I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Neighbors Are Watching
by Aggie Blum Thompson
Published by Minotaur Books on June 30, 2026
Setting: Bethesda, Maryland
Genres: Thriller and Suspense
Pages: 393
Format: Audible Audiobook, ebook, Hardcover, Kindle, Paperback
Source: NetGalley
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon
From the "master of suburban scandal" (Samantha M. Bailey) comes a scandalous twisty thriller about obsession, betrayal, and the price of perfection
Just outside Washington, DC, sits Eastbrook, Bethesda―a leafy suburb with top schools, pristine landscapes, and perfect neighbors. It’s not the kind of place where nannies are killed during robberies gone wrong. And in this picture-perfect neighborhood, someone is desperate to plaster over the cracks in that façade.
A year after the unsolved neighborhood murder, Caren, nearing fifty and staring down an empty nest, has one too many drinks at a graduation party and blacks out on her way home. At least, that’s what everyone says happened. Caren suspects she was drugged by someone. But who?
When Caren teams up with a new neighbor who is obsessed with figuring out who murdered his best friend, they start to uncover what Eastbrook has tried to forget. But in a place where appearances are everything, their search for the truth means not only shattering carefully curated perfection ― but putting themselves squarely in the crosshairs of a killer.
The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson is scary.
Will Caren figure out what is happening around her?
Caren is our main character. She is fifty, lives in a great neighborhood, and just watched her youngest graduate from high school. From the outside, her life looks good, yet she is unemployed and losing part of her identity: being a mom. Now that her youngest is headed to college, things seem lonely. Caren’s husband is a nice guy, and he seems like a great dad.
Caren attends the graduation party of one of the neighbors’ kids. But she doesn’t feel safe or comfortable. So, she leaves the party midway through. Her home is empty, but before heading to bed, she needs to walk the dog. Caren isn’t feeling herself after the party and gets freaked out on the walk. She blacks out and wakes up in a strange place in the dress she left the party in. Her memory is gone, and she seems to have a concussion.
It all seems like a misunderstanding, which her husband tries to reinforce. However, things get strange here, and Caren starts seeing her neighborhood more clearly. I like Caren and her steadfast moral boundary. Some things to her are black and white, like cheating or, say, murder. However, some people in this neighborhood believe that if they have enough money, they can buy their way in or out of anything.
Minor Characters
I also like Fin and his story. Then there is Tori; she is quite immature, and it’s hard to believe that she is a counselor. Although some of what she did shouldn’t have had the consequences she got.
As for the Allard family, I guess they are what they are, and their children learned from the parents.
Four Stars
My rating for The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson is four stars. I was truly intrigued by the events and the way that Caren handled things. I think I would have wigged out a bit more than she did. Ms. Thompson really gave us all something to think about when it comes to our neighbors.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Neighbors Are Watching by Aggie Blum Thompson.
Until the next time,
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About Aggie Blum Thompson
Before turning to fiction, Aggie worked as a newspaper reporter, covering cops, courts, and trials, with a healthy dose of the mundane mixed in. Her writing has appeared in newspapers such as The Boston Globe and The Washington Post. She lives in the suburbs just over the Washington D.C. line with her husband, two children, cat, and dog.
Her five domestic thrillers — I DON’T FORGIVE YOU, ALL THE DIRTY SECRETS, SUCH A LOVELY FAMILY, YOU DESERVE TO KNOW, and THE NEIGHBORS ARE WATCHING — are all set in the Washington DC area.
YOU DESERVE TO KNOW has been scooped up by Hulu for a series starring the leads of the Vampire Diaries, Nina Dobrev and Paul Wesley.
Book number six — HIDE ME IN THE NIGHT — will be published in the spring of 2027.
^ taken from the author’s website
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2026 Cloak and Dagger JEN
- 2026 Goodreads RC JEN
- 2026 Medical Examiner Mystery RC JEN
- 2026 Thriller RC
- 2026 Traveling the World JEN
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