Best House on the Block begins with a child kidnapping. Fast forward four years later, and Shannon, an aspiring journalist, has moved to a very exclusive neighborhood with her husband and daughter. Famous journalist Rosella Marlow has gone out of her way to pave the way for Shannon, feeling secure that she will help Rosella on a pet project about the neighborhood. Diminished by grief at losing her husband and son in an accident, Rosella is determined to learn every secret about her neighbors, spying on them yet believing someone is out to get her as well. When there is a murder in the neighborhood the claws come out. Every family is surrounded by mysteries and unknowns in their past, which the author eases out in a story packed with atmosphere and tension. And don’t forget that kidnapping! Be prepared to read the unbelievable at times, in this fast moving book. With thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

Rosella is a bitter journalist who keeps close tabs on her neighbours who all seem to be happy, with perfect lives.
She arranges for Shannon to move to the area to learn what she can to become a journalist. Shannon feels uncomfortable at the first meeting.
Shannon meets the neighbours and feels a connection with Chloe.
When Rosella is murdered, Shannon and Chloe join forces to find out if the murderer was one of the neighbours. The more they investigate, the more they realise every person had a reason to kill Rosella.

Wow, I really enjoyed this novel. There were a lot of characters to keep track of, but I somehow managed!
I liked Shannon and Chloe, their friendship seemed genuine, and their investigation really ruffled a lot of feathers.
It seemed to me that the police were only interested in making an arrest, without proper investigating, which was a pity.

I definitely can recommend this book, it had mystery, thrills, intrigue and the bringing together of a community.
A 4/5 stars from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this book.

📖 Review:
T.R. Ragan’s Best House on the Block is a pulse-pounding thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat! If you love psychological suspense with twists and turns aplenty, this book is a must-read! 📚💥

Shannon Gibbons, an aspiring investigative journalist, moves with her family to the Fabulous Forties of East Sacramento, only to find herself entangled in a web of secrets and deceit. Her seemingly friendly neighbor, Rosella Marlow, offers Shannon a chance to assist in a new project, but beneath the surface lies bitterness and grief that drive Rosella’s dark obsessions. 💔🕵️‍♀️

As Shannon delves deeper into her neighbor’s world, she unwittingly becomes a pawn in Rosella’s dangerous game of uncovering and exposing the secrets of their tranquil neighborhood. But when a murder shakes their community, suspicions run high and everyone becomes a potential suspect. The tension escalates as neighbor turns against neighbor, revealing hidden motives and chilling revelations. 🔍👥

Ragan masterfully builds suspense, keeping readers guessing with each twist and revelation. The characters are richly developed, each with their own motivations and secrets that add layers of complexity to the plot. Shannon’s determination to uncover the truth, despite the risks, makes her a compelling protagonist. 🌟👩‍💼

The pacing is relentless, driving the narrative forward towards a gripping and satisfying conclusion. Ragan’s skillful storytelling and knack for creating atmospheric tension make Best House on the Block a standout thriller in the genre. Prepare for a rollercoaster ride of suspense and intrigue that will leave you breathless! 🎢🔥

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

I was drawn in from the first two chapters of this book. The first starting off with a kidnapping and then the second ending with a neighbor who is hell bent on getting “justice” by spying on her neighbors and revealing all their secrets. Since Rosella had lost her husband and her son in a freak car accident. She is determined to shake up her neighborhood because of her grief. I found Rosella to be funny, irrational, paranoid, and just plain rude. Her character had me engaged in the first chapters.

The book had a lot of potential but fell kind of flat for me. The characters were not developed and I found myself excited for the story to end.

I wasn’t able to guess the killer but I guess justice was served after all.

Starting off with a kidnapping I see 😳

I love a good murder mystery where everyone in the neighborhood is a suspect. This honestly felt like one giant game of clue.

This moved at a bit of a slower pace, but I liked how everything came back full circle in the end. The twist/reveal was great!

3.5 stars rounding down.

The cover of the book drew me in, and the introduction did not disappoint. There are quite a few characters to keep track of. This book was a bit difficult to pick up and put down. It took some time going back to figure out who was who and which children belonged to which couple after putting the book down for a few days. It would be best read as a cover to cover book in a sitting or two. Overall, it's a good story, lots of suspected suspects with plenty of unlikeable characters to draw your attention.

Suburban mystery/thriller with a neighborhood of suspicious characters. Decent pool or beach read but does’t break any new ground.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209609630

This is one of those books that grabs you right from the start and easily carries you to the end. There are quite a few characters to keep track of and I spent a while going back to figure out who was who and which children belonged to which couple. If you were to sit down and read from cover to cover, it would probably be easier to keep it all straight. I wasn't able to do that, so when I'd jump back in it would take me a while to remember things. But, it's a good story, lots of suspects with plenty of unlikeable characters.

This is a book that will keep you on your toes! Who is the murderer? Everyone had a reason to do that. You will have to keep reading to find out. This book will keep you turning the pages to find out the truth!
This was a good read. Settle in for the weekend and enjoy!

I'm a huge T,R, Ragan fan and was super excited to read this new book. Best House on the Block fell short for me, Definitely not my favorite book by this author but was quick read!

I thought the premise of this book was really interesting and I was very intrigued. Unfortunately it fell flat for me. There were too many things happening and going on that it just did not hold my attention or make me want to pick it back up. I had to DNF.

2.5/5 Stars, rounded down. First a kidnapping and then a murder–this book hit the ground running in the prologue and first few chapters. “Best House on the Block” by T.R. Ragan tells the story of an aspiring journalist, Shannon Gibbons, and her move to the Fab-Forties neighborhood in Sacramento. With the death of her new mentor, 65-year-old renowned journalist Rosella Marlow, things in this seemingly pristine neighborhood start to unravel. Bitter and consumed by grief over the loss of her only child and husband, Rosella was convinced that the neighborhood was out to get her and she made it her mission to ruin the lives of everyone around her, so that they too would experience pain and suffering as much as she had. I loved the immediacy in this book at the beginning, though I’ll admit I stumbled a little bit when Shannon’s daughter was giving her mom a pep talk about how to proceed following Rosella’s death. It felt odd for a child/teenager to be telling Shannon what to do going forward, something about that scene just caused me to lose a bit of steam in terms of proceeding with the story. Shannon as a character never quite lived up to that street-smart investigator/reporter that I wanted her to be. Nevertheless, I kept reading it, but I have to say that this story fell flat for me. It seemed to sort of drag on and had a lot of information, perhaps too much information and storylines going on. At times I felt like the characters contradicted themselves and the twists seemed random and not fully meshed with the storyline. I suppose I enjoyed reading it, but I didn’t love it and there's something just not quite right about it for me.

I thought this book was good! It was engaging and a quick read. I hadn't heard of this author before, but curious to read more by them in the future.

This book falls short of being a thriller and barely qualifies as a mystery. It starts off strong but then peters out. The plot centers around the murder of a woman in an affluent suburb, with every neighbor becoming a suspect and the person who was murdered indicating that "everyone has a secret". However, despite the intriguing setup, there are entirely too many characters and too many threads to keep track of. The end was somewhat satisfying although the "big reveal" secondary to the murder is pretty preposterous. Not sure I would have finished if it was not an ARC

It's a decent read, a good choice for domestic and mystery thriller fans.

Shannon and her family have moved into a beautiful house in the Fabulous Forties of East Sacramento. Journalist Rosella Marlow is bitter, resentful, and consumed by excruciating grief. Rosella is obsessed with wiping the smiles off her contented neighbors’ faces. Now she’s watching closely, ready to expose their secrets - secrets dark enough to destroy lives. But when Rosella is found murdered, everyone on this quiet block is a suspect because everyone has a motive.

I was hooked at the beginning, and it kept me interested for the most part. However, it fell short in some areas. The mystery wasn't really a mystery as the "whodunit" was quite predictable. Nevertheless, the plot at the end was good as it came full circle.

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the eARC.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

Rosella, an older lady who lives in the perfect neighbourhood with perfect facades, enlists the help of Shannon, a new arrival to the area, to work out what is going on behind the brick veneers. Shannon is a complex character, with a mysterious background and a desire to get to the bottom of everything. Together, this ends up being quite the recipe for intrigue and mystery.

I enjoyed the main thread of this book, but I did find that there was a lot in here that got a bit confused after a while. There are a lot of characters, a lot of red herrings, and a lot of dead ends, and just when you think you've got it, you haven't. I did find that the threads got a little tangled after a while, and following a really strong opening, I think this book faltered as it went on and lost where it was going.

I did find as well that the main character was a little too much for me, and she was not quite as much of the street-smart journalist that she was supposed to be, with some surprising lack of knowledge. I enjoyed this book, but I just found that it could have been refined a little more and made a bit more of a punchy narrative.

This book falls short of being a thriller and barely qualifies as a mystery. It begins with promise but quickly deteriorates. The plot centers around the murder of a woman in an affluent suburb, with every neighbor becoming a suspect. However, despite the intriguing setup, the narrative is populated with numerous characters without any depth. The writing is disappointingly simplistic and the overall experience is tedious. If this hadn't been an advanced copy, I would have DNF’d.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was a fascinating novel. Oh the secrets that neighbors may keep. The characters were interesting and delving into their lives was quite entertaining. The ending was definitely a surprise to me in several different ways. A lot of reveals though there are hints toward those reveals that you don’t pick up on till you find them out. Then it all makes sense.
Great read that will keep you hooked.

Rosella was a renowned journalist in the day and one of Shannon’s heroes. Excited about the prospect of being mentored by Rosella, she moves her family to the very neighborhood where Rosella lives. Unfortunately, Rosella doesn’t live up to the hype and instead turns out to be a bitter, nasty shrew who is the scourge of the neighborhood.

Shannon is almost immediately introduced to the clique of the neighborhood but then before she can even start emptying boxes, the neighbor is murdered.

The neighbor turned friend begins to lead the investigation. Of course, her friend knows everyone and pretty much their business so it doesn’t take long before they begin to uncover some interesting secrets. Throw in a twist or two.

The denouement is neatly drawn with one final douzy that was one too many for me.

I noticed a couple places where the author or editor used a name incorrectly. I also stumbled on names used for either boy or girl and was confused about which gender we were talking about more than once already having trouble with the sheer number of support characters.

Slow burn, lots of characters, twists and turns, but entertaining. 3.5 stars

Shannon Gibbons is closer to achieving her long-time ambition of becoming an investigative journalist. When she and her husband move to the upscale Fabulous Forties neighborhood in East Sacramento, she is contacted by renowned journalist Rosella Marlow, a community neighbor. Marlow wants to hire Shannon as a personal assistant for her new project.
After Shannon meets Rosella, her dreams of working with her are shattered. Rosella is obsessed with exposing her neighbors' dark secrets and plans to recruit Shannon to aid her in her efforts. Little does Rosella know that she, too, is being watched.
When the quiet neighborhood is rocked by a murder, everyone becomes a suspect. Shannon teams up with a friend, and they begin their investigation together. The dark secrets surrounding the members of a once quiet and friendly neighborhood soon become evident, creating a serious situation. Will murder be the only way to keep their secrets safe?