Author: Freya Sampson
Publication: Berkley (April 2, 2024)
Description: Nothing brings neighbors together like someone else’s secrets… At Shelley House, the walls have ears, and they’re attached to a ragtag duo of busybodies ready to pry, snoop, and generally annoy their neighbors into solving a crime.
Seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling has lived in Shelley House longer than any of the other residents, and if you take their word for it, she’s as cantankerous as they come. But Dorothy has her reasons for spying. And none of them require justifying herself to Kat Bennett.
Twenty-five-year-old Kat has never known a place where she felt truly at home, and crumbling Shelley House is no different. Her neighbors find her prickly and unapproachable, but beneath her tough exterior, Kat’s plagued by a guilty secret from her past.
When their apartments face demolition, sworn enemies Kat and Dorothy agree on just one thing: they must save their historic building. But when someone plays dirty—and one of the residents is viciously taken down—Dorothy and Kat seek justice. The police close the investigation too soon, leaving it up to the unlikely amateur sleuths—with a playful Jack Russell terrier at their side—to restore peace in their community.
My Thoughts: This quiet mystery, told in two voices, was as much about coming to terms with the past as it was a mystery to be solved.
Dorothy Darling is seventy-seven and has lived in Shelly House for more than thirty-four years. She prides herself, and irritates her neighbors, by her constant watching and noting of infractions to all the various rules of the place. She is also something of a recluse preferring own company.
Kat Bennett is a twenty-five-year-old complete with pink hair and tattoos - and secrets. She has come to Shelley House renting a room in Joseph Chamber's apartment. She just wants a look around the town where she has some happy memories of time spent with her grandfather until things all blew up and her mother took her away. She has been feeling guilty about those events ever since.
When Shelley House, which has been neglected for years, becomes the site of a new development, Dorothy, Joseph and Kat are all determined to stop the new development planned by a shady builder who is most known for the dirty tricks he uses to get others to sell him their property.
Told alternately by Kat and Dorothy, the story gradually unfolds, and we learn more about each main character's past.
If you are looking for fast-paced excitement and danger, look elsewhere. However, if you are looking for characters who are coming to terms with their past and a slow-growing friendship, you have come to the right place.
Favorite Quote:
Favorite Quote:
"Dorothy, can you hear me?"The women let out another soft rasp but didn't move. Kat knelt down, not daring to touch her."I'll call an ambulance," she heard Vince say behind her."I'll get her a blanket," Tomasz called.
Second blog which I follow having a review of this book. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete