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Cammie McGovern
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Neighborhood Watch Hardcover – June 10, 2010

by Cammie McGovern (Author)
3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 44 ratings
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A riveting and frightening tale of false accusation from the author of Eye Contact Twelve years ago librarian Betsy Treading was convicted of murdering her neighbor, the bohemian loner Linda Sue. After DNA testing finally exonerates Betsy, she returns to her suburban community determined to salvage her life and find the true killer. As she begins to pick apart the web of secrets, lies, and love affairs uncovered in the wake of her trial, Betsy suspects that her tight-lipped neighbors may know something that she has denied even to herself. In Neighborhood Watch, Cammie McGovern captures the nail-biting electricity of the best literary thrillers and zeros in on the subterranean tension abuzz in a town whose dark secrets threaten to obliterate the glossy façade of a perfect life. It is also the story of a woman coming into her own, finding her strength, and taking control of her life. It asks readers, what sort of price would
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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Viking
  4. Publication date
    June 10, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0670022039
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0670022038
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this superb suburban thriller from McGovern (Eye Contact), newly tested DNA evidence results in the release from prison of Betsy Treading (aka the Librarian Murderess) after serving 12 years for the bludgeoning of sexy divorcée Linda Sue Nelson, a neighbor in Milford, Conn. Betsy, a somnambulist, had confessed out of fear she'd done the deed while sleepwalking. Back home in Milford, Betsy determines to find out who really killed Linda Sue, who was having an affair with their married neighbor, charismatic author Geoffrey Steadman, who was a friend of Betsy's then husband, Paul. Now divorced from Paul, Betsy accepts temporary lodgings with an old friend and neighbor, Marianne Rashke, founder of the local neighborhood watch group. McGovern, a former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, seductively unreels Betsy's pursuit of the truth one shocking spool at a time. Fans of literary suspense fiction will be well rewarded. 4-city author tour. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Newly released from prison 12 years after being wrongly convicted of murdering her neighbor, suburban librarian Betsy Treading is back in her old community, temporarily living with the only friend who has stuck by her through her incarceration. While grateful that Marianne has taken her in, Betsy is also justifiably wary of the woman whose inexplicable paranoia directly ignited the personal security vendetta that so dramatically influenced events leading up to Linda Sue's murder. Betsy's lawyer has encouraged her to use her return to her old neighborhood to dig for clues that could help put the real killer behind bars, but in reexamining her former life and relationships, Betsy uncovers some unsettling truths about herself as well as the people she thought she could trust the most. Although hampered by flawed logic and a meandering narrative voice, McGovern's engrossing tale of mistrust and deception is made all the more sinister by the false security portrayed behind its conventional white-picket-fence facade. --Carol Haggas

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Viking; First Edition (June 10, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0670022039
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0670022038
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

About the author

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Cammie McGovern

Cammie McGovern

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Cammie McGovern was awarded a creative writing fellowship at Stanford University, and has received numerous prizes for her short fiction. Her stories have appeared in many magazines including Glamour, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook and Seventeen , and she is the author of another novel, The Art of Seeing . She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts with her husband and three children, the eldest of whom is autistic. She is one of the founders of Whole Children, a resource center that runs after-school classes and programs for children with special needs.

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7 out of 5
44 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

E.A. Poe
5.0 out of 5 stars Murder in suburbia
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2010
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This is a treat for all mystery or thriller lovers. Librarian Betsy Treading is convicted for the murder of her eccentric neighbor but then freed on DNA evidence after twelve years in prison. She must find the real killer to get restitution from the state. Returning to her old street and questioning her former neighbors, she finds herself forced to confront her own and their secrets and painful memories. The book dances deftly between present and past as Betsy both learns and comes to remember more and more of what happened on the night of the murder. In the end she begins to grasp the truth behind the facades both she and others have hidden behind for so long and to carve out a new life for herself beyond prison walls. The many themes and twists will keep the reader guessing until the end.
11 people found this helpful
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Annie B
3.0 out of 5 stars Complex and deep
Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2011
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Neighborhood Watch is a good, not great, complex psychological mystery that has many layers. While I did like the book, I didn't find it to be a page-turner or nail-biter. The book does an excellent job, however, of showing how little we really know about people we think we know very well and see on a daily basis. It also shows that we don't always know how others perceive us or if our own perceptions of ourselves is correct. Deep stuff all around and overall McGovern handled the subject matter well.

I did wish that Betsy would've been less vague as a character. I know her vagueness in many areas was essential to her character and the plot, but I admit to wanting to shake her and say stand up for yourself and go find out who did this awful thing. I also found it hard to believe that someone just out of prison for murdering a neighbor would go back to stay in the neighborhood at all. It felt contrived, but, again, this was essential to the book's development.

As for the ending, I will admit to wondering early in the book if the true murderer was who it did turn out to be. Still, I personally found the revelation left a lot to be desired, but it did show just how mentally unstable Betsy was before she went to prison.

If you're looking for a high-drama, fast-paced action book, this won't be the book for you. I am glad I read it, though, and will probably look into other books by this author.
One person found this helpful
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Cindy B
4.0 out of 5 stars Good story.
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2018
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Good story that kept me interested.
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SBC
2.0 out of 5 stars This book had potential....
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2012
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I really wanted to like this book. In the beginning, it was interesting, then it became unbelievable with a mishmashed plot and conclusion. It sounded interesting, but had nothing but unlikable, idiotic, naïve characters that just annoyed the heck out of me. Couldn't buy half the plot. "Oh, I found a spot of blood on my nightgown. How did that get there? Let me go down to the police station and admit to first degree murder." Yea, ok......
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Christina Coad
5.0 out of 5 stars Twists and turns
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2018
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Very good book, once I started reading I didn't want to put it down. This isn't one of those books where you know from page one who the real killer is and you read through 300 pages just to find out you were right one page 1. There are lots of twists and you don't get bored reading it.
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JAG/NC
3.0 out of 5 stars Neighborhood Watch
Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2010
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"Neighborhood Watch" by Cammie McGovern is a good summer read. The main character was well-developed, and the suspense was maintained, although rather mid-level, throughout the novel. If you can forgive the author veering off into some rather improbable scientific territory at times, she provides a pretty solid suburban mystery.
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barry
4.0 out of 5 stars More psychological profile than a thriller
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2010
This novel is a very satisfying read and is written very intelligently. True, the main character is a woman who had been found guilty of a murder 12 years ago and was dubbed "The Librarian Murderess". Now dna evidence proves that she did not commit the crime to which she confessed. She is released and the only place for her to go is to stay with neighbors who were close to her at the time of the crime. There is much action and many red herrings but we follow the entire process through the mind of our main character Betsy Treading. She is a complex character. She grew up in a troubled family with a father who suffered severe mental illness. She also has a sleep walking illness thet fills her mind with much amnesia and blocked memories. She finds that there are many secrets and unanswered questions behind the doors of the neighborhood and as she works to try and figure out who actually committed the murder of odd ball neighbor Linda Sue Murphy we get introduced to many diverse characters.

All characters are very real and three dimensional and this novel reads deeper than your average thriller for though it is about a crime the real mysteries revealed are those that are behind the surface of all people. As memories come back and different facts are discovered Betsy continues to become even more complex. The book takes your standard neighborhood in which many families wish to live and definitely says - be careful what you wish for. How all the lives in the neighborhood are intertwined is revealed in a suspenseful, page turning way. So though advertised as a thriller I would rather call this a a psychological profile for that is the process in which the mystery unfolds. The story is far deeper and heartfelt than your average thriller. These are characters you will feel like you know when you are finished and to follow the journey of knowledge with Betsy is a trip you will not soon forget.
9 people found this helpful
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Lydia C. Watts
5.0 out of 5 stars McGovern Does It Again
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2010
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Each of McGovern's books gets my from the opening lines and I stay engrossed to the very end. This is a GREAT book, with myriad twists and turns. Wicked FUN! Makes you think about your neighbors a bit differently, which is also WICKED (in the true sense of the word) fun. Get this book. You will not be disappointed!!!
2 people found this helpful
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