Did the background information give us a better understanding of the book?

The website about Norristown didn't give us a better understanding. In the book, it's the 1970's so we imagine it being more old-fashioned.

On the website, the pictures of the neighborhood are bright and happy but in our heads we think the street where Susie lived is dark and sad. We think Norristown is a small village and that the houses look exactly the same. Susie says Mr. Harvey's and Susie's family's house are looking the same except the inside of the houses. Everyone has a garden and a garage.

Quote from the book when Grandma Lynn and Abigail are taking a walk in the neighbourhood - "The houses one after another, identical in structure. Only what my grandmother thought of as their accessories marked them as different."

We think that this story could be take place any time and the story (with someone being murdered) could happen anywhere but we think it's more likely it happens in a small town, where there's not too many people. It's more easy to commit a murder then.