The Neighbor Next Door — Aabra

It really wasn't spying, Vicki Karr kept telling herself. Not really. It was just research. For the new course she was taking.

You see, Vicki's big dream is to become a Private Investigator. Instead of bagging groceries at the local Shop-A-Lot, what she'd REALLY like to do is track down robbers, deadbeat dads, and insurance fraudsters. Luckily, her techie teenage son, Danny, supports her dream completely. He also provides electronic advice that might be, well, legally questionable--but it's effective nonetheless.

One the other hand, Vicki's wacky, man-hungry, but unlucky-in-love best friend Charli finds the whole P.I. project terribly mundane. Still, she DOES envy Vicki's ability to keep the two good looking studs in her own life happy and compliant.

Despite her friend's lack of enthusiasm, Vicki and Danny charge ahead with the Private Investigator dream anyway. Vicki and her son quickly assemble a collection of electronic surveillance gadgets that can tap into cell phones and eavesdrop on private conversations.

To complete her P.I. course, Vicki then begins to do her required "research" on several neighborhood "suspects." Their lives, however, turn out to be anything but exciting. Soon bored, Vicki then aims her electronic gadgets in the direction of her hunky, mysterious, and philandering next door neighbor, Don Eddles. She quickly learns that Don and his wife, Marie, are eternally involved in domestic battles, mostly about money. Neighbor Don also has an odd although titillating habit of undressing before un-draped windows.

But Vicki, Don, and Marie all have secrets of their own--secrets that soon set their three lives on a collision course whose ultimate destination is both uncertain and dangerous.

This Vicki Karr mystery is a humorous romp of suspense that is sure to tickle the funny bone--while chilling the backbone at the same time.