On Sale Date: October 12, 2021
9781525804700
Trade Paperback
Graydon House
$16.99 USD
352 pages
For fans of Lisa Jewell, Aimee Molloy, and Joshilyn Jackson,
an upmarket suspense novel from a multi-award-winning author about a tightknit
group of suburban mothers who invite a new neighborhood mom into their fold,
and the fallout the night of the annual block party, when secrets from the past
come back to haunt them…
The annual block party is the pinnacle of the year on
idyllic suburban cul de sac Ivy Woods Drive. An influential group of
neighborhood moms—known as the Ivy Five—plan the event for months.
Except the Ivy Five have been four for a long time.
When a new mother moves to town, eager to fit in, the moms
see it as an opportunity to make the group whole again. This year’s block party
should be the best yet... until the women start receiving anonymous messages
threatening to expose the quiet neighborhood’s dark past—and the lengths
they’ve gone to hide it.
As secrets seep out and the threats intensify, the Ivy Five
must sort the loyal from the disloyal, the good from the bad. They'll do
anything to protect their families. But when a twisted plot is revealed, with
dangerous consequences, their steady foundation begins to crumble, leaving only
one certainty: after this year’s block party, Ivy Woods Drive will never be the
same.
9781525804700
Trade Paperback
Graydon House
$16.99 USD
352 pages
BUY LINKS:
My thoughts:
I actually ended up really enjoying this one. There were several times that I was surprised or I thought I had it figured out, but ended up being wrong. It's full of twists and turns. The story is told through alternating perspectives of Theresa, Kendra and "Ghost Girl". I did guess the identity of Ghost girl pretty early on, but that is only one of the surprises. While none of the characters were very likable, I found I didn't mind so much. The mystery had me sucked in enough to let that go. As a former PTA member, I will say that I am thankful I wasn't part of a group of women like the ones in this book. I definitely recommend this, it's dark and twisty and one worth trying out.
Excerpt:
HALLOWEEN
And I don’t mean dead as in dull, or dead as in zombified. I mean dead as in gone. Dead as in expired. Killed.
Murdered.
You may be feeling distressed about this, knowing what you know about Ivy Woods—the great neighborhood it is, the sweet, loving families that live there. How could such a tragedy happen in such a wonderful place? You may have traveled here yourself, as a child or as a parent, lured in by the local fame of the street and its ghoulish decorations each year. The lights, the smoke, the gravestones, and the moaning. The witches, cackling and handing out candy. The swarms of little Frankensteins and cowboys and robots and ballet dancers lugging their pillowcases and plastic pumpkin buckets filled with sugar and junk.
But Ivy Woods isn’t perfect.
Far from it.
Look closer. Look under the makeup and the masks, look into the windows of the perfect houses. Dig under the surface of those freshly mowed lawns and you’ll find the worms. I’ve looked—believe me, I’ve looked. There’s something about this street. There are secrets. I know from watching through the windows, from hearing the hushed conversations, from lingering on their faces when they think everyone else has looked away.
Oh they think they are perfect. They pat themselves on the back for throwing such good parties, for raising such fine children, for living in such big houses.
But they are pretending.
They don masks on this one single night to dress up as someone or something else, but in reality they live their lives this way.
We all do.
We hate ourselves. We are too fat, or too thin. We should work hard, be smarter. We are lonely and depressed. We are worried about money. We are ashamed of the way that our friends and family treat us. But we lie about it all. We hide behind a protective façade, fragile glass figurines inside elaborate dollhouses designed to look like perfect, safe, happy places.
Tonight it will all shatter.
Watch closely and you’ll begin to see what I see. There’s trouble in the air, a cold wind blowing in from far away, and it’s settled on Ivy Woods Drive. The secrets and the lies we tell ourselves and others will emerge tonight like spirits of the dead. Lines will be drawn. Sides will be taken. Someone won’t make it out alive.
I can’t save that person, but I’ll tell the story. Turn over the rocks, expose the worms. Pull back the masks.
Because I know their secrets, secrets that will destroy them all.
If they don’t destroy themselves first.
 |
| Photo by Ron Aira |
TARA LASKOWSKI is the author of One Night Gone, which won an Agatha Award, Macavity Award, and Anthony Award, and was a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, Left Coast Crime Award, Strand Critics' Award, and Library of Virginia Literary Award. She is also the author of two short story collections, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons and Bystanders, has published stories in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Mid-American Review, among others, and is the former editor of SmokeLong Quarterly. Tara earned a BA in English from Susquehanna University and an MFA from George Mason University and currently lives in Virginia. Find her on Twitter and Instagram, @TaraLWrites.
SOCIAL LINKS:
Author website: https://taralaskowski.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tara.laskowski.9
Twitter: @TaraLWrites
Instagram: @taralwrites
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56555529-the-mother-next-door
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