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.

 

From award-winning author Tara Laskowski, The Mother Next Door is an atmospheric novel of domestic suspense in which the strive for perfection ends in murder…

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The women stood between two cafeteria tables, four of them with slight smiles, heads cocked at the same angle, a united front. An army with moisturizing sunscreen and Kate Spade purses, doused in St. Yves perfume.

 

…she was about as clever as a pipe cleaner.

 

We passed gossip around our group like a bottle of wine— plenty for everyone.

 

The perfect house on the hill that I’d had to have. The perfect house in the perfect neighborhood. I’d built a castle on top of a snake’s nest.

 

 My Review:

 

This was cleverly paced and shrewdly plotted with just the right levels of humor and irony to temper the intrigue and needling angsty suspense that kept tickling my gray matter. The author is new to me and I enjoyed her writing style and hope to read much more of it in the future as her prose was smartly provocative yet easy to follow and called up sharp visuals behind my eyes. She craftily stuffed agile narratives with uniquely compelling characters who kept me a bit on edge and curious to know more about each one, although I wouldn’t want to share air with any of them.