy to review.

This was a little gem that I did not expect to enjoy as much as I did! I started this on a walk with Jaxx and found that I could not stop listening, I was hooked! It is definitely on the slower burn side, and there are different POVs as well as two timelines (current day and the past) all of which when only reading via audio can make things a little confusing. Once I got further along and once I realized this involved a cult (!!) it was a nice little thriller that I really loved. Plus, the ending had a couple of twists that really caught me off guard in the best way. This was my first read of this author and I definitely want to check out more of her works.

What a mixed bag- this had one too many themes in it for me, however was I hooked and couldn’t read it fast enough?? Yes!

Multiple POV and shifts past to present, themes of cult, paranormal magic maybe??, con job, infidelity, child abuse, murder, crazy religious stalker lady.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really fun fall Thriller to read! It has multiple layers that are all interwoven, multiple POVs, and dual timelines. It was fun to guess the ending, only to be thrown for a loop or shocked to find something out. It also has some magical realism which I thoroughly enjoyed and felt was very well done. Highly recommend!!

The Body Next Door* by Maia Chance is a confusing and weird mix of mystery and unsettling cult drama that just doesn’t work. The plot is bogged down by too many point-of-view shifts, making it hard to stay engaged and adding to the overall confusion.

The inclusion of a cult subplot feels out of place and disrupts the overall tone. Instead of creating suspense, it makes the story awkward and hard to follow. It was especially strange when inanimate objects would "talk" to Greene and his mother, adding an odd element that didn’t fit. The pacing drags, important details are skimmed over, and the whole book feels disjointed.

Overall, *The Body Next Door* fails to deliver an engaging, well-paced mystery. The bizarre cult plot, too many POVs, and strange elements make it a frustrating experience.

3 stars.

Pretty average thriller. Wasn't a huge fan of the characters but did find the overall story/plot to be enjoyable and thrilling. Wished the ending/twist would have been more surprising but I enjoyed this story for the most part. I will defiantly keep this author on my radar.

Mystery, magic, danger and a cult. I enjoyed reading and following each character’s journey. A bit confusing as to who is really who, but the author has brought order after all. Recommended read for mystery lovers.

I really liked this book.

Hannah lives a pampered life with her millionaire husband and two children. They own a beautiful home in Seattle and a vacation home on Orcas Island. The property next to their vacation home used to be the settlement of a cult. When a dead body is found near their property Hannah must face her past.

I loved the format of this book. It follows some very interesting and self absorbed characters. Green is traveling with his mother on a ferry in Orcas island. Josh is a world renowned violinist and Allan is a self absorbed narcissist that collects old artifacts. I’m wondering how the stories will come together.

The book involves a cult and some magical realism. I thought the plot was unique!

Thank you to netgalley for a copy of this book!

Got a copy from my library ebook system and it was a fast popcorn thriller. I found it a good read that I flew through. This book is great for readers who don't want too much thrills, chills or gore. I'd recommend it for new to the thriller genre.

The Body Next Door was sooo good. The twists in this one had my head reeling. Every time I thought I knew what was about to happen I was shocked.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review.

Hannah seems to have it all with two children and a doting husband. However, things are not as they seem and Hannah has a dark secret. When a body is dug up close to their vacation home, Hannah and Allen are forced to confront their demons.

This book had an interesting premise and a beautiful cover. Unfortunately, that is pretty much all I can say that was good about this book.

The characters were just so annoying and bad. I had no one to root for throughout the story. I also just felt like the writing was slow and I just had a hard time getting into the book. I also think the story itself was just hard to follow.

This book wasn't for me but I hope others love it.