The Girls Next Door

by Anita Waller

They keep each other’s secrets. They hide each other’s lies. They were destined to be best friends. The four girls – all born that same hot summer. There was even a newspaper article after they were born. They said there must be something in the water on Larkspur Close. They predicted a safe and happy life for them all…

More than thirty years later, it’s more than an unbreakable friendship – it’s more like a sisterhood. It’s the girls who Jess reaches out to because she’s worried about her grandparents who’ve raised her since her mother disappeared, who Erin tells about her new business idea, who Melissa calls to say she’s desperate to escape her toxic job.

But then Chantelle messages saying she’s discovered her husband is having an affair. And everything changes.

Because then her husband is found dead… And only a few people knew about his secret.

Is it just a terrible accident? Or will someone stop at nothing to keep the girls of Larkspur Close safe and happy?

Genres: Thriller, Audiobook, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Adult

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2024

About the author

I live in Sheffield, UK. I am retired and have recently fulfilled my lifelong ambition of becoming a published author with Bloodhound Books.
I am married (almost 50 years to Dave) with three children and seven grandchildren.
I am a patchwork and quilting tutor as well as a writer.
My first book was Beautiful and my second, a sequel to Beautiful, is called Angel.

Reviews

[STEPH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aw. This book is really heartfelt and tugs at the heart. Four women with an unbreakable bond. Now that's a sisterhood I want to be a part of.

I like the chemistry of the four bestfriends. They all have different personalities and each of them has their own insecurities and flaws but they compliment each other very well. I am glad that no crime or murder could destroy this unique friendship.

Although sometimes the events tend to be a bit monotonous and tedious, I enjoyed Erin's bookstore and eventual cafe shop. I imagine myself having a cuppa while reading a book. That must be nice.

Everyone likes tea too much, by the way.

A very decent read.

Thank you Boldwood Books & Netgalley for the ARC!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a few of her books,found this read abit slower than her other reads.four daughters live close to each other are friends,now adults this books tells you about there friendship and there life struggles. One of them finds out by accident her husband is having an affair, he ends up dead was it an accident? Other wants a new business adventure, other fed up with her job,and one is not happy with her marriage..looking forward to her next book my rating is 3.5...

[Jennifer Fagan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not deal with the dialogue in this book, everyone talked in monologues at each other and said every thought that was in their head. It was so weird, annoying and off putting.

[Becky Rice · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out cute, the bond between women who grow up like sisters.
As I read it, it felt overly simple, and a tad dryly worded.
Too much unnecessary filler information, scattered information filled in, and an awkward resolution at the end.
Overall I'm giving it 3 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

[Amy Earlam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Waited all book for the point- it never came

It has such a detailed set up that despite being bored, i continued. Loads happened, but nothing made sence. I did like the characters, they had potential, but its the worst book ive read in a long while. Dont bother.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unpopular Opinion here -

Based on the blurb I expected this to be a mystery/thriller. This was neither. It was more a story about friendship and family, and making the necessary changes so you can live a happy, fulfilled life.

Most of the book is spent dealing with the love lives, work lives, and friendship between the four friends. There were four deaths in all - one "accidental", one sickness, one murder, and the last deciding to "resign from life". No real mystery to any of it - most of the story is spent focusing on the emotional toll these deaths take on the friend group and how they help support one another.

Honestly, this book was hard to get into and, with under 300 pages, it took me a week to finish. Everything was very redundant and I was so bored that I almost DNFed it but I kept reading hoping something would change. Wishful thinking on my part.

[Sandra Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Girls Next Door is a dark and twisty crime thriller that immediately pulls you into the small-town chaos of murder, secrets, and revenge. The plot unfolds through several perspectives, which adds depth and keeps you guessing who’s hiding what until the end.

The pacing is solid, with enough emotional moments to balance the brutality of the crime itself. The characters feel raw and real — especially the families caught in the aftermath. Anita Waller doesn’t shy away from the darker sides of human behavior, but she also shows resilience and loyalty in ways that feel believable.

If there’s one small drawback, it’s that the number of characters and shifting viewpoints can feel overwhelming at times, especially early on. But once you settle into the rhythm, it becomes a compelling read that’s hard to put down.

Overall, The Girls Next Door is a gripping, emotionally charged crime novel — gritty, unpredictable, and full of heart beneath the horror.

[Alayne Emmett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. It started off reading as a chick lit and halfway through developed into a mixture of murder, suicide and death. Plus romance thrown in. Very clever. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

[Claire · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so slow and pretty boring and predictable. The bonds of the women was nice, but the plot was really lacking.

[Zoe Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four baby girls born within six months of each other in 1987 living on the same street. Chantelle, Erin, Mel and Jess are the foursome who make our group and they are more like sisters than friends. Now 2022 and the girls are 35 and are all on the precipice of monumental changes in their lives. They have grown up together, shared secrets and have an unbreakable bond.

I wouldn’t categorise this as a thriller of any type, more a story of companionship, friendships, anguish, support and most importantly love having no boundaries, and although it wasn’t what I expected it was still an enjoyable women’s fiction read with a surprising end.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for granting me with the arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Julie Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read.
On the surface it’s a drama about four female friends and their very close bond, but as the story goes on it’s a bit of a murder mystery.
The four women have grown up together and their parents and grandparents are also close to them all.
So when Chantelle’s husband is found dead, they do everything they can to help her.
Soon other incidents happen and they all come closer together as a result.
I really liked all of the main characters but I did have a soft spot for Jess’ Nan.
This is a great story about friendship with a bit of a mystery thriller twist throughout.
Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

[Pam Kovalic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four women have basically grown up as sisters, all born within 6 months of each other on the same street. They’ve grown up as best friends and will always be there for one another. They are all adults now when this book takes place. All of them are facing some major life decisions at the time and all of them are trying to help support all the others. This is a story of unconditional friendship. The four women are all well written, they all have unique characteristics. They all have flaws as all humans do, and these friends bring out the best in each other and each one’s strengths help boost the others up when trouble or feelings pull one of them down. I didn’t really think of this as a thriller - there are some mystery elements, but the real “meat” of this book is the bond these four friends have. The couple of mystery elements definitely take a back seat to constant rushing to help each other out, always quick to run over and have a cuppa to get things settled down. It was an enjoyable read and I was interested to see how each of the four women would sort out the problems in their lives. I give the book 3.5 stars out of 5.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. The book is set to be published April 25, 2024.

[♡ sincerely, marisa ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anita Waller's books are real page-turners, packed with intense plots, characters you can't help but get invested in, and stories that'll keep you on the edge of your seat. And that is exactly what this one does.

I loved the concept of the four best friends all being born within six months of each other, it really showed how these friends are more like family and the bonds that family have, and what one will do to protect another.

This isn't your run of the mill thriller, this is more of a deep story of connections and family, with some thrill mixed in.

I really enjoyed it and am excited to try out Wallers other stories.

3.5/5

[Andrea Press · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a good premise but the execution and conclusion was not. The ending was rushed and made no sense to the rest of the story and there were too many deaths that were unnecessary and added nothing to the plot. The fact that Chantelle actually ended up killing Andrew came out of nowhere and was not in line to any of the story at all. The reason for Suzanne killing Anna was also ridiculous and why would Anna leave Jess with her mother so her mother would not leave her father? I didn't understand it. I also did not appreciate that two of the characters that died both had cancer. I was thinking I just read this! We also heard about all the mothers except Melissa's. I could go on and on!

[Abigail Faircloth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was terrible. It’s exactly how I imagine a book written by AI would read. The dialogue and descriptions are completely unnatural. The plot is ridiculous. There are mistakes in some of the scenes (I assume mistakes otherwise it’s an even more ridiculous plot that doesn’t make any sense). I hope I remember the author’s name so I never read another atrocity like this again. Woeful.

[Rebecca Ritchie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Someone said this is how AI would write a book and I’d go as far to say AI would have done better x

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. If this is a gripping psychological thriller as described in the blurb then I’m Princess Anne. And as for the “twist that will knock you flat” - well I’m still standing.

[Waveney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Upon reading the blurb, I had high hopes that it would be a gripping read. However, the plot ended up focussing more on the friendship between the four women, which I enjoyed, but it didn’t quite have the suspense that I was looking for. I liked the short chapters and how the writing flowed so easily. The revelation at the end was also good. Overall, I would recommend for a quick and easy read, bearing in mind that it doesn’t quite hit the mark for a thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to review this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Amy Rumrill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not at all what I expected. It was a slow paced book and not much of a thriller. I don’t think this book was really portrayed for what it was. It’s mainly about a group of girlfriends. Yes there is some death and murder but it was hardly touched on, and not even really until maybe the second half or the last quarter of the book. While it’s a cute story about friendship it almost felt like 2 books trying to smash together. Friendship in the first part and attempt at a thriller for the second.

[Adele Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did like this book but I found that there was a lot going on. I kept forgetting which character was in what relationship.

I do love Anita’s books but unfortunately I couldn’t love this book 3.5 stars

[Sammy Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real good thriller, throughly enjoyed it

[Susan Belman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heartwarming story about 4 girls born just months apart, on the same street, grow up together to become more like sisters than friends. This book is 100% a women’s fiction work, and not the psychological thriller that's advertised in the blurb, unfortunately.

This story takes you through these women’s life altering events. When these things start happening, in a domino-effect it seems, the women don't panic or even flinch, but instead band together to support each other, no questions asked, it is a story about true sisterhood and unconditional love. Some parts are extremely hard to read, with real feeling and honesty.

I had to rate this one 3-stars, even though the writing was beautiful, it was not a psychological thriller as advertised.

[Heather Greise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept waiting for it to get good—but it just got more and more unbelievable and worse writing. If she calls the twins monsters one more time and talks about how it’s getting cool out, I’m going to lose my mind.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

In The Girls Next-Door by Anita Woler we meet Jesse, Michelle, Aaron and Chantel four girls born over a six-month period In 1988 they even made the newspaper. These girls grew up together and have a Kumbaya type relationship each girl has their issues but the other friends are there for them big time and they fall all over their self letting each other know it. This includes the parents with the exception of Jessica who’s mom Ann up and left the area a month after giving birth never to be heard from again leaving Nora and her husband Arthur to raise the baby. There was way too much happening in the book for me to give a proper summary but what I will say no one has spoken to An, with the exception of one of the parents. When she returns Jess isn’t happy to see her. Chantel is having problems of her own when she finds her husband cheating on her with a coworker Mel is forced to leave her great paralegal job because she refuses to be the victim of one of the lawyers frequent sexual assaults. Aaron seems to be the only one doing OK she owns a book shop and is expanding it to include a café. When more than one person dies from a Suspicious death it rocks the group in despite police blowing off obvious evidence the girls want to know what happens. With the exception of the “I didn’t see that coming!“ This book read more like fiction with these girls having unbelievable cohesive relationships not to mention the book gets bogged down in my new still such as discussing what they’re going to move if they got the dogs dog food in most books when something is mentioned it has a good reason having to do with the plot not the case with this book but having said that and the fact that they drink way too much tea and coffee I didn’t joy this book I loved reading about the sweet twins in the OMG secrets in the last three chapters because a’s I said I didn’t see that coming. I love this authors books and as I said this one was OK and it will not at all stop me from reading Anita Waller‘s books in the future. I wouldn’t call this a thriller because these relationships were overboard cohesive and I mean super Duper supportive. I still recommend it as it is a solid read with minor drawbacks. I want to thank boldwood Books and NetGalley for my free art copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The highlight of this book was definitely its portrayal of family, and the characters’ relationships with each other. Though not a major part of the story, I found the child characters to be better written than I usually find. The dialogue was well-written, and it was a very emotional reading experience at some points. Though there was a lot going on in this book, it remained a fun read throughout and the ending came as a surprise for me.

Though this book is marketed as a mystery, I would say that it’s much closer to general fiction up until the last 30 percent or so, and even then it never really fully becomes a mystery in the traditional sense. I think it struggles in general with sticking to a genre. As general fiction, though, it’s still a good read, and I recommend it if you like the idea of a family story with a crime fiction twist. Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for this ARC. This is my honest review.

4/5 A tale of four women weathering life’s storms while trying to push ahead.

[Amanda Procella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this story from page one! I loved the characters and all of their current dilemmas. I love how these four friends managed to stay so close their whole lives. I have never experienced that before, and it really made me wonder what I was missing out on! I love the connections between all of the characters. This wasn't your normal kind of thriller. This one has more story content and a twist at the end, but it does end on a happy not! I was so satisfied and surprised at the end. This book really remi ded me of Fall On Your Knees, which is one of my favorites!! This gets five stars from me all the way!!


Thank you to the author, publisher , and Netgalley for an ARC of this amazing story!

[Nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Boldwood and Netgalley for letting me read this book and give an honest review.

This book was more general fiction with a murder on the side than a thriller. The story centered around the lives of the four girls that grew up tight together. They and their families formed a very strong bond of friendship, sisterhood and family - which i loved. They'd do anything for each other. Over time all the women blend together into one - even the mothers and grandmother. Everyone seemed the same at times and it was difficult to distinguish the characters.
The writing was a bit blunt at times and put me off reading at times. The intrigue, though, was what kept me continuing eventhough I had to sleep or other obligations which i ignored.
Overall a nice little palate cleanser to switch off the world outside and just read.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit confused about how to tag this book, as it is not a thriller.

In honesty, it is maybe a little slow and a little... tricky, in the sense that there is no way we could know what truly happened and why so when the end arrived I felt cheated.

But I enjoyed a lot the bond between the women, how their lives are changing and how they are to be there for each other.

So, not the best book I've read, but not bad, either :P

[Valerie Dickenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous!

I love a story about female friendship. Add some secrets to the mix, as Waller does so well, and you have a completely addictive story. My only gripe is that I didn’t want to leave Larkspur Close at the end. I think this would make a fabulous start to a saga, I for one want to know what happened to these amazing women next.

[Natasha Giuliano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the sisterhood of the four women who grew up together.

My disappointment was that the letter didn't have more of an impact or rippling effect, and Nora never felt accountable that it was her actions that caused a lot of everyone's pain/suffering.

I enjoyed the book being a shorter than most thrillers read, but that might account for why Nora wasn't accountable