Name: A Crime in the Neighborhood
ISBN: 9780805055801

Suzanne Berne

A young woman's suspicions about who murdered a boy in a Washington, D.C., suburb twenty-five years ago sends the town into a tizzy and reveals the immoral behavior in her own family. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.

A Novel

A Crime in the Neighborhood

WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 'This ambitious account of a sudden coming of age reminded me strongly of To Kill a Mockingbird - and is every bit as moving and satisfying' Daily Telegraph In the long hot summer of 1972, three events shattered the serenity of ten-year-old Marsha's life: her father ran away with her mother's sister; a young boy called Boyd Ellison was molested and murdered; and Watergate made the headlines. Living in a world no longer safe or familiar, Marsha turns increasingly to 'the book of evidence' in which she records the doings of the neighbors, especially of shy Mr Green next door. But as Marsha's confusion and her murder hunt accelerate, her 'facts' spread the damage cruelly and catastrophically throughout the neighborhood. 'It is impossible not to be completely swept along. Berne's vision is gently humorous, ironic, quirky, and she writes with such piercing sensitivity . . . a compelling debut novel' The Times 'Intensely evocative. I loved it' Observer 'The writing is marvellous . . . comparisons have been made between her and Anne Tyler and Harper Lee. Same ball-park, delightfully different voice' Mail on Sunday

Peggy Walker

A fascinating vignette

This is on the surface a simple story that takes place during the era of the Watergate break-in. Told in the first person, our narrator is a young girl living in a typical middle-class suburb as part of typical family, living a typical mundane life until that year when life as she knows it changes. A boy in her class is murdered, her father runs off with her mother's sister, a single middle-aged man moves in next door, her mother starts working and is focused on her own survival....Martha's whole world shifts on it's axis.

The story is beautifully told. I could picture the neighborhood and the characters quite clearly. How Marsha copes with her bewilderment, rage and fear at the disruptions in her life has a real sense of truth about it.

This could have morphed into a much longer, more complicated story, but focussing just on this one little slice of time seemed just right. Well told.

A Crime in the Neighborhood A Novel

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