Really enjoyable read. Good characters and a Good story. Well worth a read. Think others will enjoy.

Lena came to London in the hope of a better life away from her small village in Hungary. Living with her boyfriend Tomek and friend Timea, Lena cleans houses for the people of north London. When Timea disappears Lena in concerned, Timea had secrets. However when Timea's body is discovered and the police treat it as suicide, Lena decides that she must find out the truth.

This is a rather interesting little book which is more than it first appears. It seems on the surface like a rather lightweight crime novel, more Agatha Raisin than Agatha Christie. To this end it is very successful, engaging characters, bouncy plot, lots of twists and turns. However there is more...Lena is an immigrant and encounters casual discrimination at every turn, Cartwright is from a privileged background and is an anachronism in the police station, there is a nasty undercurrent to life in Islington. The murderer was clear from about halfway but it did not spoil my enjoyment and I hope to see more from Mundy.

A great read if you love crime novels but are bored of the cops chasing criminals formula. Lena is determined to find out what happened to her best friend and in doing so discovers herself and what she is truly capable of.

In Hungarian cleaner Lena Szarka, the author has come up with a great premise for a detective because of course cleaners have unparalleled access to the homes of their clients. They learn things – possibly intimate things - about their clients from the way they keep their houses to what’s in their cupboards. They can get to know all about their dirty laundry – and I’m not just talking about yesterday’s socks.

Of course, a cleaner may only know their client from their house but if, like Lena, you’re smart and observant, there’s a lot you can tell about someone from their home. There’s a great scene in the book where Lena, in the manner of Sherlock Holmes, is able to deduce a long list of facts about a client she’s never met just from their flat.

“It is a woman, “ said Lena. She is thin and short. With long dark hair But I have seen her hair brush, full of long dark hairs. Her clothes are size eight. The trousers have been shortened. She always wears high heels.”

As someone who employs a cleaner (and always tidies up before they come), I had to laugh at some of the double standards Lena observes in her clients. For instance, expecting cleaners to clean more thoroughly than we do ourselves. ‘People would never look under the sofa, she’d learnt, unless they’d hired a cleaner. Then they’d be checking every week. Lena couldn’t understand it. If they didn’t want dust in their houses, they shouldn’t live in places built a hundred years ago.’

I liked the cast of supporting characters reflecting the range of immigrants who come to London in search of work from Eastern Europe and beyond. I have to pick out Greta, Lena’s quite appalling mother as a personal favourite.

I really enjoyed getting to know Lena. She’s clever, resourceful, perceptive and determined...very determined. However, her deductions are not always spot on and can send her off on a tangent. Sometimes there is an innocent explanation, Lena! However, it’s understandable that she gets caught up in her desire to get to the bottom of her friend’s disappearance, especially when the police initially show little interest.

There were a couple of scenes in the book that I found a bit too melodramatic and which rather stretched credibility but overall I really enjoyed In Strangers’ Houses. It was a fun read and would be ideal for lovers of cosy mysteries. If you enjoy it, you’ll be pleased to know Elizabeth is working on a second book in the series due for publication later in 2018.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of NetGalley and publishers Little, Brown Book Group in return for an honest and unbiased review.

This novel features one of the most likeable protagonists you’re likely to meet this year. Yes, the tone is light- perhaps overly so- but Elizabeth Mundy has created a warm, tender character in Lena. Readers will whip through this in no time at all, but that’s a testament to Elizabeth’s evident keenness to maintain the reader’s interest.

There are aspects that sometimes feel a little incredulous- Cartwright seems to forget about his day job sometimes- but this is still a buoyant, enjoyable read. It’ll be interesting to see where she ends up from here. Importantly, she’s a welcome antidote to the stereotypes often perpetuated in relation to immigration- long may her detective work continue!

This is a refreshing and topical take on the British amateur sleuth: a Hungarian cleaner, who has access to the houses of the great and the good in London, is desperately trying to find out what happened to her missing friend and colleague by cleaning the houses she last serviced. By being entrusted with people's properties for a few hours, Lena Szarka is able to draw conclusions, profile clients and follow a twisty trail that reveals sad and unpleasant truths .

This was an entertaining and enlightening read. I enjoyed learning about Hungarian culture and the immigrant cleaner's challenges in modern-day Britain and found Lena a likeable, intelligent and engaging protagonist. London and the other characters are very well drawn and the story runs along nicely, sprinkled with humour and mounting tension, as shocking lies and truths are revealed when Lena's investigation reaches a climax.

I heartily recommend this book to all lovers of the British mystery and cosy genre as there is a lot here to appreciate and admire. I look forward to the next instalment in the series and meeting up again with Lena and her quirky family and friends in this entertaining part of London.

Do not waste your time with this book.

It is so slow I didn't know what was going on.

I could not relate to any of the characters, the story did not grip me and it was just a real let down.

A little slow to start as the characters and the opening chapters weren’t especially engaging BUT once the action started, this was an interesting book and a little bit different than other thrillers/mysteries/police procedurals.

If you liked Graham Norton’s Holding, then you will probably like this book too. It’s a gentler kind of crime book, touching on the underbelly of London and the people who have chosen to make their lives here.

Lena is convinced that her friend’s disappearance is out of character. During the course of the book, we find out lots about Timea but not very much about Lena. Their childhood in Hungary isn’t really discussed until towards the end of the book to give context to the events that have just happened.

Despite its languid style, it is a pacy book that kept my interest once I’d got into it.

A little bit different but a little bit tricky to start with. 3* ish...

Many apologies, I tried to keep going with the book, but after reading over 50%, I am giving up. It failed to sustain my interest despite all my efforts to persevere. Others may well enjoy it considerably more than I did. Thanks Little, Brown for the book, it just wasn't for me.