Neighborhood Watch

Oleander Court in Alpharetta, Georgia looks like a utopia, complete with identical McMansions and pruned lawns. The residents collecting their newspapers at the end of their drives similarly appear perfect. The beauty ends at the surface, however, with no one as they seem. Tripp, the cheery politician, always waves but won't lift a finger for a neighbor. Pam uses her position as the Homeowners Association president for petty revenge, gleefully issuing citations. Conner acts like a family man but has future plans involving a mistress. And so on and so forth. Money might be able to buy happiness, but it can't buy integrity or kindness. Starting with a double murder, a killer sets their sights on the prestigious neighborhood, picking off the worst of the lot in spectacular fashion, and suddenly the residents' biggest problem is no longer the rising cost of Botox. In the wake of the horror, several neighborhood ladies gravitate together as they attempt to identify the killer while seeking protection in numbers. Adelaide, the scrappy former trailer park resident has never attempted to be social, but she's willing to try for Ray, her best friend and outspoken lesbian with a dark secret. Soon-Li, cybersecurity firm owner, has a propensity for solving tangled problems. Helen, the elderly artist, is the neighborhood voyeur from behind her front porch trellis. And poor Laura, Oleander Court's "new money" resident, only wanted to fit in before someone decided to reduce her prospects for new friends. As the bodies pile up and no one appears safe or clearly innocent, fleeing Oleander Court appears to be the best solution. But then an arrest within the group makes this impossible for some while testing the trust of others. Will the killings stop at cutting out the rot marring the beautiful neighborhood, or will they destroy Oleander Court entirely? Told from the viewpoints of its diverse (in every sense of the word) cast of characters and the victims, Neighborhood Watch has an unreliable narrator aspect best appreciated in one night while curled up with a glass of Malbec.