This is my second book by Kia Abdullah and she is now firmly on my list of ‘must read’ authors.

At the heart of this gut-wrenching story, in my opinion, is a cautionary tale. A simple plot, neighbours disagreeing, tension mounting to a dark, tragic tale, that could happen to any of us. Don’t get me wrong, this is far from ‘just’ a simple story, it is a pacy, multi-layered plot that will keep the reader totally engaged throughout, so cleverly is it staged. It contains bullying, racial prejudice (sometimes unconscious but never excusable), victims, standing up for your beliefs and shocking events and is above all, thought-provoking.

The characters leapt off the page so completely formed that I felt like I knew them. Bilal, Salema & Zain the new neighbours with their dog Molly, hoping the move would allow them some peace and a chance at a new life.
Tom, Willa & Jamie the neighbours next door, seemingly the perfect understanding ‘white middle class’ folks. And Linda, the gossipy, opinionated neighbour.

My loyalties were swayed from time to time as the narrators offered the readers alternative views. I thoroughly enjoyed the tense drama and smugly thought I could see where the story was going. Wrong- footed! I was left reeling and slightly bereft that the story had ended. How long until the next Kia Abdullah book?

Those People Next Door is a fantastic read. It is powerful and thought provoking. It kept me hooked all the way through with many twists and turns that I did not see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for my ARC.

Wow this author certainly knows how to write a psychological thriller / courtroom drama and it was excellent. This book was jam packed and thought provoking on every page. I loved it and genuinely did not know what to expect or how it was going to end. Great bunch of characters and I really liked them all. Fantastic writing and fantastic book I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

I don’t read a lot of domestic noir, but Kia Abdullah is a writer whose work I really enjoy, so I dived into this one head first. OMG! From the beginning the tension is there between the next door neighbours and it only ramps up and up until I was holding my breath because in parts it is so unbearably tense you almost don’t want to know what is going to happen next.

The Khatuns have recently moved to this new estate, a blend of social and private housing where everything is well cared for and though the houses may lack character, the estate feels safe and quiet. Their next door neighbours are the Huttons. They too have a teenage son and everything feels like the omens are good for a new start for the Khatuns, especially when they are invited to a neighbourly barbecue just after they arrive.

Kia Abdullah slowly lets us into what lies behind the Khatuns need to move and that only starts to become clear when the somewhat passive aggressive behaviour of next door neighbour Tom Sutton starts to niggle away the family.

We all know people like Tom Hutton. He is a stickler for the rules; a man who will call you out if you have the temerity to park outside his house, despite the lack of any parking demarcation lines. A man who will do his share, but will point this out to others in the clear expectation that they will see they are failing to do theirs.

The Khatuns have moved, in part, so that their son Zain can have a new start. He was getting in with a bad crowd in their last place and they have high hopes for Zain who is currently failing to live up to their high aspirations. The Huttons too have a son, Jamie, who is of a similar age to Zain, so you hope that where the parents fail to gel, perhaps the kids can bring them together?

What’s brilliant about this book is that you can’t help but think ‘there but for the grace of God….’. There can’t be too many people who haven’t had neighbours that irritate them, or worse and Kia Abdullah has recognises how quickly that can become an all-consuming part of your emotional framework if you let it. Kia Abdullah shows how much the class divide can matter in a small neighbourhood and she shows how quickly racial tension can develop.

It is brilliantly done and so quickly develops into toxicity that it takes your breath away. Inevitably, what starts as a small irritation grows and then social media plays its part in fanning the flames of intolerance and prejudice. It is cleverly and plausibly done and I found it compelling.

Those People Next Door will have you taking sides, seeing the other person’s perspective and then switching your opinion back and forward. The tension in this book is palpable and at times, almost unbearable. It builds and builds to a massive crescendo, and culminates in a courtroom.

Verdict: This is such a convincing and compelling book that really has you caught up in the actions of the protagonists, Making judgements, taking sides, contemplating what is racism.. all these things and more go through your mind as events develop. As ever Kia Abdullah ends her story in a confrontation in the courtroom and it is only there and afterwards that we understand how the full picture comes together. Brilliantly done, Those People Next Door is a fantastic thriller and a sure fire winner I’ll be thinking about for some time to come.

We’re only in January and I’ve already found a “if you read just one book this year” read.
Wow this is brilliant. You can choose your house but not your neighbours. Salma and Bil move to a new neighbourhood to improve their lot and to give their son Zain a better chance at life. They’re a hard working down to earth family full of hope for their move, but immediately their new lives are not what they’d have wished for. Racist, pompous, neighbours tarnish their dream and as tensions between them and those next door escalate you can feel their helplessness and anxiety rocket. The writing is so good that I felt their terror as one unbelievable thing after another happens. The catalogue of happenings, the horrendous outcomes and the resultant fallouts are one thing, but oh the amazing twists!
A truly unputdownable read

‘You can choose your house. Not your neighbours.’ - cover tag line.

My thanks to HQ for an eARC and to HarperCollins U.K. Audio for a review copy of the unabridged audiobook edition, both via NetGalley, of ‘Those People Next Door’ by Kia Abdullah. The audiobook is narrated by Tania Rodrigues.

This is Kia Abdullah’s fourth novel and having loved her previous books, she has become a must read author for me. Her novels always prove well written and thought provoking as well as unflinchingly addressing controversial issues.

Salma Khatun and her family have just moved to Blenheim, a safe suburban development. They are in desperate need of a fresh start, and Blenheim feels like the place to make that happen. Yet not long after they move in, Salma spots her neighbour, Tom Hutton, ripping out the anti-racist banner her son placed in their front garden. She chooses not to confront Tom because she wants to fit in.

Salma takes the banner inside and puts it in her window instead. But the next morning she wakes up to find her window smeared with paint. This time she confronts Tom and things begin to escalate quickly, especially after Salma posts to Twitter.

These small acts of passive aggression quickly escalate and eventually leads to the courtroom. Kia Abdullah skilfully turns up the tension between the families to a point where I was perched on the edge of my seat unwilling to stop reading.

With respect to the audiobook, Tania Rodrigues combines stage and screen experience along with serving as the narrator on over a hundred audiobooks. She has a warm, clear voice and is skilled at utilising multiple accents for her characters, including Asian dialects. I have enjoyed her reading of various titles including Kia Abdullah’s previous novels.

Overall, I enjoyed ‘Those People Next Door’ very much. I felt that Kia Abdullah did well in addressing all sides with respect to its social issues alongside examining family dynamics and the often fraught territorial interactions with neighbours.

Highly recommended.

I've enjoyed Kia Abdullah's previous books and this was no exception. Those People Next Door is thought provoking and the characters well fleshed out. Great twist at the end. Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this eARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and have devoured it in less than a day. I really like the authors writing style here, I think Kia Abdullah writes so clearly and eloquently, capturing her characters thoughts, feelings and emotions well and making them jump from the pages and become alive in my mind. Her books always draw me in right from the beginning and hold my interest throughout and this one was no different. This read really hit the mark with me and when I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about the characters, the plot and what would happen next. Even though I wasn’t overly keen on two of the main four characters I still found myself immersed in this book, which had a well thought out plot line and good pacing in the story. I liked the story being told through the different characters perspectives and particularly enjoyed the courtroom scenes which were full of tension. I will say I didn’t like the ending, it made me feel very uneasy. The author has covered current and relatable issues in todays society sensitively and with care and puts both sides of a story across so clearly and concisely which, in my opinion, makes this such a thought provoking read. If you haven’t read this authors books before, I’d highly recommend them - they are very, very good especially the legal scenes

4.5 stars

Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah is an outstanding read, when I first started reading this book the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end. I knew then that the storyline, the characters and the outcome would all come together to create an amazing reading experience.
All of the main characters were in one way or another tacitly complicit in creating a set of circumstances, that left Zain in a coma and the main male in prison.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
Highly recommended

I will happily read everything Kia Abdullah writes! She consistently delivers engaging, thought provoking and well paced plots with really interesting and complex characters. This was all provided for the reader yet again in Those People Next Door.

I was hooked from beginning to end. Fully immersed in the drama and very satisfied with the ending. Bravo!

Thought-provoking, emotional, and frustratingly real - another Kia Abdullah classic.

Salma Khatun and her husband Bil and son Zain are happy to move into their new home. It isn’t their dream house or location, but it gives them hope for the next stage of their lives. But, when a Black Lives Matter banner on their front lawn is taken down, and then the window pane the place it in painted over, they begin to feel very unwanted. While their neighbours are at pains to assure them that they are welcome tensions between the Khatuns and their next door neighbours grow.

I’m always impressed by Kia Abdullah's ability to write about the shades of grey in people. Even those who seem straightforwardly in the wrong are given the opportunity to show their point of view and how it impacts their actions.

It’s very clever and nuanced writing, and yet manages to avoid being preachy and still delivers a tense and compelling thriller. Excellent stuff.

Those People Next Door is another excellent book with Kia Abdullah with numerous twists and turns that keep the reader guessing from the first to the last page. Highly recommended.

A gritty read with lots of twists and turns touching on themes of racism and neighbourhood disputes.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

My second book by Kia Abdullah with Next of Kin being my first. I found my first read to have quirky characters and a story that built chapter by chapter to an impressive ending. This book had that same footprint except that it was even better! I am a fan and look forward to her next one for hopefully more of the same!

I listened and read this book and preferred reading it. If there had been 2+ narrators then perhaps it would’ve been better via audiobook.

Thank you to both Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

A very thought provoking and enjoyable book! Blown away by the many complex issues addressed in this book by Kia Abdullah.

It is perhaps best thought of as a fictional examination of human frailties from a behavioural science perspective but with an emphasis on context!

I thought initially that this book would have “racism” as the main theme but it goes much much deeper than that.

Family relationships; two sided nasty neighbours; preconceived bias impacting on judgement; lack of empathy; friendships; dangers from social media; disabilities; peer group pressures; financial impact of the economy; justice; honesty; vindictiveness and revenge.

These all have a huge part at the various stages of the book as the plot evolves. The author has this ability to force you to think and rethink how you might have reacted in similar circumstances. Unfortunately I am not confident that I would have behaved any better! Perhaps now though!

The ending was outstanding - loved the final touch!

So hats off to the author for creating an enjoyable book that is also outstanding in how subtilely many important issues are presented and discussed.

This was everything you need for a thriller and crime story. It is not as black and white as you first think and like most typical thrillers, is full of twists. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

3.5/5.

I’d like to thank HQ and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Those People Next Door’ by Kia Abdullah in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

From the day Salma, Bilal and their teenage son Zain Khatun move into Blenheim, a safe suburban area in East London, their neighbour Tom Hutton makes it clear he follows regulations to the letter and his blonde willowy wife Willa supports him. So when he deliberately knocks a small banner over in their front garden and then covers their window with white paint, matters escalate until the police become involved.

‘Those People Next Door’ is a chillingly realistic novel of not just a courtroom drama but what comes before and after. It’s told from the different perspectives of Salma and Bilal, Tom and Willa, and also their sons Zain and Jamie who form a friendship, and shows how a small act of aggression can easily intensify until matters get completely out of hand. The locations chosen for the story are true to life and have made me feel very close to the events happening as I lived in the same area for some years and have been able to visualise all the places mentioned. This book has had me in its grip from the very beginning, at times stirring up my sense of injustice at the way Salma and her family were treated, making me want to get up and offer my support. To say this novel is great is an understatement, it’s an exceptionally brilliant novel, amazingly written with an intricately woven plot especially in the last few chapters. I couldn’t stop reading and even when a visitor arrived I willed them to leave so I could continue with the story. I absolutely recommend this novel and can’t wait for the next one.

My first 5 star read of 2023 and possibly will be one of my favourites of the year.
I love this author's books. I rarely read the blurb for this author's books and up to date they have never disappointed. Once again it is a sensitive and topical issue in the plotline, which in my opinion, is done extremely well.
They are part psychological thriller, suspense, drama and legal thriller.
Those People Next Door is is a must read

A powerfully impactful and thought-provoking thriller, Those People Next Door is a strongly-explored contemporary story about how small acts can easily spin out of control, as this ultimately heartbreaking game of retaliation results.

The reasons why I like to read Abdullah's books so much are two-fold. First, I know her books always promise a diverse set of characters and will tackle relevant social issues in an incredibly balanced way. With the main themes of Those People Next Door being class and race, there's so much that Abdullah manages to explore, from unconscious bias to prejudices on all sides. But no character is left blameless, as Abdullah looks at the story equally from both perspectives to craft a story that is sure to make you think twice before acting or responding in haste.

My second reason is that I always expect Abdullah to take things one step further to completely blow your mind. Stupidly, I thought the plot of this one seemed quite domestic and straightforward, so I thought I had it sussed out quite early on. Of course, I should have known that that wouldn't be the case! The tension builds and builds as things escalate dramatically. And just when I thought things had settled, Abdullah throws in even more curveballs, and I'm still left with my jaw hanging open.

If you've not read a book by Kia Abdullah before, you need to get on! She is always an author that I recommend, and I haven't been disappointed by her yet!

I have read and really enjoyed Kia Abdullah's previous books. So when I saw Those People Next Door on Netgalley I couldn't push the request button quick enough. I am super thankful to HQ stories for approving me and letting me indulge in reading the book before publication which is 19th of January.

Those People Next Door starts of at a really slow pace. We are introduced to all the main characters. Salma and Bil and their son Zain who have just moved to Blenheim. Their neighbours Willa and Tom and their son Jamie. We get to see how they are as people and make our own first impressions.

Kia Abdullah uses the start of the book to drip feed the reader little nuggets about the main characters, some traits about each of them or little acts they do that gives us the reader little doubts about how "nice" they really are. I don't know if this was intentional or if it was me just reading between the lines. But, I liked the fact that I doubted both families. It sort of made me an impartial witness to the events that followed.

The build up to the main event stokes the fire of 'who is to blame' I had my suspicions and was very adamant at times that it was a clear cut outcome. I clearly had got swept away in the storyline and forgot that Abdullah is a master at twists and turns.

Abdullah brings in her knowledge and expertise into the courtroom scenes, I really enjoyed getting into the depths of the case and seeing how the prosecution and defence dissect the evidence to their favour.

If you've not read a book by Abdullah then please do so, you are missing out. I can't praise her writing enough. Just go and read the books. All of them.


P.S Kia Abdullah I will always look for your name on the front of a book. And tell people they need to read your books.