Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson

 

Publisher:  Berkley

On Sale Date: April 2 2024

Pages: 384

I reviewed a digital review copy from the publisher

Dorothy Darling has lived in the apartment building Shelley House in the English town of Chalcot for many decades and she is the oldest resident at 77 years old. She keeps track and and eye on everything and everyone that lives in Shelley House. Another longtime resident is Joseph, who has some kind of a longtime issue with Dorothy for unclear reasons. Dorothy rarely leaves her home, which is linked to her trauma of the loss of her young daughter.

Kat is a twenty-five year old woman with a troubled past who replies to an ad for a room rental at Joseph's apartment, and they become good friends, and even her beloved dog can stay. Joseph is one of the residents who is an active participant in the actions against the demolition of Shelley House by the landlord, who wants to build fancy expensive apartments on the grounds of Shelley House.

But when Kat comes home one day, she finds Joseph unconscious on the floor with a massive bleading head wound. What happened to him, was it a burglar or something else? Kat is determined to find out what was behind this, and when more strange things and threats to residents she teams up with Dorothy, to protect their beloved Shelley House from demolition, and it seems that the  action against the possible demolition of Shelley House and the threats have a link..

Nosy Neighbors is a funny and cozy read with everything in it to make it a good book! It is originally a British book by British author Freya Sampson which is now also available in an US edition, and this is the type of books that I like, because  altough it is a mystery, it also has that typically British cosy style of writing which has a funny undertone to it. The storyline is just magnificent. It is mysterious, cosy and funny at the same time. The characters are just as magnificent as the plot, with Dororthy and Kat as the lead characters in the story. They both have a tragic past, and altough they dislike eachother at the start, in the end they team up and form a close bond to protect their beloved Shelley House and its residents. The mystery part was just great and well worked out, as every other part of the book.

I found this book very charming, entertaining and fun. I loved reading it and I truly recommend it!