Mary Watson creates a heightened yet believable world in The Cleaner. The beautiful gated of The Woodlands is inhabited by 3 women and various partners and children. When Esmie arrives as a temporary cleaner she is initially regarded with little interest. However, Esmie has a lot more on her mind than cleaning - she is here to find out what happened when Nico lodged with one of the women and what drove him home in disgrace?
As Esmie hunts for evidence some of the inhabitants begin to take a greater interest in her, soon she is in a very dangerous position.
The Cleaner cleverly ratchets up the tension, You never know who to believe or what secrets they are hiding - a group of largely unlikeable characters that you will love to hate and a highly unreliable narrator. The perfect mix for a highly readable physiological thriller.

Oooo This was so much fun. Even though I guessed something a tad early, it didn't scupper my enjoyment one little bit.
We start with Esmie setting up an "accident" to inveigle herself into the lives of those who live in the exclusive gated community known as Woodlands. Long story short and she is hired to work for three households, and one empty house, as a cleaner. One of the best jobs for those needing to eavesdrop and snoop and rifle, and discover... especially when one is hell bent on the revenge of a loved one.
Cos it appears that one of those resident in the Woodlands is responsible for the downfall of Nico. His losing his scholarship and reputation, of his descent into addiction, and leading him to returning home, depressed and, eventually, when our story opens, in a coma.
Esmie has her work cut out for her in finding out who is ultimately responsible, especially as when she starts to scratch the surface, all sorts of secrets, lies and dysfunctional behaviour flood out, and she has to cut through all that to get to the truth. Suffice to say, no one is who they appear to be...
I do love a healthy dollop of dysfunction, especially when it is centred around some of the most horrible people, who most certain deserve everything coming to them.
In amongst the fun and frolics in the present, we also delve back into the past. We see Esmie and Nico as they grow up and then two become three when the girl next door joins them and then thing fragment as she and Nico grow closer...
It's a bit on the slow side initially as there is a lot of scene setting and character building to be done. This is important and adds to the overall tension and intrigue. The characters are all larger than life and twice as ugly on occasion. And, at the end of the day, deserve everything they have coming to them.
And the storyline is well plotted and executed with aplomb. Ramping up towards the end, delivering shock after twist as we eventually get to the whole truth.
All in all, a cracking read that left me wholly satisfied and also gave me a new author to watch for and another back catalogue to check out. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Cleaners in expensive gated neighbourhoods are invisible, and that’s exactly what Esmie needs to be if she’s going to find out who here seduced and then betrayed her brother, leaving him irrevocably broken. Coming to The Woodlands posing as a cleaner, Esmie is determined to gather as much dirt as she can to learn who is responsible, and get revenge.

The Cleaner is sinister and intriguing, but sadly the plot developed much too slowly for me. For much of the book, nothing really happens, and this provided too much time for my frustration with Esmie to grow. Her determination to get revenge on behalf of her brother, for something that was in many ways his own fault, didn’t make a huge amount of sense to me, and her obsession with her brother is borderline creepy.

The rest of the characters are thoroughly unlikeable (although that’s intentional) and I just generally didn’t enjoy reading about any of them.

There is a big twist which was unexpected and makes everything leading up to it make much more sense, but it comes too late to save the slow plot progression.

There are a lot of books with this type of story out there now & I have read a few of them.
This was one I really enjoyed.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

A quick read full of the most amoral characters.
Esmie comes to Ireland posing as a cleaner to insert herself into the lives of those who she feels are responsible for the downfall of her beloved brother.
Three houses, inhabited by two couples and a sibling. Five adults and every one of them has their own agendas and something to hide. Who did what to whom and why?
An unusual plot with a belter of a twist.

From the beginning this book had me immersed, I really could not put it down, There was so much tension, danger and suspense that it kept the excitement and intrigue for me all the way through.

Esmie is a cleaner to a rich family and their friends and family, but it’s all under false pretenses to find out what happened to her brother Nico. A great read that sends you into a tangled web of lies from everyone. The ending was not as I expected, but the twist was good. A 4 star read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

It’s not the dust she’s looking for…it’s the dirt.

Desperate to find out what’s happened to her brother, Esmie pretends to be a cleaner so she can involve herself in people’s lives. Whilst searching for one secret she discovers a lot more including some that may leave her in danger. Who can she trust and how long can she get away with pretending she is someone she isn’t?

Sadly this book was not for me, no stand out characters and repetitive to the point I skip read a lot of it just to get to the end. Thanks to @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and I’m sure there will be plenty of people who disagree with me and love it.

⭐️⭐️

#TheCleaner
#MaryWatson

This is a who, why, what, where and when and slowly info is revealed and it becomes clearer why Esme has gone to Ireland seeking revenge for her brother Nico

Esme does this by taking on the role of a cleaner and integrating herself into the lives of the people she suspects

It was a quick read but I have to be honest and say I much preferred the ‘now’ story to the diary entries from the past, also the characters are not on the whole likeable

There is intrigue and a mystery to solve, also the question that I had throughout ‘where is Esmie from!’

A quickish read and does all that’s needed to make it a viable psychological thriller that will get you thinking trying to work out who did what….

📚 Book Review 📚

Esmie travels to an exclusive community somewhere in the leafy suburbs of Ireland to find the reason behind the change in her brother’s personality. This is the area where her brother stayed whilst studying at university and he has never been the same since.

She fakes a cycling accident in order to meet the residents and from there, manages to get a job as a cleaner for the a few of the exclusive families who live there.

The premise of this book is good, a young woman has travelled from another county (we don’t know where) to find out why her brother Nico, returned from university a broken man. She inserts herself into the small community and watches the people who live within this gated community, their secrets, their affairs and their lies. Esmie is seeking answers… and revenge.

Sadly, I was a bit disappointed with this book. It was good in places and really disjointed in others. To the extent where twice, I had to go back and check that I hadn’t missed something or missed a page because what I was reading just didn’t make sense. The characters are ok. There’s no real affiliation with any of them for me though and I wasn’t particularly keen on the lead protagonist, Esmie, either. There are juicy, slow burn plots and storylines which just seem to burn which is a shame. There are a couple of twists but nothing that was unexpected.

Sadly, a bit repetitive for me but this is the first novel from this author and I would be interested in reading more in the future.

I’d like to thank Random House UK, NetGalley and the author for the arc and the fantastic opportunity, in exchange for my honest feedback 😊

Book released on 16th January 2025

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Really enjoyed this - a who done it senario? And the twists we're not expected! I enjoyed trying to figure out what happened to Nico and why.
Thank you for letting me read this ARC

This is a book about Esme who has arrived in Ireland seeking revenge. She integrates herself in with the people who she believes have caused her brother harm. She becomes the cleaner of the woodlands gated community and this means she can search the homes of those who she believes are guilty.

This book gave me a sense of deja vu and I don’t know why. It started off fine but the characters were so unlikeable that they annoyed me in points. I must admit there was a twist I never saw coming and I did audibly gasp but overall it was ok. Saying this I am sure others will love this book but for me it was just ok.

The Cleaner is a well-written book with good descriptions and a slow, steady build-up. The twist at the end was a nice surprise and probably the best part of the story.
That said, I found it hard to get into. The slow pace made it a bit boring at times, especially in the beginning. On top of that, I didn’t feel much for the characters—they just didn’t seem relatable or interesting enough to care about and I struggled to engage with them..

Overall, it’s a decent read if you like slow-burn stories with a strong finish, but it wasn’t really my cup of tea.

I found this book very slow paced and I didn’t connect or find the characters very relatable.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Mary Watson for the advanced copy of this book. I agreed to give my unbiased opinion voluntarily.

Hi hopes but not fulfilled.
I didn’t like any character, feeling no empathy made the book drag. I finished but felt disappointed.
My opinion only

This book began with promise. The premise was original, and there was some good scene setting, but it somehow lost its way. I found the characters hard to empathise with, even when our protagonist almost begged us to see them as two-dimensional as the story progressed. From about two-thirds in, I lost interest in the outcome, which was a surprise even the promising start

Esmie is a cleaner. A cleaner who is invisible to everyone so long as the job is done. It also allows her to watch and listen to what is going on around her.
Someone, one of her clients, has changed her life forever and she is determined to find out who.
When she does what revenge will she take

I just felt no empathy at all with any of the characters, none....saying that, there is a nice twist towards the end of the book...but that didn't pull the book up much above average....lots have enjoyed it though, so maybe that's just my personal feelings? Many thanks for the opportunity to read and review the ARC. 2.5/5

The Cleaner is about a lady named Esmie who's basically a ghost in plain sight - you know, one of those workers that rich people look right through. She's got this whole "innocent cleaner" thing going on with her leggings and duster, but don't let that fool you.

Esmie works in this fancy gated community called Woodlands, but instead of just dusting and vacuuming, she's playing detective. While these rich folks aren't paying attention, she's picking up all sorts of tea - failed marriages, secret affairs, all the mess-ups they try to hide behind their perfect houses. And get this - she's not just being nosy. Turns out someone in there hurt someone she really cares about, and now she's collecting all their dirty laundry (pun intended!) for some sweet, sweet revenge.

I managed to knock this book out super quick - devoured it in a few hours! It drags a bit here and there, but then it just hits and another twist keeps you hooked. The characters aren't exactly going to be your new best friends, but they keep things interesting enough. Could've used a bit more oomph in that department and maybe filled out the story a bit more, but hey, still had a good time with it.

If you're into Harriet Tyce or Lisa Jewell's stuff, you'll probably really enjoy this. It's got that whole "eat the rich" vibe going on, you know?

I’m giving it 3.5 stars - like, it's not going to change your life or anything, but it's a fun ride and worth the read! Perfect holiday book if I’m being honest.

A slow burn with not much to grab your interest. I’m not sure why anyon3 would pay someone to do so little cleaning and also I didn’t feel empathy towards any of the characters.