Thriller Thursday: What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman

Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Genre: Thriller, Mystery

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Length: 304 pages

Author Information: Website

In a nutshell: What the Neighbors Saw by debut author Melissa Adelman was a perfectly serviceable domestic thriller, but to be honest, I expected more.

As the book opens, readers are introduced to Alexis and Sam, a young couple who are in a wealthy suburb of Washington DC looking to buy a house. In truth, they would be living well outside their means here, but when an old fixer-upper suddenly comes onto the market for a really good price, the deal is just too good to pass up. Sam will be making partner at his law firm any day now, they rationalize, and with Alexis pregnant with their second child, their growing family is going to need a lot more room than the row house they’re currently living in. So what if the new house is a little rundown? Being able to say they live in an exclusive neighborhood is all that matters. Besides, they’ll have plenty of time to turn the place into their dream home, it’ll be their long-term project.

But pretty soon, Alexis and Sam realize they may have bitten off more than they can chew. The house is in need of more work than either of them expected, especially with the pressure to match their neighbors’ lifestyles. Just furnishing the larger space alone will be a strain on their bank accounts. With the arrival of the baby, Alexis also has her hands full caring for two young children, while Sam is putting in more hours at the office, still trying to get his promotion. All of this is causing them to fight constantly as the added stress takes a toll on their marriage.

However, the real kicker comes when the body of their neighbor is discovered by the river in the scenic woods just behind their property. Teddy was a local politician with a picture-perfect family who lived in the house right across from Alexis and Sam. The police believed he was out running when he was attacked and killed, and the case is being treated as a homicide. Alexis ends up befriending Teddy’s widow, Blair, learning all about their neighbors’ secrets. A killer is on the loose, and she believes there’s a high chance it’s one of them. Suddenly, their new neighborhood doesn’t seem so attractive anymore, and Alexis is starting to regret they ever moved.

Right off the bat, there’s nothing too new about this premise. Murderous drama taking place amongst the upper crust who live ostensibly flawless lives in well-to-do neighborhoods, why, that’s practically a staple of the genre. But with What the Neighbors Saw being Adelman’s first novel, I was willing to overlook a few clichés and go down some well-trodden paths.

And I’ve got to say, if there’s one thing she’s gotten down pat, it’s the “unlikeable characters” aspect. I get that characters you just love to hate are practically a requirement for thrillers at this point, but boy, the ones in this book are in a different league entirely. As much as I wanted to sympathize with them, for every admirable trait they possessed there were perhaps ten more that made me want to toss them down some deep dark hole and throw away the key. Alexis has a lot of emotional baggage and a troubled past that makes her somewhat insecure, but it’s hard to feel sorry for her when she’s also shallow, impulsive, frivolous, a busybody, and generally a flaky person all around. Still, that’s nothing compared to Sam, who is just a straight up sack of shit.

To the novel’s credit though, the plot did manage to keep me engaged with many unexpected and scandalous twists that, granted, may require you to suspend your disbelief. In fact, I was so taken by the story that when the end came, I couldn’t help but feel let down by the abruptness of the ending or the overall sense of “wait, that’s it?” that came over me when the dust eventually settled. While the author had managed to maintain a measured but effective pace through most of the book, the conclusion felt rushed and I thought things tied up just a little too neatly.

All in all, not bad for a debut, but it wasn’t enough to make a splash with me, though I feel casual readers of the thriller genre will enjoy this a lot more.