The Cleaner is a dark and atmospheric thriller, a story of love, obsession and revenge.

Esmie travels to Ireland to seek revenge for her brother Nico. Posing as a cleaner, she infiltrates herself into the residents of The Woodlands, believing that some of them hold the key to discovering more about what happened to her brother while he was living in Ireland before he had to suddenly return home.

What she finds is three families full of secrets, all of which she stores away as she begins to piece things together. We get to know Esmie as we travel back to learn more about her life growing up and she proves to be a fascinating if complex character. With a supporting cast of interesting if largely unlikeable characters, all with their own baggage, this is a book that keeps you guessing as you try and figure them all out. The twists keep coming until …… let’s just say my jaw hit the floor!

The epitome of a page turner, this had me hooked - Watson combines thoughtful, almost lyrical prose with an underlying tension to create a compelling read.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.


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The Cleaner Mary by Watson is a domestic thriller were a Brazilian cleaner comes to investigate and take revenge on the people who caused her brother to quit his studies and return to home in disgrace.

The Cleaner is a well crafted thriller that uses its setting to examine how people are trapped in the roles that are given to them by society and how it can be difficult to break out of them. As these roles set by society are so rigid.

The writer, Mary Watson uses a single narrator to tell the story which both allows readers to understand why she wants revenge and the way that the families involved perceive the cleaner as a piece of equipment rather than a human being.

In addition the advantage of the sole narrator allows the novel to become better at hiding its twists and turns from the reader's perspective. Including accepting what the narrator says is the truth.

While the premise for the novel was interesting and carried out in a competent way by the writer. The story took a long time to deliver on its objective, meaning The Cleaner by Mary Watson while not bad is not one I would highly recommend as a must read.

Having read the synopsis for this book, it seemed intriguing and I was eager to get started.
Whilst I was reading, I was absorbed and not wanting to put it down, but every time I did stop reading, I found it hard to get motivated to start again. There were parts of the story I did find tedious. Therefore it has taken me a good few weeks to finish this book. At no stage did I consider not reading to the end, so there was obviously sufficient enjoyment to see me through, but maybe it just wasn’t quite to my taste.

On one of Esmie’s first days in Ireland, she is knocked off her bike and managed to source work as a cleaner for the driver of the car. One would assume this I was nothing more than a happy coincidence but no - Esmie has been waiting here for the person who owns the house because she needs to get inside…

Esmie is searching for her brother who returned from Ireland a broken man due to one of the inhabitants of these seemingly perfect houses. We never find out exactly where Esmie is from but through a split timeline we learn more about the tragic and terrifying events that led her here.

This is an intriguing read with a twist I didn’t see coming!

This was so good I bought the hardcover after arc reading it

'Houses know. They watch, taking in every small thing. They see when you're lonely or loved up or lying'

I couldn't put this book down!
I love the cover straight away that got me wanting to read it,
It's fast Paced and you can't wait to finish it but miss the book when it's over

Esmie is a cleaner at the gated community of The Woodlands. She works at three houses: Linc & Amber’s, Paul & Isabelle’s, and Ceanna’s.

The first two couples are married, whilst Ceanna is Amber’s sister.

As Esmie keeps cleaning, she can’t help but overhearing and noticing that all is not well and everyone is hiding something.

However, the five people Esmie cleans for, don’t know that she arrived in Ireland with one goal: revenge for her brother’s decline. Nico was living and studying in Ireland, and was Ceanna’s lodger.

Something happened at The Woodlands and Nico abruptly stopped his studies without qualifying. When he arrived back home, he wasn’t the same person. Now he is lying in a coma and Esmie is desperate to uncover what truly happened…

I liked the sound of the book a lot better than its execution, I’m afraid.

I found the characters tedious (including Esmie) and as I read so many psychological thrillers, I was able to predict the major twists.

It wasn’t for me, but it might be for you!

Many thanks to Bantam for approving my NetGalley request to read and review this title.

Esmie is a cleaner who engineers her way into cleaning for a group of people with a lot of secrets. Not as many as Esmie though, who hasn’t come to clean, but to uncover these secrets and to use them for revenge for someone she loves.
This is a gripping book, full of complex motivations for people trying to get what they want. Good twisty plot with excellent gradual reveals. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

‘The Cleaner’ is Esmie‘s story; she has moved from an unnamed South American country to Ireland, ostensibly for language lessons but actually to find out what happened to her beloved brother Nico when he was in Ireland.

Nico had been lodging with Ceanna, one of three women who live in their luxury homes in a secluded lane with their families. Esmie hopes that by working as a cleaner for all of the families, she’ll be able to uncover information about what happened to Nico, why he had to leave Ireland in an hurry and take her revenge.

The more Esmie discovers about the three families, the more family secrets and intrigue she uncovers, from the women, their husbands and their various children.

It’s a middle class professional background, with doctors and academics amongst the families. One husband Linc, is a lecturer obsessed with folk poet Eden Hale, dedicating his life to writing and researching her. Esmie gets caught up in his obsession and hunt for Eden’s missing work.

There’s so much to relish in this book, it can’t be rushed and I enjoyed taking my time following the story and finding out more about all of the characters. Mary Watson is an accomplished writer who knows how to weave a compelling literary narrative that reveals its secrets at just the right moment

Absolutely loved this book! From page one I was hooked and couldn’t wait to pick the book back up.

I can’t wait for more from this author!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

While there was plenty to enjoy in this book (twisty plot lines, morally grey and unlikeable characters), I felt a disconnect to the narrative overall. I think this might be because I never quite fully believed the reason behind Nico’s deterioration - the affair wasn’t convincing enough to me. Nonetheless, I read this in a day, which says a lot about the book’s readability and the author’s capacity to write an engaging story.

Although not really the type of book I would normally read I found myself fascinated by the storyline. A female wanting to take revenge on the person or people she suspected of causing her brother’s death. A twist later in the tale clarified one aspect that I had found puzzling. Interesting characters despite some not being very likeable.

Really enjoyed this book many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this

This one was a mixed experience for me. Some parts had me hooked while others felt rushed, confusing & easy to skip. I also didn’t find the characters particularly likeable. The premise was promising but the execution fell a bit short. That said, I didn’t dislike the book & I’d still recommend it, it just didn’t leave a lasting impression.

If you're thinking this is just another version of Frieda McFadden’s The Housemaid
then think again, this story brings a unique tale of secrets and betrayal, with so many layers interwoven to keep you gripped to the last page.

It took me a little while to get in to but I felt like this was deliberate in order to pull together so many different threads. Once I was captured though could not put it down.
I would most definitely recommend this book to any one who loves an intricately woven mysterious easy read.

This was my first book by this author. It wont be my last. I liked how she wove the story. It was done in a unique way. I feel like maid books are really popular right now but this one was different.

This is the 1st book I have read by Mary Watson and I really liked it!

I really liked this book and it was amazing! Without revealing too much, there were so many layers to this story and I found myself more interested with each one!

I really liked this book and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a great read full of twists and secrets.

The Cleaner is a debut adult novel anyone woman looking to have her revenge.
Esmie leaves her home and country, and travels to Ireland. She becomes a cleaner to three houses on the woodlands. It’s quite an isolated area. As she spends time with each household, she gathers the information she needs to exact her revenge on the right person.
It took until around half way through before this story really took off. It had a life of its own,and it really gripped me! I had to read to the end to find the answers I needed!
Many thanks to Random House for the opportunity to read this arc copy via Netgalley. My opinion is my own.
#Netgalley, #RandomHouseUk, #Marym_Watson.

Well written slow burn.

The twist at the end makes it worth reading, I did overall enjoy this book.

This book sounded right up my street.
Esmie is a cleaner in a small private group of houses. She has furtively managed to gain the trust of all the residents, but she’s not really there to clean, she’s on a mission. Her brother, Nico, had come to Ireland to study but having gotten himself involved with someone who lives here his life took a destructive turn and so Esmie is here for revenge.
I have to be honest this story never really took off for me. Every character was awful, they had no redeeming qualities, but that in its self is not the main reason. I felt the book lacked any great depth and honestly by the end I didn’t care what happened. So for me this is a 2⭐️book. Like I said at the start the premise of the story is good but it was too long and not enough hook and twist for me.
Many thanks to #NetGalley for my ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this book.
It was gripping, easy to read and it kept my interest.
Would definitely read from this author again.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.