I really enjoyed One Night Gone last year, so was thrilled to see that Tara Laskowski had a new book coming out this year. I know, suspense readers are getting tired of the Mother/Daughter/Husband titles, but I assure you, this one is worth your reading time.
The Mother Next Door is an October 2021 release from Graydon House Publishers
This post contains affiliate links, see disclosures for more detail. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book, all opinions are my own.
About the Book:
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.
My Thoughts:
I gave this book 3.5 stars
I liked last year’s One Night Gone by Laskowski, but I found this one to be a bit more compulsively entertaining. Combine Desperate Housewives with Mean Girls and you get an idea of the fast-paced novel here.
Theresa and her family move onto the Ivy Woods cul-de-sac. Theresa wants nothing more than to fit in with the “Ivy Five” (well, now they’re down to four) women who lead privileged lives. They host the annual Halloween party that is the event of the town. Yet every single one of them have secrets, tell lies, and will stop at nothing to keep those secrets from coming to light. Even Theresa.
Overall, this is a captivating novel that kept me invested, just because I wanted to see how things would shake out. I found a lot of it to be unbelievable, but that didn’t take too much away from my enjoyment. So much drama occurs that it was kind of fun to watch how these mean girls/elite women, in turn, got their just desserts for their past actions. For a quick domestic thriller, this one is perfect for the fall season with its Halloween vibes and chock full of witches with a “b”.
About the Author:
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
