Book Blurb:
Revealing a neighbor’s deep secrets and dark obsessions turns to murder in a shocking novel of psychological suspense by a New York Times bestselling author.
Aspiring investigative journalist Shannon Gibbons and her family have moved into a beautiful house in the Fabulous Forties of East Sacramento, where Shannon finds a fast connection with a new neighbor. Renowned journalist Rosella Marlow appears to have a genuine interest in giving Shannon’s own career a boost―as personal assistant on Rosella’s new project. Appearances are deceiving.
Bitter, resentful, and consumed by excruciating grief, Rosella is obsessed with wiping the smiles off her contented neighbors’ faces. Now she’s watching closely, ready to expose their secrets. Secrets dark enough to destroy lives. In Shannon, Rosella has a trusting and unwitting accomplice. But Rosella is being watched, too. And when someone is found murdered, everyone on this quiet block is a suspect. Because everyone has a motive.
With the help of a friend, Shannon begins an investigation into the death of a person she just met. As neighbor is pitted against neighbor, the truth is much scarier than anything they imagined.
My Review:
“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” Yup, and investigative journalist Shannon Gibbons should have remembered that old quote when she responded to the inquiry from Rosella Marlow. Rosella was a renowned journalist in the day and one of Shannon’s heroes. Excited about the prospect of being mentored by Rosella, she moves her family to the very neighborhood where Rosella lives.
Unfortunately, Rosella doesn’t live up to the hype and instead turns out to be a bitter, nasty woman who is the scourge of the neighborhood. It’s also unfortunate that the neighborhood is square in the Fabulous Forties of East Sacramento which is definitely not a fictional upscale historical area but certainly breathtakingly rich, impressive, and gorgeous.
Shannon is almost immediately introduced to the clique of the neighborhood but then before she can even start emptying boxes, the neighbor is murdered. One of the lady’s has a keen interest in figuring out which of her friends is responsible and Shannon sees an opportunity for collaboration and a story.
Okay, but what do all these busy-bodies have to do with the prologue? There is a plethora of suspects. Everyone disliked the woman intensely and all had a motive and opportunity.
After the hook, the pace slows somewhat to introduce all the support characters—and there are a lot.
For an aspiring journalist, Shannon seems a bit clueless where or how to begin the investigation and is directed by the neighbor-turned-friend. Of course, her friend knows everyone and pretty much their business and it doesn’t take long before they begin to uncover some interesting secrets. Throw in a twist or two.
The denouement is neatly drawn together with one final douzy that was one too many and just didn’t work for me.
I noticed a couple places where even the author or editor used a name incorrectly, but no problem. I also stumbled on non-gender names used for either boy or girl and confused which gender we were talking about more than once (i.e., Mac, Ridley, Blake, Rowan), already having trouble with the sheer number of support characters. Interesting plot. I waited to see where the prologue ties in, but after getting a few more clues, I knew.
I did, however, get a small chuckle out of the reference to an old Volkswagen van. “It was orange and Stephanie called it Pumpkin, as if it were a beloved pet.” Funny, because we recently adopted an orange, white, black, and brown Pomeranian we named Punkin. (Yeah—adopted her in October.)
I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.
Rosepoint Rating: Three point Five Stars 
Book Details:
Genre: Domestic Thrillers, Kidnapping Thrillers, Murder Thrillers
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
ISBN-10: 1662517300
ISBN-13: 978-1662517303
ASIN: B0CWF9Z1MB
Print Length: 287 pages
Publication Date: November 5, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link(s):
Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble
The Author: T.R. Ragan (Theresa Ragan) has sold over four million books and is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling mystery and thriller author.
Readers interested in signing up for a monthly newsletter or getting their name in a TR RAGAN book should check out her website at http://www.trragan.com
Facebook • Twitter • Instagram: @trraganauthor
LIZZY GARDNER SERIES
Abducted
Dead Weight
A Dark Mind
Obsessed
Almost Dead
Evil Never Dies
FAITH MCMANN TRILOGY
Furious
Outrage
Wrath
JESSIE COLE SERIES
Her Last Day
Deadly Recall
Deranged
Buried Deep
SAWYER BROOKS SERIES
Don’t Make a Sound
Out of Her Mind
No Going Back
Count to Three
Such A Beautiful Family
Theresa Ragan Novels: Return of the Rose, A Knight in Central Park, Finding Kate Huntley, Dead Man Running, Having My Baby, An Offer He Can’t Refuse, Taming Mad Max, and Here Comes the Bride!
©2024 V Williams
Rosepoint Publishing 