The Neighbor by N.L. Hinkens

A woman rents her property to what looks like a normal couple, until she becomes convinced the husband is hiding something dangerous.

Author

Diego Dunne
July 12, 2026

Hey!

This week I read The Neighbor by N.L. Hinkens.

And it's about a man with something to hide and a woman who wants to find the truth.

These types of thrillers thrive on nosy characters (protagonist or otherwise) trying to find out the secret, with the mystery and the thrills mounting as the story goes on.

Here are my top ones.

Something to Hide Thrillers

Keep Her Secret by Mark Edwards

After nearly falling to her death on a trip, Helena confesses a dark secret to her boyfriend Matthew, something she's kept buried for years. What she doesn't know is that someone else found out too, and they intend to use it against her.

In Keep Her Secret by Mark Edwards, we follow Helena and Matthew as they do everything in their power to stop the secret from coming out.

She Didn't See It Coming by Shari Lapena

When Bryden fails to collect her daughter from daycare, her husband Sam comes home to find her simply gone. Laptop open, keys in the door, no sign of a struggle.

In She Didn't See It Coming by Shari Lapena, we follow detective Jayne as she pieces together what happened and discovers that everyone close to Bryden had something they were hiding from her.

We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz

On a trip to Chile, Emily walks into her hotel suite to find blood on the floor and her best friend Kristen standing over a dead body. Kristen says it was self-defense. The same thing happened on their trip the year before.

In We Were Never Here by Andrea Bartz, we follow Emily as she begins to realize that her best friend has been hiding something. For decades.

And the newest addition to the list:

The Neighbor by N.L. Hinkens

Kay suspects something is wrong with her tenants, Beth and Gary. Gary keeps finishing Beth's sentences, squeezing her arm as he does. And Kay is convinced the man renting her property is hiding something far more dangerous than a dietary preference.

Trigger Warnings: Controlling behavior, domestic abuse, disappearance, substance and alcohol abuse, murder.

The Neighbor by N.L. Hinkens is a domestic thriller set in a residential neighborhood.

Domestic thrillers: a subgenre of psychological thrillers set in a single location, focused on the unstable minds of characters, exploring perception, reality, and psychological tension, often leaving readers questioning what's real. The emphasis is on internal conflict and mental unraveling rather than external action.

Hinkens's writing is functional and invisible, with dialogue that flows naturally and descriptions kept to a minimum. The reading level is low, with short chapters, so this was a quick read.

We follow Kay in a single timeline. The mystery is there from the get-go. The thrills build over time.

Kay is a proactive protagonist, pushing the plot forward even when her motives are hard to justify. I found myself questioning whether she had any real reason to get involved. She barely knows these people. But once I suspended my disbelief on that front, the story was entertaining.

The question that drives the whole book is whether Kay is picking up on something real or imagining it. Is she reading too much into her neighbor’s relationship, or is there something sinister there?

There is no romance, no swearing, and no graphic violence.

So, what about the ending? (No spoilers, obviously)

I love my stories to wrap up nicely, with a neat little bow at the end. I like to read a cathartic scene where everything our characters have been through finally pays off physically and emotionally. Then a denouement in another chapter (or chapters) following the characters decompress where things are resolved and I’m left delighted at how well things played out at the end, every plot thread resolved.

I enjoyed the ending. The main mystery resolves cleanly, and everything accounts for itself. There was no denouement, which I was disappointed about.

The Neighbor by N.L. Hinkens is a solid domestic thriller around a landlord who can't stop watching her tenants and a tenant with something to hide. This is a satisfying read if you’re looking for a proactive female main character who navigates gaslighting, control, and her own sanity to find out the truth.

Latest Updates

  • Helpless by Jessica Knoll dropped July 7. The author of Luckiest Girl Alive is back with a psychological thriller about a screenwriter held captive by her ex-boyfriend.

  • I watched The Menu this week. Ralph Fiennes plays a Michelin-starred chef who has a very specific plan for his guests' last meal.

That’s all for this week. See you next time.

— D.E. Dunne

P.S. Let me know how I did today by replying to this email.

P.P.S. I would love to hear your recommendations for thrillers you loved. Reply to this email, and I’ll add them to my TBR list. Thanks!

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