{"id":18823,"date":"2021-11-29T18:46:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T23:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=18823"},"modified":"2022-10-30T20:35:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-31T00:35:14","slug":"the-murder-next-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18823","title":{"rendered":"The Murder Next Door"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Murder Next Door<\/a><\/em> (2021) Sarah Bell <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Set in England in 1912.<\/p>\n

Louisa is startled to discover their next door neighbor has been found dead–and the wife has disappeared with their young son.<\/p>\n

Ada saw Mrs Pierce hurry away from the house early in the morning, with a look of terror on her face.<\/p>\n

I found this story aggravating.<\/p>\n

It is the authors first published novel, but is clearly the second story she has written about these characters, with constant references to how the women met, a murder they were previously involved in, earlier discussions about Louis’s lack of interest in sex, and other bits that made me feel like I was missing a lot about the characters.<\/p>\n

Possibly especially the bits about Louisa’s sexuality.<\/p>\n

All the theories she\u2019d gathered to try to understand her lack of sexual interest.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Their navigation of Louisa’s lack of interest is mentioned in bits and asides, without us actually seeing how the two women navigate this.<\/p>\n

There were also some rather abrupt jumps and changes. Take this bit:<\/p>\n

Mrs Mason spoke with gentle pity, but whatever sympathy Louisa had for Miss Armstrong did not stretch that far. She was just another woman who allowed herself to be played for a fool.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Which was followed three short paragraphs later, by this.<\/p>\n

Shame pooled in Louisa\u2019s stomach at her earlier judgement. She was lucky, after all.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s extremely abrupt and without much in the way of clarity for that quick change.<\/p>\n

And having the women be berated for getting involved in an earlier murder investigation–without having any of the details–was just weird. If it was that important, why not start the story there? Instead of in the middle of the early part of their relationship and at the second murder, as opposed to the first.<\/p>\n

I felt as if there was so much potential for this story, but I spent most of my time trying to figure out what I was missing.
\nRating: 5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Murder Next Door (2021) Sarah Bell Set in England in 1912. Louisa is startled to discover their next door neighbor has been found dead–and the wife has disappeared with their young son. Ada saw Mrs Pierce hurry away from the house early in the morning, with a look of terror on her face. I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[189,30,292,48,33,8,148],"tags":[563,545],"class_list":["post-18823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ace","category-british","category-ebook","category-female","category-historical","category-mystery","category-queer","tag-edwardian-era","tag-ff"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-4TB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22074,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22074","url_meta":{"origin":18823,"position":0},"title":"Mystery on the Menu: A Three-Course Collection of Cozy Mysteries","author":"Michelle","date":"June 11, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Mystery on the Menu: A Three-Course Collection of Cozy Mysteries (2023) Nicole Kimberling After rereading Grilled Cheese and Goblins I was wishing I had more mysteries by Nicole Kimberling when LO! I see she has a new mystery coming out! I can preorder it! DONE! As with her other books,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mystery on the Menu: A Three-Course Collection of Cozy Mysteries","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Mystery-on-the-Menu.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Mystery-on-the-Menu.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Mystery-on-the-Menu.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24818,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24818","url_meta":{"origin":18823,"position":1},"title":"Sleeping Murder","author":"Michelle","date":"August 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Sleeping Murder (1976) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, #13) Set in England in 1944. The cover of several copies of this book say, \"Miss Marple's Last Case\" which is confusing since it is clearly set well before Nemesis. I arranged with dear Gwenda that I would come round and do a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sleeping Murder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sleeping-Murder.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sleeping-Murder.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sleeping-Murder.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22516,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22516","url_meta":{"origin":18823,"position":2},"title":"Murder at Midnight","author":"Michelle","date":"November 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Murder at Midnight (2023) Katharine Schellman (Lily Adler) Set in England in 1816 The fourth Lily Adler book finds her at a house party with her late husband's family, Matthew Spenser, and the Hartleys. Lily had always found their custom of calling each other by their middle names\u2014the names chosen\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Murder at Midnight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Murder-at-Midnight.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Murder-at-Midnight.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Murder-at-Midnight.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24151,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24151","url_meta":{"origin":18823,"position":3},"title":"Murder at Midnight, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"December 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Murder at Midnight, Audiobook (2023) Katharine Schellman narrated by Henrietta Meire (Lily Adler Mysteries #4) Set in Hertfordshire in 1816 \u201cMrs. Adler, how many of the rumors about you are true?\u201d \u201cThat depends on the rumors,\u201d Lily replied \u201cThere\u2019s a door past the kitchen, between the servants\u2019 quarters and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Murder at Midnight","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Murder-at-Midnight.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21756,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/21756","url_meta":{"origin":18823,"position":4},"title":"Jury of One","author":"Michelle","date":"March 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Jury of One (2015) Charlie Cochrane (Lindenshaw Mysteries) Adam and Robin are now an item, living together although Robin still hasn't sold his flat. 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