A review by obsidian_blue
The Nosy Neighbor by Nita Prose

3.0

The story was interesting but the ending just didn't work. It just left things unfinished and I honestly thought that maybe there were more pages to come. Just the 1st okish story in the collection. Honestly pretty reminiscent of Prose's latest "Maid" story with an ending that just leaves you wondering "huh."

"The Nosy Neighbor" follows 70 year old Marge. Marge is focused on her neighbor across the street, Doris and spends her time judging Doris and her marriage to her long-suffering husband, Bob. When Doris declares she's going to take her husband to flamenco classes in Spain, she asks Marge to water her plants and toss out some trash for her. But Marge starts to realize something is afoot and realizes that Doris may be up to something drastic.

Honestly, this book felt a bit like "A Man Called Ove" though you end up not really liking Marge or Doris. You also start to realize that both women are "nosy neighbors" and that Doris for all of her faults (and there's a lot) at least clearly sees Marge, though Marge never sees her clearly until the very end.

And the ending, eh it didn't work at all. I thought that Prose should have finished things off so to speak if she was going that route, but we are just left with a reveal and cliffhanger.