NOSY NEIGHBORS

A Victorian house’s disparate residents join forces to solve a tragic crime and keep their place in the property.

Ms. (never Mrs.) Dorothy Darling, 77, has a talent for details, particularly the details about her Shelley House neighbors’ comings and goings, and even more particularly the details about how each and every thing her neighbors do might be a legal violation, or maybe just an affront to common sense, something Dorothy has in abundance. She’s most vexed when a girl with pink hair shows up at the door looking for a room even though all the tenants know subletting their spare rooms is illegal. The impertinence! The troublemaker, Kat Bennett, is equally aggrieved to have come all the way to the village of Chalcot without landing a place to live, but the real renter, the friendly Joseph Chambers, makes a strong pitch when he finally meets her, and Kat moves into the multi-unit building after all. Although Kat’s not one to put down roots, there’s something charming about Shelley House and its occupants, especially Reggie, Joseph’s adorable Jack Russell. Kat’s almost relaxed when a tragedy shakes things up and forces her and her neighbors to come together. As they keep trying to protect their homestead from opportunistic landlord Fergus Alexander, the occupants of Shelley House must get to know each other a lot better to find out who might have tried to hurt one of their own. Personalities clash as secrets are revealed, threatening either to divide the occupants forever or to galvanize them in the fight.

The tenants are as crafty and charming as the house in this all’s-well-that-ends-well tale.