The Killer Next Door
By Alex Marwood 
(Penguin Books)


Desperation brings six people to a decaying Victorian apartment house where the tenants’ desolation pales in comparison with one neighbor’s despicable acts.

Alex Marwood’s second stand-alone novel delivers a multilayered plot that succeeds as crime fiction, a gothic tale and a village mystery ― all with an edge. With the apartment building substituting for a village, “The Killer Next Door” balances a shrewd look at people living on the edge of society with a deliciously creepy look at a murderer.

While London’s Northbourne area is “gentrifying fast,” that renewal hasn’t reached 23 Beulah Grove, where vile odors seep from pipes that are constantly clogged. But residents crave anonymity, and they are willing to tolerate no upkeep and a disgusting landlord.

Collette has evaded police and her former boss, whom she witnessed murder a man, for three years, thanks to a new identity. Teenager Cher Farrell scrapes by with petty thefts and scams. Refugee Hossein Zanjani escaped Iran’s politics. Vesta Collins, who was born in the building, wonders why, at 69, she stayed. Tenants also include music teacher Gerard Bright and Thomas Dunbar, who works part-time. (AP)