Neighborhood Watch

I picked up Neighborhood Watch by Cammie McGovern from my stack of library books as one I wanted to take with me on our weekend getaway. Lucky for me I had it along because the book I started out with ended up being one I abandoned. And also lucky for me that Neighborhood Watch hooked me right from the first page.

Betsy Treading is just being released from prison where she has spent the past twelve years, convicted of murdering her neighbor Linda Sue, a crime she confessed to, but does not remember committing. While almost everyone on her old block is gone, Roland and Maryanne, a couple who lived there when Betsy did, have agreed to take her in after her release, since Betsy has nowhere to go. Back at the scene of the crime, Betsy is encouraged by her attorney to poke around a bit and see if she can find out a little bit more about Linda Sue's murder and who may actually be guilty. McGovern moves back and forth in time, using Betsy's memories of her life prior to the murder and of her life now. While this was necessary to the plot, at times I found it confusing, not sure if I was reading about something Betsy was remembering, or something that was happening in the present. In the end I decided that despite my confusion, the time period didn't really matter all that much, and I enjoyed the backstory. Neighborhood Watch was suspenseful, but not creepy - another plus for me. I was interested throughout the novel as to how McGovern was going to tie things up with Betsy and the true murderer.

This book kept me up far longer than I should have let it, but I couldn't stop until after I was done. Neighborhood Watch is a fast, suspenseful read- good entertainment, full of twists and turns and revelations.