What the Neighbors Saw

DEBUT Adelman’s debut, told in alternating chapters, is a psychological tale of two women with vastly different backgrounds. Young marrieds Alexis and Sam purchase a “fixer-upper” in a highly coveted neighborhood. Their joy quickly turns to recriminations and petty bickering when they realize they’ve taken on a herculean task. Sam is frequently away, leaving Alexis alone with their nanny and young son. Alexis also feels her “otherness” as the child of a single mother and the only Black person in the community. When their neighbor Teddy is found dead on a nearby jogging path, Alexis reaches out to Blair, his widow. The police declare Teddy’s death a homicide, which deepens Alexis’s friendship with Blair and heightens her marital discord. Alexis is drawn to solving the crime, and her inquiries will lead her to deeply buried secrets. While Adelman teases out secrets and past indiscretions in both women’s lives, there are few real surprises, and the big reveal at the end falls flat. The majority of the characters lack nuance, which is a shame, because Alexis’s background could have been examined to a much higher degree.