The dark underbelly of suburbia. Secrets kept from spouses, siblings, coworkers. Longtime friendships betrayed. And perhaps the most disturbing of all: the terrible thing someone just like you might do under just the right (or wrong) circumstances. These are some of the hallmarks of psychological suspense, in which no one – sometimes not even the hero or heroine – can be trusted, but readers of tense, twisty, moody stories tell us they can’t get enough. If this means you, please join us for a virtual conversation with summer sensations Megan Miranda and Shari Lapena on Thursday, August 12. While you are waiting to sample their newest releases, keep yourself distracted with these other stories of not-so-perfect neighbors.
The Other Woman’s House by Sophie Hannah
A murder seems to have been committed in a house about which a woman named Connie is obsessing. Once Connie discovers the house has been put up for sale, she visits it constantly on the real estate website. During one view, she sees a body and the bloody evidence of a murder in the house, but the police cannot find any sign in the house that a murder took place there.
The Wrong Family by Tarryn Fisher
Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son – the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore. Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel…
Those People by Louise Candlish
An idyllic suburban neighborhood is thrown into chaos by the arrival of new neighbors who disrupt the community with rude behavior, loud music and unsightly renovations, until a shattering murder exposes a network of secrets.
What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan
Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son Ben when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry–until Ben vanishes. Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister.
The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica
Unnerved by her husband’s inheritance of a decrepit coastal property and the presence of a disturbed relative, community newcomer Sadie uncovers harrowing facts about her family’s possible role in a neighbor’s murder.
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
The friends of a seemingly perfect socialite couple begin to see cracks in the facade when they realize that the husband and wife are never apart and that there are bars on one of their upstairs windows.
