Genre ~ mystery, psychological thriller
Featuring ~ single mom, dementia, references to child abuse
POV ~ single 1st person
Release date ~ January 5, 2023
Publisher ~ Boldwood Books
Page count ~ 308
Audio length ~ 9 hours 49 minutes
My rating ~ 4ā
Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for organizing the tour.
Check out what my fellow bloggers thought of this one ā¤µ
My review:
Shelly and her 10 year old daughter, Lauren, have moved into the tight-nit neighborhood of Beech Close after Shelly’s mom has passed away. Shelly’s house is the only rental out of 6 houses making her already feel like an outlier. But when she figures out the previous tenant, Danielle, moved out abruptly and is now deemed missing she can’t help but suspect her neighbors know more than they are letting on.
It was a bit slow moving since there is a lot more monologue than dialogue making for some long paragraphs. It took me a few chapters to keep everyone’s name and house number straight. There were some delightful and some not so delightful characters and everyone seemed like they could be a suspect one time or another. I really enjoyed Shelly and Josh’s relationship ~ they were definitely bff goals. Josh’s mom, Joyce, was great too. I loved Teddy the dog ~ he was referenced so often that I thought something bad might happen to him, but thankfully he was unharmed throughout.
My heart was really pounding at the end there ~ one of my biggest fears is what happened after she was out of the van. I was really pleased with how everything turned out. I’ll definitely be reading more of Gemma’s work in the future.
*Thanks to Gemma Rogers, Rachel’s Random Resources, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Book blurb:
Love thy neighbour or fear thy neighbour?
For myself and Lauren, my 10-year-old daughter No3 Beech Close was to be our refuge after two years of hell nursing my sick mother.
In need of a fresh start and wanting to distance ourselves from the bad memories of my motherās house we moved to Beech Close, a small cul-de-sac of six houses situated around a picture-perfect green.
It seemed perfect but I had underestimated the secrets that this tightknit community shared.
Within hours of moving in my next-door neighbour Valerie made it abundantly clear we were not welcome.
I soon discovered that Valerie hadnāt welcomed the previous occupant either and sheād since disappeared without a trace.
Had I put myself and my daughter in danger moving to Beech Close?
Which neighbours, if any could I trust?
And how far would they go to keep their secret?
Purchase Link – https://amzn.to/3DkqDIy
Author Bio ā
Gemma Rogers was inspired to write gritty thrillers by a traumatic event in her own life nearly twenty years ago. Her debut novel Stalker was published in September 2019 and marked the beginning of a new writing career. Gemma lives in West Sussex with her husband and two daughters.
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Great review, Heather š
I too read this book a while ago (my tour stop is on 9th). I found the neighborhood a bit creepy – thank goodness things ended well!
For sure! Iāll watch for your review.