No. 5 Cobblestone Lane

by Anna Willett

Note: NO. 5 Cobblestone Lane was originally released as Dear Neighbour  in 2020.

She came looking for a fresh start. She walked into a trap.

Amy Holt is twenty-eight, lonely and desperate to be loved. So when her boyfriend Zane talks her into moving to a rental at the end of quiet Cobblestone Lane, she lets herself believe it’s the new beginning she’s been waiting for.

It isn’t.

Genres: Thriller, Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 2020

Reviews

[John Morris]

A solid 4 stars!

This was my first Anna Willett book and it won't be my last. She is a talented writer and this story was a highly enjoyable, well rounded, thriller.

It was a beautifully crafted tale, about coercive control, abusive relationships and mindless violence. Weak men can turn out to be the most controlling and violent of creatures, unless they are challenged. In this story we have Amy, a young woman desperate for love and attention but trapped in an abusive relationship. She was someone prepared to forgive almost anything for the love of her life, even though he treated her like dirt. Zane was his name and he was a first class loser. His violent and drug addled friend, Spike, was the third person in this relationship. I kept wanting to scream at Amy to get the hell out of that relationship but, of course, she didn't. She 'loved' Zane.

Then an elderly (and wealthy) couple come into their orbit, Frank and Greta. A couple, as it transpires, with dark secrets of their own.

This was an engaging story of a weak and needy young woman finding redemption in the most unlikely of circumstances. A really good page-turner of a story!

[Peter Topside]

What an awesome, well rounded thriller! Anna Willett crafted this story with a lot of time and effort, as each character, whether it was Zane, Spider, Frank, Greta, or Amy, all had a tremendous amount of focus, leaving no stone unturned. Frank was probably the most interesting of the bunch and had a helluva backstory and progression through the book. Amy played the role of the innocent bystander, trapped in an abusive relationship with an deplorable dud like Zane. But, like in any abusive situation, you could really understand her conflicted feelings on how to handle everything with her boyfriend, even the most grim events. But Willett made you dislike Zane organically and didn’t need to force it down your throat. I was hoping for a bit of a happier ending for Amy, but what ended up as the grand finale matched the tone of the story. There wasn’t a lot of action or bloodshed here, but none of that was necessary. It was just a damn good story by a damn good author. To quote the late Stan Lee, ‘’nuff said.’

[Sandysbookaday (on indefinite hiatus)]

EXCERPT: it started with her phone buzzing at 3:04 am that morning. Only nine months ago and as fresh in her mind as an unhealed wound. Foggy from sleep, she'd mistaken its sound for her alarm.

'Amy?' There was fear in Zane's voice, something she'd never heard before. 'Somethings happened. Can you come to my place?'

He was breathing hard. Even half-asleep, she heard the panic in his voice and it acted on her like a cold shock, pulling her into a hyper-alert state.

Her heart stuttered. 'What is it? Are you okay?'

She remembered jumping out of bed, the phone clamped to her ear. They'd only been together for three months but already everything else, family, friends and work were falling away until Zane was her life.

'I need help,' he said.

ABOUT 'DEAR NEIGHBOUR': When Amy and her boyfriend Zane move into a house together, she hopes they can put their rocky past behind them.

She gets a job and befriends the older couple who live in the house next door. Amy is impressed by their sophistication, wealth, and love for one another and in turn they somewhat adopt her when Amy’s relationship with her boyfriend deteriorates rapidly.

Jobless, often absent and clearly up to no good, Zane is jealous and increasingly abusive. His hold over the shy Amy has been strong, yet cracks are beginning to show.

When a policeman knocks on her door one innocuous day, it is the start of series of events that will make the two households clash together in a fatal entanglement.

Zane will see an opportunity and greed will get the better of him, but are their new neighbours quite the easy targets they appear to be?

Amy is in the middle of it all and someone is going to get killed.

MY THOUGHTS: 'Seedy' is the word I would use to sum up the atmosphere of Dear Neighbour.

Zane has dragged Amy, not exactly unwillingly, into his world of drugs and violence and now she feels trapped in a sick and destructive relationship.

I didn't like Amy at all, not even at the end. I kept wanting
to yell at her to wake up and get out. She is weak and needy and willing to do anything to keep Zane by her side. Zane is also weak, but exceedingly manipulative, and he has Amy right where he wants her, supporting him both financially and emotionally. Actually, the only characters I liked were Frank and Greta, a devoted elderly couple who are hiding a surprising secret.

It is no secret that I don't like books with a central theme of drugs and violence. I don't like weak and stupid female characters. I don't like weak and stupid characters full stop. I like clever mysteries and psychological thrillers with plenty of surprises and twists. Dear Neighbour didn't give me that, and yet I kept reading. Right to the end. And while I can't say that I enjoyed the read, I can see its appeal to others.

Dear Neighbour is a quick, fast-paced read at 184 pages, and certainly packed with action. It reminds me of the pulp fiction published in the 1950s, but lacking the lurid cover and 'racy' scenes.

⭐⭐.6

#Dear Neighbour #annawillettauthor #the_book_folks

@AnnaWillett9 @thebookfolks @HenryRoiPR

#australiancrimefiction #contemporaryfiction #domesticdrama #thriller

THE AUTHOR: Raised in Western Australia Anna developed a love for fiction at an early age and began writing short stories in high school. Drawn to dark tales, Anna enjoys writing thrillers with strong female characters. When she’s not writing, Anna enjoys reading, travelling and spending time with her husband and two children.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Henry Roi PR for providing a digital ARC of Dear Neighbour by Anna Willett for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

[Brenda]

Amy and her boyfriend Zane travelled to Bunbury from Perth for a weekend party, but when Zane picked up a job in the town, they decided to rent there, on Cobblestone Lane, and Amy would move in with Zane. His friend Spider was a troublemaker; a person Amy couldn’t stomach – but where Zane was, Spider was too. Their next-door neighbours, Frank and Greta, were well off, elderly and loving. But they had their own secrets. Greta was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and Frank was caring for her, so when Amy befriended them, she enjoyed that closeness as her relationship with Zane deteriorated and he became abusive.

When the policeman knocked on her door, Amy was sure it was about Zane. But he just wanted to ask questions – which was the beginning of a series of events which escalated into disaster and danger. What would be the outcome for Amy, Zane and her neighbours whom she now loved dearly?

Dear Neighbour by Aussie author Anna Willett is another gritty, suspenseful and chilling thriller which I loved. I kept up a dialogue with Amy – I could see what would happen; why couldn’t she!! My most common refrain was ‘don’t do it!!’ Spider was a horrible character, well portrayed in the part he was to play while Amy, at the beginning was shy and naïve, and with her friendship with the neighbours, toughened up. Zane – well, he was a mixture! Dear Neighbour was a great read which I recommend.

[Chris]

A little pocket of terror and dysfunction in a small and secluded neighborhood.

Amy lacks self esteem with boyfriend, Zane. And any self esteem for herself. She has a birthmark on her face that makes her feel most insecure. Deep inside, she is a kind, loving and caring person. But this Zane guy, he’s a narcissist, bossy, bully and user of any weak opportunity. Amy is weak; she walks on eggshells all around him and is constantly questioning herself of their relationship and their future together.

Zane is close friends with a troublemaker named Spider. Too close. Amy does not like Spider. I don’t either! She does not like the way he shows up and latches onto Zane. Takes over her space. She does not like the way he looks at her, talks to her. Smirking at her. He calls her “Splat” behind her back which is a derogatory insult to her birthmark and what kids called her back in her younger days at school. She does not like how Zane changes his personality whenever Spider is around. When Zane and Amy first moved in together, Amy started to feel pushed out in this three person relationship and sees the error of Zane and Spider’s ways, though she is loathe to admit it to herself.

Amy befriends the elderly neighbors next door and this innocuous relationship turns into an expose of secrets in their life and also opening up Amy’s eyes to the bad news and criminal plans of these two troublemakers, Zane and Spider.

Amy is really caught up in between everyone here, and there are some surprising catastrophic events. It’s a good honest story of a young dysfunctional relationship that’s cracking hard at the edges as time goes by. Its a story about trusting your gut and speaking up or doing something about what is wrong. It’s also a good story of hope, kindness and the friendship of Amy with the elderly neighbors. If they had not befriended each other, I’m not sure how this all would have ended. However, it wasn’t a totally happy ending, by any means. I was (and wasn’t) shocked by how the circumstances turned out!

[Janet Harrison]

Another fabulous thriller by Anna Willett! You know you love a book when it takes over your thoughts during your daily activities, and this book did that to me. Just when you think you know which neighbour you should be wary of, think again. There are lots of plot twists and unexpected turns.
I highly recommend this book.

[Hannah]

I couldn’t force myself to finish this book. Even though it was super short the two main characters were pissing me off and were extremely annoying.

[Kim]

What a fantastic and quick read. This book pulls you in and doesn’t let go. I didn’t have the opportunity to read it cover to cover (which is definitely the preferred way to read an exciting book like this!) but I found myself squeezing in small reading sessions throughout the day to see what happened to Amy and those around her. I highly recommend this book to any mystery, thriller, or horror lovers out there!

[Kathy Garthwaite]

Fantastic story. One of my favourite writers.

[Mickey]

Do you ever really know your neighbours? When Amy and her boyfriend Zane move into a new home, Amy befriends her elderly neighbours, Frank and Greta. They become an escape for her as her relationship isn't going well thanks, in large part, to Zanes best friend Spider. But not everyone is as they seem.
This one took a little while for me to really get into, definitely a slow burn. But it was filled with a small cast of characters who all had interesting back stories, as well as a few thrilling surprises, so it was an enjoyable read.

[Kevin]

Anna Willett is a master at creating tension and suspense. Her stories are always pulse-pounding and Dear Neighbour is a wonderful example. It’s a tight yarn with a thrilling ending that grips you and touches your heartstrings while it tingles your spine. Like any great horror/suspense book (or film), you end up yelling at Amy (in your head or sometimes out loud): “Don’t do it!” But you know she has to, because the author has let you insider her head just enough to understand. It’s brilliant writing.

The story follows Amy, a self-conscious young woman with low self-esteem who has fallen into an unhealthy relationship with Zane, a self-centered, manipulative, scumbag. Just watching Amy succumb to Zane’s mental and physical abuse is heart-wrenching. Ms. Willett creates a character whose motivations and mental torture provide a context in which her actions make sense. Watching her make bad decisions is excruciating, but that’s the point. Amy is severely flawed and damaged, which makes her ultimately sympathetic. Her heart is in the right place, but she just can’t bring herself to escape from her self-inflicted torment.

Without giving away any of the plot’s many secrets, Amy finds herself living with Zane in a run-down house on a quiet lane. Zane’s companion, another low-life who calls himself Spider, prevents Amy and Zane from having anything resembling a normal existence as she tries to make a home for herself and her lover. Their neighbors, who live in the big house and who own most of the property on Cobblestone Lane, Frank and Greta, have their own problems – and their own secrets. It’s the revealing and understanding of those secrets that drive the story. Amy becomes friends with the aging Greta, who suffers from early stage Alzheimer’s. Their friendship is the heart of the story. What happens to her, and Frank, and Amy, is a fully engaging thriller. The events are so much more meaningful because the characters are so well-developed and interesting.

There are a few elements of the story that weren’t perfect, but which did not diminish my enjoyment of the read. The pace is excellent until two-thirds of the way through, when the reader has a full understanding of what’s going to happen. The author slows down the events in order to describe the characters’ inner feelings and build the anticipation and suspense, which is great to a point, but could have used a trim in the editing. The climactic scene was paced beautifully. Frank’s motivations for some of his actions and what he expected to happen afterwards was a bit murky, and Amy’s excuse for being where she needed to be for the climactic sequences was a tiny bit forced. And the final, post-climax wrap-up could have been a little less tidy (for me). But those are minor quibbles. This is a terrific book and well worth reading.

I’m a fan of Ms. Willett and she has not failed to entrance me with her characters and stories. This one would be a perfect entry point for those not familiar with her work. Pick this up and you will surely explore more of her stories. Very highly recommended.

[Carl Bluesy]

This is such a small book that that has such big characters. It is easy to whipped through this book, the suspense is piled on making you need to turn the page with fury. Amy and Zane relationship is fun to read as more and more tension and stress comes there way. There history is surprising and is what made this book as good as it is.

It’s a good book with Great characters.

[Hadel Ma'ayeh]

"Dear Neighbor - no boundary to murder" is a clever crime novel that is both thrilling and surprising twists. I so enjoyed the onion peel of the characters; you think each character is obvious until each layer is revealed and very shocking as well as unpredictable. As you read on, your emotions are confused if you should empathize with the characters or dislike the characters profusely, because of their poor choices. A conscious choice of right or wrong or doing the wrong thing for the right reasons. Either way, it makes the readers think of the moral stance if this should happen in real life.

Anna Willett is an exceptional writer that understands her readers' needs in a good crime thriller book that does not bore you in any page, but captivates you to keep reading until the end. Sincerely, a book that you cannot put down.

Ms. Willett has a bright future ahead in writing and I personally look forward to reading more of her books in the near future (a great selection of books on Goodreads).

Furthermore, the ending will not be a disappointment.... Soak it all in.

[Diane Dickson]

Well, this book is an onion of crime. One layer after another of secrets, subterfuge and mystery. Right from the start you are crying out for Amy to come to her senses but, of course, then we are shown that her hands are tied by the past. The two 'baddies' are singularly dislikeable but I was very interested to read the development of Spider as the tale unwound and find the deeper darkness in his character. It's one of those books that makes you question your ideas of right/wrong and justice.

Very involved plot, great scene setting and Anna Willet's skill at building up tension all make for a great read.

[Kristina]

Wow!

At times, the story itself was a bit mundane. Amy was a boring victim, like I wanted to smack her. But then, I’ve never been in a position such as hers. Then the story sped up and quickly pulled me in so far that I couldn’t stop. What a wonderful love story “Frank” and Greta had. Zane, a POS along with his “friend”, Spider. Amy was a meager heroine, but a heroine nonetheless.

[cathy cozart]

I enjoyed this book.

[Enid]

I found this book to be sweet in a way and very twisted in others. I did really like it. It caught my interest right away and kept it until the end

[Jo Palmer]

An unusually good read

Wasn’t sure what to expect but this was a take with many twists.
Victims of all sorts, through manipulation and blackmail.

[Sidhe Prankster]

Amy’s life is neither what she expected nor what she wanted, but she’s determined to make the best of it. She is afraid to ask too much, believing her lot in life is no worse than it should be. In her late-twenties, she’s never really accomplished anything. Coming from a single-parent household, cursed with a facial birthmark and low self-esteem, Amy feels she can’t expect her existence to be sunshine and roses. At least she has a serious boyfriend—even if he is often distant and temperamental—and they’ve just moved into a home of their own—even if it is a rundown rental. She even has a job, granted it’s stocking shelves at a local store for a bullying boss, but still, she can make do, can’t she?

That is readers’ first impression of this novel’s protagonist. Willett does and excellent job of realistically conveying the woman’s low confidence and toxic relationship without making her appear maudlin. In fact, Amy feels like a real person, and those who have experienced negative romances and dead-end jobs will likely empathize with her, but she never crosses the line to become an object of pity. It’s a balancing act that the author does very well, and it lends revelations about Amy’s life an authentic quality.

Because, as readers soon discover, Amy has bigger problems than the port wine mark on her face and the aloofness of her lover. She is obsessed with her boyfriend, Zane, and that has led her to make some terrible decisions. Then there is Zane’s friend, Spider, whose very presence makes her skin crawl but whom she has to endure. The more time that passes, the more she gets the idea that there is something indefinably sinister about the man. Is Spider a threat, or are Amy’s trust issues rendering her paranoid? Finally, there are the new neighbors: Frank and Greta Foxhall. A wealthy and well-mannered older husband and wife, still deeply in love despite their age, the Foxhall’s represent everything Amy wants from life. She is thrilled when they strike up a friendship, but something isn’t quite right. Is it possible that the apparently perfect couple next door is hiding something? And could they have designs involving Amy? Or is the real danger closer to home?

Engaging, well-paced, and insightful, the narrative sometimes defies readers’ expectations and sometimes doubles back to fulfill them. The tone is almost matter of fact, which works perfectly for this novel. Although the language is not overly descriptive, it deftly portrays feelings and sensations in a way that is as true as it is brief. Willett subtly changes the way she details characters and situations to mirror Amy’s altered perceptions as her eyes increasingly open to reality. That is a vital part of the protagonist’s character development because, at its heart, this is as much a story about a young woman finding herself as it is about the perilous and tangled web she finds herself in. If you enjoy good suspense thrillers as well as dynamic female characters learning to spread their wings, I recommend Anna Willett’s Dear Neighbour.

[Jaison Davies]

Simply written but with a fast paced narrative and convincing characters certainly worth a read. The author reveals just enough to keep the reader guessing without giving too much away.

[Christine Hinton]

Happy Sad

I enjoyed this story. It and the characters are so believable. It made me feel sad and happy all the way through.

[Gary allen]

Gullible to a extreme

I couldn't put this book down Throughly enjoyed it there was more twists than a corkscrew and at times wondered how anyone could be so silly to believe all those lies.

[Dianne McMahan]

Does Anyone Know Their Neighbors?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about a young woman in.love with the wrong kind of man.He used her for his every wish and she never turned him.down.
Until they moved to another city and they had an elderly couple for new neighbors.
She became good friends with the couple and even took piano lessons from the woman.
They made her see that she was worth so much more than she thought she was and didn't deserve the treatment she recv'd.
It all came to a head one night,when the two men she lived with decided to rob the couple.They thought the old man would be a pushover,how wrong they were?.
He had been in the service and knew a thing or two.

This book.will grab you right from the beginning and you won't want to stop reading, until you've finished the last page.
I read it yesterday in one sitting.
Enjoy !

[Denia Teeters]

Dear Neighbor

Good luck starting this book and not putting it down. Why DO some young women fall for such bad men? Is confidence lacking to the point of being so easily targeted? As Amy finds herself in such a situation, her friendship with the grandparently couple next door helps her to find her strength in herself as she resolves to do the right thing.

[Susan Hoyle]

An ok read with likable characters
Did not rock my world

[alys jenkins]

Gripping

DEAR neighbour was a really exciting read. The twist at the end was not expected! I’m glad Amy got her happy ever after

[ANNEMARIE]

Great read!

Oh how life gets in the way of a good book! This one kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters are believable and quite interesting. The story moves along smoothly without any needless filler. Ill be reading more by Anna Willett!

[Gemma Gleeson]

This book started off as a bit of a slow burner but by the end it was a page turner and it got my heart racing!

[Sharon Nolan]

Dear Neighbor: no boundary to murder

WOW this book was FANTASTIC.. You never could guess all the changes that Amy was going through. Read this book you won't be sorry...

[Lucretia Yager]

Would make a good TV movie

This book was quick -moving and kept my interest. There were some good twists in the story. Several unexpected turns.