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Friday, September 6, 2024

Review: The Body Next Door by Maia Chance

Author: Maia Chance
Publisher: MIRA
Publication Date: August 2024

Hannah McCollough’s life is far from perfect, but you’d never know it by looking at her. Instead, you’d see a beautiful young mother wholly devoted to her two children and a docile wife utterly besotted with her self-made millionaire husband, Allan. You’d see the designer clothes she wears, the luxury car she drives, the dewy-eyed au pair she employs.

You wouldn’t see the dark secret she carries.

But when a construction crew unearths the body of a young girl near the McCulloughs’ vacation home on Orcas Island, Hannah has no choice but to confront her past. She wonders how much Allan knows about the victim and the apocalyptic cult she was connected to. Meanwhile, Allan can’t seem to understand why his beautiful young bride, as polished and pristine as the collectible artifacts in his glass case, would threaten their fairy-tale lifestyle by digging too deep, in places she knows she shouldn’t.

As the police investigation into the gruesome discovery deepens, the facade of Hannah’s picture-perfect marriage starts to crumble, and she soon finds herself on a dire hunt for answers. And Hannah’s search takes an unexpected turn after she crosses paths with three strangers with shocking secrets of their own.

The Body Next Door really is a book you are better off going into not knowing much.  The story goes between present and past and at first seems to be two different storylines.  Everyone in the present day has a secret.  And when a body is found near Hannah and Allan's vacation home, the secrets begin to come out. 

I did enjoy this one.  It started out kind of slow and took a bit before all of the threads started to be connected. However, the payoff for a slower start was worth it. Ultimately it went in a direction I was not expecting. While there were some surprises, but I did guess one of the major ones. There does need to be a little bit of suspension of belief while reading this one though, so keep that in mind.  I won't say much more so I don't spoil things.  I do recommend this one.


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