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The Neighbors
Stated First U.S. Printing. A near fine copy in a fine dust jacket. Soiling to the edges of the book's upper page block and toning to the page margins. Review copy with publisher's folded letter laid in.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1999
2 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Carol Smith
157 books31 followersLibrarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name.
Carol Smith was born in London and worked in the book trade, both in London and New York, before becoming a full-time writer herself. For much of that time she ran her own literary agency, focussed on finding and developing new talent, although now her own writing takes up most of her time. She lives in Kensington. She also writes under the name Alex Crowe.
Carol Smith was born in London and worked in the book trade, both in London and New York, before becoming a full-time writer herself. For much of that time she ran her own literary agency, focussed on finding and developing new talent, although now her own writing takes up most of her time. She lives in Kensington. She also writes under the name Alex Crowe.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 14, 2011
An intriguing mystery, but many of the female characters made me grit my teeth - fall for the heart throb and immediately start doing his laundry and cleaning his apartment? Wonder why you're not living together after three months of dating? Puh-lease.
June 25, 2020
This delicious book starts in a sprawling mansion in the Kensington district of London, and centers on Kate, a young Brit who has returned from NYC and a devastating affair of abuse: she settles in to a flat, and begins to meet her neighbors, who are absolutely delightful: and, who, one by one, are slowly being murdered. I loved this well-written book and highly recommend it!!
June 9, 2024
This book has a very "Only Muders in the Building" vibe. Aside from some remarks that haven't aged well, I enjoyed the story. As someone who can usually untangle the end by mid-book, it took me a while longer and I enjoyed it. I do feel like the end was rushed but at 300+ pages not sure how much longer it could have gone.
September 13, 2017
Took me a long time to get into this book, but I was ultimately glad I stuck it out. I enjoyed getting to know the residents of the place.
September 22, 2024
Slow paced mystery. Interesting cast of characters.
August 27, 2015
As a kid, watching the old black and white movies, I fell in love with apartment buildings like Kensington Court. They are sprawling buildings, taken up entire city blocks, and are filled with all sorts of interesting people. Of course, because I fell in love with this grand buildings though movies, I also knew to expect one or two things; either various residents in the building would be killed in a series of murders that seems impossible to solve, or one of them would end up giving birth to the Antichrist. I figured I had nothing to lose in either situation, so I was already to move to a big city, and move right on it. Then life happened, I live in a mid-sized city with no grand apartment buildings, and even if I did, I seriously doubt I could afford to live there.
Until I move to London or New York, which would require winning the lottery, I'm going to have to make due with old movies and well written mystery books. I bought, and read, The Neighbors years ago, preblogging days, and it was all about the location. Here was another chance to live in one of those grand buildings, even if it was only in my imagination. And by the end of the book, did I not only want to live there, I wanted to take up an entire floor, all to myself. Since quite a few of the tenants were dead by then, I'm almost betting I could have gotten a pretty good price on the space. I think it was watching The Mad Miss Manton with Barbara Stanwyck the other night, that put me in the mood to give this one a read once again.
This is one of those books, that would not work in another location. It's the size of the building that allows this story to unfold as it does. It gives the characters the illusion of wide open spaces, but as the body count rises, the insular nature of the building allows the author to ratchet up the tension, filling the building, and the book, with a miasma of fear.
I'll be honest, Kate by herself would bore me to tears. Don't get me wrong, I like her, and think she would be a pretty cool neighbor, but I need the rest of characters to truly bring her to life. These are the kinds of characters I've always envisioned living in one of these buildings, and they didn't let me down here. They are such an eclectic, well written bunch, that there wasn't one I didn't have fun with on the page. Even the nasty, bitter, gossiping hadrian of the group, was interesting enough to keep my attention. Hell for that matter, the murderer among them had me fooled. I would have gladly gone along with any plan they came up with, just thankful that they wanted to hang out with me.
And I almost forgot, the peeping tom referred to in the synopsis, is not the killer. I don't think I'm giving too much away by saying that, simply because had the peeping tom been the killer, that would have been way too obvious. He is connected to Kate though, and while I find the connection and the peeping tom's involvement in the story to be a little contrived, by the time the book is over, I'm so ready for Kate to have her HEA, that I overlook the huge coincidences that were involved, and go with the flow
Until I move to London or New York, which would require winning the lottery, I'm going to have to make due with old movies and well written mystery books. I bought, and read, The Neighbors years ago, preblogging days, and it was all about the location. Here was another chance to live in one of those grand buildings, even if it was only in my imagination. And by the end of the book, did I not only want to live there, I wanted to take up an entire floor, all to myself. Since quite a few of the tenants were dead by then, I'm almost betting I could have gotten a pretty good price on the space. I think it was watching The Mad Miss Manton with Barbara Stanwyck the other night, that put me in the mood to give this one a read once again.
This is one of those books, that would not work in another location. It's the size of the building that allows this story to unfold as it does. It gives the characters the illusion of wide open spaces, but as the body count rises, the insular nature of the building allows the author to ratchet up the tension, filling the building, and the book, with a miasma of fear.
I'll be honest, Kate by herself would bore me to tears. Don't get me wrong, I like her, and think she would be a pretty cool neighbor, but I need the rest of characters to truly bring her to life. These are the kinds of characters I've always envisioned living in one of these buildings, and they didn't let me down here. They are such an eclectic, well written bunch, that there wasn't one I didn't have fun with on the page. Even the nasty, bitter, gossiping hadrian of the group, was interesting enough to keep my attention. Hell for that matter, the murderer among them had me fooled. I would have gladly gone along with any plan they came up with, just thankful that they wanted to hang out with me.
And I almost forgot, the peeping tom referred to in the synopsis, is not the killer. I don't think I'm giving too much away by saying that, simply because had the peeping tom been the killer, that would have been way too obvious. He is connected to Kate though, and while I find the connection and the peeping tom's involvement in the story to be a little contrived, by the time the book is over, I'm so ready for Kate to have her HEA, that I overlook the huge coincidences that were involved, and go with the flow
June 1, 2012
Kate moves into a condo and finds the neighbors to be a mostly pleasant, charming group of people, but her new found security is suddenly threatened by a serial killer who seems to be targeting the residents of her building.
Thoughts and reactions:
* I rather like Carol Smith's writing style. The first 3/4 of the book reminded me of old-fashioned cozy murder mysteries, and was an enjoyable journey.
* The identity of the killer was not surprising. The resolution of the book felt rushed. Altogether unsatisfying.
* The ending was a bit exasperating (who Kate winds up with).
Overall, it was an okay book, but I won't be recommending this one to others.
Thoughts and reactions:
* I rather like Carol Smith's writing style. The first 3/4 of the book reminded me of old-fashioned cozy murder mysteries, and was an enjoyable journey.
* The identity of the killer was not surprising. The resolution of the book felt rushed. Altogether unsatisfying.
* The ending was a bit exasperating (who Kate winds up with).
Overall, it was an okay book, but I won't be recommending this one to others.
December 12, 2009
She almost lost me with the extensive - almost comic - foreshadowing. The first murder, about a hundred pages in, came as almost a relief. So far I'm finding it to be a light diversion rather thian a spell-binding mystery. So how will these characters all pan out? I'm at least interested enough to finish the book but really looking forward to being done and moving on....
August 3, 2011
Can I give this zero stars? Can I write to this lady and ask her never to write again?
June 21, 2015
I wanted to like this book, but 3/4 of the way through I decided I couldn't take it anymore. The lack of anything interesting actually happening was painful.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews