You can choose your home, but you can’t choose who lives next door . . .

Twenty-five-year-old Kat Bennett has never felt at home anywhere, especially not in crumbling Shelley House. The other residents think she’s prickly and unapproachable, but beneath her tough exterior, Kat is plagued by guilt from her past and looking for somewhere to belong.

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Seventy-seven-year-old Dorothy Darling has lived in Shelley House for longer than anyone else, and if you believe the other tenants, she’s as cantankerous and vindictive as they come. Dorothy may spend her days spying on the neighbours, but she has a closely guarded secret herself – and a good reason for barely leaving her home.

When their building faces demolition, sworn enemies Kat and Dorothy become unlikely allies in their quest to save their historic home; and even less likely detectives when they suspect that foul play is coming from within Shelley House . . .

My Review

After a couple of really quite dark novels, it was refreshing to read something lighthearted and humorous. And with a small Jack Russell terrier called Reggie as one of the co-conspirators, how could I not love this.

It was also very sad at times and once again I cried. I really felt for Kat, with her shitty childhood and dreadful mother. And I really felt for Dorothy aka Ms Darling (never call her Mrs), though it’s quite late in the book that we discover her history and why she behaves as she does.

There are lots of other likeable (and definitely unlikeable) characters in Nosy Neighbours, including Kat’s elderly ‘landlord’ Joseph, 15-year-old Ayesha and her father Omar, Gloria upstairs with her terrible taste in men, giant Tomasz with his fierce bulldog called Princess, and the anti-social, noisy tenant in Flat 4. There’s also journalist Will, who seems lovely, but no-one trusts an old hack (or young hack in this case).

Dorothy has lived in Shelley House the longest, and treats it as her own. She looks after the post, takes out and sorts other people’s rubbish and makes copious notes in her notebook as she patrols the corridors. When Joseph is attacked, she makes a list of suspects with their possible MOs, means, opportunities and alibis. No-one is safe once Dorothy is on the prowl. And she doesn’t like dogs.

She’s very suspicious of newcomer Kat with her pink hair, tattoos and prickly manner. What is she hiding?

When on the rare occasion the neighbours come together, they are at each other’s throats. Only now the building is about to be demolished and they all face eviction, can they put their considerable differences to one side and save Shelley House? Especially Dorothy and Kat. It’s fun finding out and I really enjoyed this book. I was reminded of the 1987 film Batteries Not Included starring Jessica Tandy, without the help of the aliens. But we have Reggie instead.

Many thanks to @Tr4cyF3nt0n for inviting me to be part of the #CompulsiveReaders #blogtour and to NetGalley for an ARC. 

About the Author

Freya Sampson is the USA Today bestselling author of The Last Chance Library and The Lost Ticket/The Girl on the 88 Bus. She studied history at Cambridge University and worked in television as an executive producer, making documentaries about everything from the British royal family to neighbours from hell. She lives in London with her husband, children and cats. Nosy Neighbours is her third novel.