The Neighbors Are Watching: A Novel
Domestic Suspense Thriller
Setting – Washington D.C. Area
Publisher : Minotaur Books
Publication date : June 30, 2026
Print length : 400 pages
Hardcover
ISBN-10 : 1250412579
ISBN-13 : 978-1250412577
Paperback
ISBN-10 : 1250412552
ISBN-13 : 978-1250412553
Kindle
ISBN-13 : 978-1250412560
ASIN : B0FLYQRFXH
Audiobook
ASIN B0FRB6GGVD
Just outside Washington, DC, sits Eastbrook, Bethesda—a leafy suburb with top schools, pristine landscapes, and perfect neighbors. It’s not the kind of place where nannies are killed during robberies gone wrong. And in this picture-perfect neighborhood, someone is desperate to plaster over the cracks in that façade.
A year after the unsolved neighborhood murder, Caren, nearing fifty and staring down an empty nest, has one too many drinks at a graduation party and blacks out on her way home. At least, that’s what everyone says happened. Caren suspects she was drugged by someone. But who?
When Caren teams up with a new neighbor who is obsessed with figuring out who murdered his best friend, they start to uncover what Eastbrook has tried to forget. But in a place where appearances are everything, their search for the truth means not only shattering carefully curated perfection — but putting themselves squarely in the crosshairs of a killer.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
An exclusive neighborhood outside of D.C. in Bethesda, Maryland, appears to be a wonderful place to live, “picture perfect”, but a lot of drama floats beneath the surface.
Caren is about to be an empty nester. Her daughter will soon be off to college and has a full summer planned before she leaves. With her daughter at camp and her husband out of town, Caren decides to attend yet another graduation party. This one is just up the street. When she finally escapes the party, something goes seriously awry on her walk home. She blacks out, and when she wakes up, she has no idea what happened. Everyone thinks she had too many drinks at the party. Caren begs to differ. She thinks someone at the party drugged her.
A young man finds her and helps her get home. He is in the neighborhood because his best friend was murdered there last year, and the killer was never caught. Each with their own mystery to solve, they decide to work together to get to the truth, even if it means uncovering secrets that may hurt their friends and family. It also means the killer is on their trail.
I felt like I was reading a soap opera. A ritzy neighborhood, everyone has at least one secret, and some even band together for all of the wrong reasons. Part of the plot revolves around a true scandal from 2019, but it takes a while for it to come to light. The author throws in several twists and turns, but I found most to be fairly predictable. Gaslighting, entitled teenagers, parents that cater to those teenagers, lies, broken friendships, hurtful gossip, loveless marriages, a whiny protagonist, and murder. Yes, Caren, with a “C” endures a lot, but I cared less.
A young man named Finn is involved because his “best friend”, a nanny, was murdered, and he was determined to find her killer. The whole thing just didn’t work for me. None of his behavior added up to an urgency that any normal person would show in the same situations.
This is the second book this year that almost became a DNF. I went back and read the hype and thought I must be missing something, so I gave the book a second chance, and kept reading. There were a few redeeming pages, so I did complete the book. My first thought when I reached the end was that 400 pages was too long. Tighten things up, remove the repetition, and try to give readers at least one likable character.
I found The Neighbors Are Watching a disappointment. I have heard such good things about Aggie Blum Thompson, and I usually enjoy stories like this. I may give another one of her books a try. I am rounding up to 3 stars, although it was not a Satisfactory Excursion, but it wasn’t quite a 2-star Dreadful Detour either. It just didn’t hit the sweet spot for me. For now, I will get my neighborhood trauma and drama from Days of Our Lives.
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using my links, I will receive a small commission from the sale at no cost to you. Thank you for supporting Escape With Dollycas.
Your Escape Into A Good Book Travel Agent
About the Author
Before turning to fiction, Aggie Blum Thompson covered real-life crime as a newspaper reporter for a number of papers, including The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. Aggie is a member of Mystery Writers of America. She lives with her family in the suburbs of Washington, DC.
Also by Aggie Blum Thompson
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” “As an Amazon Associate, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.” I am also an affiliate of Bookshop.org, and I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.” These funds are often used for gift cards and other giveaways.
You must be logged in to post a comment.