Boston Police Detective Sergeant D.D. Warren has just closed a big case and is contemplating an idle morning. Until she gets a call about a missing young schoolteacher and mother, Sandra Jones, who disappeared from her house in the middle of the night. The only clues are a missing quilt, a broken lamp and the disappearance of the family cat. Sandy's reporter husband is strangely calm, cool and collected. Jason Jones is unlike any spouse of a missing person with whom D.D. has dealt. The more D.D. learns about the Joneses, the more she suspects that they aren't who they seem to be.

No one who knows Sandy Jones believes she would just leave her beloved four-year-old daughter, Ree, without a word. Plus,why would she leave without her cell phone, money or ID? Complicating the case is the fact that a neighbor, Aidan Brewster, is a convicted sex offender. Unless D.D. can rule out one man or the other, she has no probable cause to make an arrest.

Did Sandy have an affair with Aidan or someone else? What secrets does Sandy have? Will D.D. get any useful information out of Ree? What lies beneath Jason's façade? Could this handsome, dedicated father be a cold-blooded killer? As days tick by, D.D. knows this is a case unlike any other she's investigated. Did someone manage to commit the perfect crime? And what would that someone do to ensure Ree's silence?

Wow! THE NEIGHBOR is a pulse-pounding novel filled with nonstop suspense. Readers will eagerly gobble up the story until they turn the last page. Skillful use of alternating points of view gives readers an insight to all the major players. Sandy's story is told in first-person flashbacks interspersed throughout the novel. Ms. Gardner has written a story that will linger in readers' minds long after they've finished the book. There is no need to have read previous books in the Detective D.D. Warren series since this book can stand alone. Suspense lovers, give this talented author a try if you haven't yet.

Book Summary

This is what happened...

It was a case guaranteed to spark a media feeding frenzy--a young mother, blond and pretty, disappears without a trace from her South Boston home, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter as the only witness and her handsome, secretive husband as the prime suspect.

In the last six hours...

But from the moment Detective Sergeant D. D. Warren arrives at the Joneses’ snug little bungalow, she senses something off about the picture of wholesome normality the couple worked so hard to create. On the surface, Jason and Sandra Jones are like any other hardworking young couple raising a four-year-old child. But it is just under the surface that things grew murky.

Of the world as I knew it...

With the clock ticking on the life of a missing woman and the media firestorm building, Jason Jones seems more intent on destroying evidence and isolating his daughter than on searching for his “beloved” wife. Is the perfect husband trying to hide his guilt--or just trying to hide? And will the only witness to the crime be the killer’s next victim?

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