What the Neighbors Saw takes place in a neighborhood that may remind you of Desperate Housewives or Real Housewives of Anywhere. Alexis and Sam are ambitious with competitive careers. Sam is close to making partner and putting in impossible hours at a pretigious law firm. Alexis works for a smaller boutique firm as a consultant and is pregnant with their second child. They know where they live will influence decisions like making partner and buy a house just enough beyond their means to cause strife and tension as it turns out to have more urgent repair problems than expected.

They are both drawn to their neighbors down the street, Blair and Teddy. Teddy is a state legislator. Blair is an interior decorator with impeccable taste, not just in decor. They seem the perfect couple.

But then Teddy is murdered. The police do not identify any clear suspect. Of course, the neighbors are all both intrigued and frightened trying to think who it could be. Could it be their gardener, the nanny, could it be one of them. Alexis has a few encounters that make her suspicious and definitely show a scandalous side of the neighborhood.

What the Neighbors Saw is a fast read, a two-bite morsel. That’s a good thing because the characters are not that appealing. Blair is judgmental and hard-edged, a bit condescending and a lot snob, though she covers it well. Alexis is insecure about her Latina heritage and her lack of a father. She always puts her self down which gets annoying. We go back and forth between Blair and Alexis’s point-of-view and neither of them are particularly appealing people to spend time with.

However, I appreciate the mystery and its unexpected resolution. It’s unusual and I don’t mind how it all pans out. I can understand how Blair and Alexis got to where they are and would not be surprised if this is not the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I received an e-galley of What the Neighbors Saw from the publisher through NetGalley.