NEIGHBORS, THE by Carol Smith - BOOK - ADVANCE READING COPY

What bold new terrain of suspense lies one ingenious step beyond Hitchcock's masterpiece Rear Window? Acclaimed author Carol Smith may have the answer in her latest tour de force... The Neighbors. The striking, sprawling Victorian building dominates the fashionable London street. During one lonely Christmas season, Kensington Court welcomes a new resident: Kate Ashenberry, in flight from an uncaring family and a broken love affair. In its dark hallways Kate will meet an odd assortment of neighbors: irrepressible Ronnie and Rowena Barclay-Davenport high-stepping Miles Burdett and his ambitious wife, Claudia exotic Eleni Papadopoulos from across the hall acid-tongued dowager Mrs. Adelaide Potter eligible heartthrob Gregory Hansen and free-spirited actress Connie Boyle. Some encounters will blossom into friendships others will grow more menacing than a brush with a stranger ever could be. One potential neighbor has escaped Kate's acquaintance, for journalist Guy Bartlett had tumbled to his death shortly before her arrival. Some tenants say his mysterious five-story fall a continent away was the most exciting story to touch their lives in years. But after Kate moves in, more residents of Kensington Court die, each more horribly than the last...and each bafflingly murdered behind a door locked securely from the inside. Trust between neighbors evaporates. Kate fears her name is climbing higher on the killer's list of victims. And always, across the courtyard at one rear window, a lone, unmarked watcher stands vigil.... This is Carol Smith at the height of her gifts, weaving a story of relationships and a tale of mystery with her riveting, signature brilliance.