I really enjoyed reading this. I loved the dual timelines. I found the characters well written, although definitely not always likable!

I loved the slow uncovering of the characters relationships with Nico, and I enjoyed that you get to find out at the same time as the main character.

I was not expecting the twist AT ALL. I had so many theories about what I thought was going to happen and I was completely off the mark!

I think anyone that enjoys mysteries or thrillers will enjoy this.

Argh, this is a tough review to write because sadly I really didn't enjoy this book.
Right from the start I struggled to connect to the plot or the characters and this feeling of disconnection from the story only got worse the more I read.
I found it extremely difficult to tell which character was which. Mainly because they were all so flat and lacked any personality or defining characteristic.
The story felt repetitive and so overwhelmingly dull and so boring, that by 50% of the way in I had lost all interest in the book and I started to skim read. In fact if this hadn't been an ARC I would have DNF'd. And by the end of the book I really wished I had.
I didn't find this in the least bit of a thriller or mystery and it certainly lacked any tension.
Unfortunately I can't think of anything I did like about this book.
This book just did not work for me at all.

Unobtrusive to the point of invisibility, to most of her clients Esmie is just the cleaner. What they don't realise is that her unique access to their homes makes them extremely vulnerable to her snooping.

Because Esmie has an agenda. A very dark one. She wants revenge, and thanks to the carelessness of the spoilt people whose homes she wanders her way through, she will have it...

Delivering suspense on a knife edge this book is a great read. Buckle up and enjoy the ride! It gets 3.5 stars.

Esme orchestrates it so she can get a job as the cleaner at a gated community, to discover the reason for Nico's dismissal from his scholarship, who was having an affair with and to exact revenge on whomever it was. As the cleaner she can sneak around the homes, searching for clues without being suspected.

A revenge story with a bit of a twist that I didn't see coming. Sometimes it was a little slow, the occupants a little dull, especially the man obsessed with his poetry but otherwise I enjoyed this novel.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Esmie, distraught because of her brother's illness, goes undercover, working as a cleaner for a number of families he crossed paths with when in Ireland as a student. Her plan is simple, find out who wronged him and exact revenge.

There are some pretty vile people in this book, the kind of pantomime villains readers love to hate, and there's plenty of tension and suspense! It's not perfect, but it did keep me engaged and second guessing and there is a big impact ending that works well.

I cant say anything more without giving the game away, but if you love the mystery genre then I think this is for you. I expect it is going to do well and I cant wait to read other reviews as they start to come in.

Like others have said, Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book. I found the plot to be very slow. I am really disappointed as the write-up made it sound really interesting but sadly it wasn't for me.

Unfortunately this book wasn't for me. I found it hard to engage with the main character, and the story was too slow paced for my liking.
Additionally, there were too many repetitive elements.
Shame. The blurb held an excellent premise.

I’d say this is a psychological thriller. I really enjoyed it, the characters are believable, the plot flowed well and it had a great twist I didn’t see coming. You are kept guessing along with Esme the main character, who her brother’s secret affair was with. I’d recommend it, thank you #netgalley

I liked the premise of this book but unfortunately I could not engage with the story telling. Consequently I could not finish the nivel.

The premise of this book was interesting but unfortunately I found it difficult to get into, I didn’t resonate with any of the characters and didn’t finish the book.

This book!!!! I was completely hooked from the prologue. If you love twisty thrillers then I recommend this. The characters are a bit unlikeable which I always enjoy in a thriller. Dual timelines are one of my favourite things and this one was done well. I got to about 75% done and truly had no idea where the book was heading. That twist had my jaw open. The twists and turns in this book and the way some characters acted... loved it.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book. I found the plot to be very slow. I am really disappointed as the write-up made it sound really interesting but sadly it wasn't for me.

3.5 stars rounded to 3

This book fell a bit flat for me, as it was a bit repetitive and after a while I got bored.
I figured out the twist about Esmie quite early in the book, I think it was a bit obvious who she was (or wasn't...) due to the way she spoke about Nico. So unfortunately this didn't grip me as I thought it would, but it was ok to spend a few hours with

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The cleaner is on a secret mission and nothing is quite what it seems.

A very well woven and gripping story that has the reader guessing throughout. Esmie is devoted to her brother, Nico and when he returns home unexpectedly from his studies in Ireland and then falls into a coma, she wants answers. Knowing he fell in love and was destroyed by someone, Esmie travels to Ireland and contrives an accident. Thereby becoming involved with the people Nico was living with. She becomes their cleaner and is determined to discover exactly who is responsible for Nico’s demise. Three interwoven families live in the exclusive Woodlands and Esmie cleans for and spies on them all. Huge secrets are uncovered and the somewhat disturbing characters are not all they seem from the outside. Esmie gets closer to the truth but the path is an extremely dangerous one. An enormous twist towards the end gives some clarity to the many questions the reader may have. A somewhat sad tale of love and destruction that has no real winners and although a little contrived at times, it is well written and thought out.

Esmie has arrived in Ireland, determined to try and find out what happened to her brother Nico before he returned home a broken man. She knows that someone in the Woodlands knows more than they’ve told anyone. And she is determined to find out what she can.
In her role as their cleaner Esmie has virtually free access to the homes of the last people to see her brother before he returned home with nothing left to give. Nobody suspects her, but what secrets will she uncover?
The story was a little repetitive, but it was clear that there were people other than Esmie hiding things. As we unearth the hidden secrets it’s evident that we’re not being told everything.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.

Thank you Netgally and to the publisher for letting me read this!
3.5 ⭐️
The Cleaner by Mary Watson. what can I say? Esmie finding out about everyone’s dirty little secrets. But dose she need all these secrets to find out the truth about her brother? Becoming a cleaner at the Woodlands is a good start!

This was a good read. It kept me engaged for most of it. Slow at times as there are a lot of story lines but ones your in it your in it!

Esmie is not looking for dust, but dirt. By dirt, we mean everybody’s little secrets and closet skeletons, the things we want no one to see. But someone does… Esmie keeps memories of everything that’s going on in the gated community in which she works.

I had high hopes for this, but unfortunately it left me quite bored and I found it difficult to differentiate between, or care about, a lot of the characters.

The premise of this book looked good and I thought it would be right up my street as I was expecting a thrilling, gripping story. Publishing on 16th January 2025, I received an advance copy. Thanks to Random House UK Transworld publishers and NetGalley for my copy.

At the start of the book I was curious to find out more about what was going to happen.
Esmie is in Ireland, ostensibly to improve her English, but there’s more to the reasons behind her trip than meet the eye. She manages to orchestrate a job cleaning for a few houses in the prestigious gated community called the Woodlands. Esmie is looking for revenge for Nico, who had been studying in Ireland until his scholarship was revoked and he had to return home. He had rented a room at one of the houses in the Woodlands.

I didn’t like any of the characters and couldn’t relate to any of them. At times I got them a bit muddled up as they were all so flat and vapid it was hard to distinguish between them. Esmie does a lot of raking around in the houses and seems to think she’s being elusive but she’s far from it and it didn’t ring true to me that no one would raise questions about why so little cleaning was being done.

Unfortunately I found this book dragged so much and for most of it I was bored. The author has tried to create some excitement with different goings on for the characters but I cared so little about them it didn’t interest me. The twist, when it eventually came, was so underwhelming. Some of the book is a bit predictable and the ending was a bit silly. You need to suspend your disbelief for some of the story.

I had hoped to enjoy this book but it wasn’t for me.