Title: The Mother Next Door
Author: Tara Laskowski
Genre: Mystery/thriller
Rating: DNF
GOOD MOTHERS…
Never show their feelings.
Never spill their secrets.
Never admit to murder.
The annual Halloween 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—plans the event for months.
Except the Ivy Five has 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.
This was just a case of the book not being a good fit for me right now. I read about 20% of it before I stopped reading, and the writing was strong, the characters realistic. I just didn’t like the characters. I thought they were petty, vapid, and superficial, and I didn’t care about them in the slightest—or their secrets.
Tara Laskowski is an award-winning author. The Mother Next Door is her newest novel.
(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/Graydon House in exchange for an honest review.)
Tomorrow Is Another Day 