The Boy Next Door is a light-hearted romantic comedy set in cyber space. Probably inspired by the Warner Brothers film You've Got Mail, Meg Cabot wrote the entire book as a series of emails exchanged among people in the lives of Melanie Fuller and John Trent.

It all begins when Mel's next door neighbor is knocked down by a mysterious entity and the old lady's dog's insane barking leads Mel to the crime scene. Despite living in Manhattan, where people are completely ignorant as to who their neighbors might be, Mel's small town upbringing proves her different. She not only contacts the relevant authorities to investigate the crime, but self imposes the responsibility of walking the neighbor's dog four times a day and petting her cats. Until, of course, it starts interrupting her daily life.She is given daily admonitions on tardiness at work from an overly serious HR department head at The New York Journal's office, where Mel is a celebrity buzz writer trying to find her breakthrough into hardcore reporting. In search of Max, the old lady's nephew who is her only known relative and a notorious fashion photographer, Mel ends up falling in love with an uncharacteristically humble and down-to-earth Max.

Meg Cabot, also the author of Princess Diaries, has done a brilliant job of creating strong, well-developed characters even through just emails that they exchange with colleagues, friends and family. Even some of the less important characters have played a significant role in providing witty entertainment and hilarious twists. My personal favorite was Mrs. Fuller, who is hell bent on getting her daughter married and thinks her 'subtle' hints of sending Mel the ridiculous wedding cards of any and everyone Mel remotely knows will lure her into realizing that her life lacks substance without the "L" word in it. Her fear of the 'big city' and of people's air conditioners falling out on the streets is even funnier. Unlike other novels, she does not give away every detail, as would be the case in letter writing and allows for the reader's imagination to work the magic of the romantic and entertaining story. The book relates the unfolding of several mysteries, some grave, others less serious, over the span of half a year. This comic unraveling of a serious conundrum is done very well, despite a familiar plot and genre.

Overall, Meg Cabot has humorously unfolded a serious tale of romance and mystery, both done very successfully.