I got an invitation from Hodder and Stoughton to do a review on Mira Shah's latest novel The House Sitter. I read her previous novel Her which I enjoyed so much and was actually waiting to read more of her books.

Aahnaya finds herself waking up next to a dead man with no memories of what happened the previous night. In a state of panic, she flees the scene and returns back to the apartment. Through the news, she finds that the dead man's name is Sebastian Lowden and is the CEO of the Lowden company. A woman was apparently found fleeing the scene and although Aahnaya knew that it was her, the police believed that the woman was none other than a woman named Marina who bore a resemblance to Aahnaya. Then Aahnaya gets an invitation to house sit a villa in Italy and she goes there, only to find that the Lowdens own the villa. The Lowdens didn't hire the housesitter--who sent Aahnaya the invitation? Is it Marina?

I actually liked the first few chapters of the book--it was intense, the family dynamics was also intense and the suspect behind Sebastian's murder is unknown. However, after 50% of the book, the book kind of got a bit unrealistic with too much of family drama that you feel like you are watching a soap opera. The ending could have been a little better. Even though this wasn't as great as Her book, this book wasn't really bad and for once who like family drama, then this would be a good thriller for you--worth four stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

This is a nice thriller, but it didn't blow me away like I was hoping it would.
I was very gripped by the mystery initially, the plot is based on a unique idea, and I was curious to see where it was all going. However, I struggled to connect with the characters and the last half of the book got overly complicated. I found myself struggling to follow and make all the connections. This is probably why my interest dwelled towards the end.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

When Aahnaya wakes up in a hotel next to a dead man, she knows its time to disappear and takes a job house sitting in a remote rural location to lie low. But when she realises that the family she is house sitting for is related to the deceased man, she realises she is in deep trouble.

This book was a little bit confusing in places but overall the narrative was exciting and tense with interesting moment in chronology and character perspective to unravel the mystery.

Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book as an ARC.

The plot is clever and filled with secrets, mystery, truths, deception, twists and turns. This is a kind of book which has a lot of secrets, mystery and deceptive web that tangles everyone. It has a slow burn mystery and it keeps you guessing till the end. You will suspect everyone but when the truth comes out, It will shock you and the author splatters light upon the buried truths and throws twists after twists. The revelations at the end are shocking and the ending will shook you. There are multiple perspectives and multiple characters. It has different timelines. Definitely loved the italian setting.

Thanks to the Publisher and Author

This started off really intriguing, Aahnaya wakes up in bed next to a dead man. She leaves the scene and escapes the country, staying at a villa in Italy she is hired to house sit. As the family who own the villa arrive first and then a mysterious woman we learn how they are all connected to the central plot and each other.

The story uses multi timelines flipping between the now with Aahnaya on the run, the night of the murder and events in some of the character past. The POV’s flit between several of the characters which makes it interesting. Although it started of strong, It then turned into more of a slow burn for the reveal.

Overall.it was an enjoyable read, the plot maybe slightly over complicated.

I received an E-ARC with a request for my honest review.

This tense crime thriller follows Aahnaya who works at The Lowden hotel in London. One morning she awakes to find herself in a hotel room lying next to a dead man, with no memory of what had happened.

When a house-sitting opportunity is offered to her, she jumps on the chance to get away and travels to Italy.

However, soon after a family turns up at the house she is sitting. Soon she discovers it is the family of the dead man, and being trapped she must find the truth.

Who was the man? Who was responsible for his death?

This crime thriller is tense and has plenty of secrets as Aahnaya tries to unravel the truth behind the dead man, and who could have been responsible for the murder.

You get to hear from other characters too, so you get to see the different sides to the storyline which helps you to slowly solve the mystery along with the others.

I think being in Aahnaya’s position would be an impossible one, as she has no idea why she has become involved in this mysterious situation.

Overall, a tense crime thriller where a man’s death uncovers a family’s secrets.

This didn't really grip me, but I didn't dislike it. Full of drama and rich people.
My first book by this author and would read another.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had great promise, however I felt completely underwhelmed by it. The plot was slow, the characters were unlikeable and I found there were a lot of words for not much action. Thank you to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author for the chance to review.

Aahnaya wakes up in a hotel room next to a dead man with no idea what happened. Panicked, she flees to Italy to house sit and is later surprised when the family who own the house turn up. The only problem is they are the dead man’s family. Will they figure out the hidden secrets?

On reading the synopsis I thought this sounded like an intriguing storyline with plenty of mystery. The story is told in different voices which was interesting and there are quite a few characters involved, however many are unlikeable. I did find that some characters had similar sounding names, which sometimes threw me slightly, although this wasn’t a major issue.

I found the pacing to be a bit off and I didn’t really connect with the story, struggling to remain invested. However saying that, this definitely wasn’t a bad novel and I can see others finding this an enjoyable mystery with plenty of drama. 2.5 stars rounded up. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.

Aahnaya wakes up next to a dead man and flees the country to a housesitting job in Italy. A wealthy family joins her, and their toxic relationships and mysteries of the past are revealed. The Housesitter is an exciting destination thriller, soaked in the sights and sounds of a country house in Italy.

How would you react if you woke up next to someone who a, you didn't know and b, was not alive? That's the peril for this protagonist as she has to navigate untapped memories and family dilemmas. Italy will never look the same to you again.

‘The Housesitter’ is a propulsive destination thriller that whisks the reader to Italy with potentially one of the most dysfunctional families I’ve read in years!

From page one, I was completely hooked thanks to the vivid description of the absolutely nightmare-ish situation that the main character finds herself in. Absolutely gripping, I couldn’t put it down.

This novel ends in a way I did not see coming, too, so bonus points for that!!
‘The Housesitter’ is a perfect holiday read.

I initially got quite into The House Sitter, but when all the family turned up and the storm cut them off, I lost interest a bit. The twists and turns felt a bit flat for me. I did finish it and I was happy with how it ended.

I'm a bit on the fence with this one. I really wanted to love it but I didn't quite connect with tbe characters or the drama. That might just be me though! It's well written and the narrative and povs give it depth. The characterswerw were well crafter and brought to life, even if they were horrid people lol. Its one of those that you need to take it for what it is and not think too deeply about. A nice escape from reality though

An intoxicating blend of Italian sunshine and family secrets. I really enjoyed Mira's first story and was very glad to have the chance to read an early copy of The House Sitter.

Aahnaya wakes up in a hotel room next to a dead man. He's a complete stranger to her and she has no memory of what happened to lead her to this predicament. She quickly flees the hotel, and finds that she has been offered a dream house sitting role looking after a villa in the Italian mountains. When she arrives there, the other staff are surprised to see her but quickly make her welcome. The British family who own the villa then turn up, also unaware that Aahnaya is there. There's a link between them and the dead man which comes as a huge shock to Aahnaya.

The story is told from multiple points of view, Aahnaya herself, then Carole, the matriarch of the family, and the mysterious Marina, The stories are interwoven wonderfully, with time jumping back and forward to build a fabulously rich atmospheric and detailed story.

This was a good story but the names got a bit confusing with a Marina and Miranda they often become blurry. It did feel a little longwinded at points.

⭐⭐⭐⭐
The House Sitter by Mira V Shah is an easy-to-read, twisty, "rich people drama" psychological thriller with different characters ' POVs throughout the story. I must say I found it hard to connect with the characters. None of them felt reliable. I liked the end of the book as many secrets were open and so many things made sense!

How would you feel to wake up in the hotel room next to a dead body with no memory of what happened last night?
How would you feel if you found out there was more than one body in the hotel that night?
You would run! So when Aahnaya received an offer to house-sit a villa in a remote corner of Italy she jumped at the chance without a second thought! Did she escape? Unfortunately NO! The villa she house-sits belongs to the other dead body family and now they all are there... So as we can guess things get complicated and many carefully hidden secrets will come out leaving you with an open mouth!

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for this copy!

So much promise but not enough to keep me thrilled.

It’s hard work keeping interest in one location with a few characters and at the beginning this was working well but I started to get a bit bored with the predictability.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book. The description sounded brilliant but I just didn't gel with the book. The characters were unlikeable and the storyline was a bit underwhelming. I was waiting for a big twist but it didn't come.

I really appreciate the opportunity to read it but I ended up skimming the last 40% to find out what was happening, just because I was so far into the book I felt committed.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

I loved loved loved Mira's previous book, Her, and was so excited to read her follow-up. One thing is for sure, she doesn't have to worry about whether this will live up to the first book as it's as good and as intriguing.

There are several characters, our main being Aahnaya, the woman who wakes up next to a dead man. Then we have his family, his mother and his siblings and in-laws, as well as the mysterious Marina. So there's not too many characters to keep hold of.

It's mainly from Aahnaya's point of view, from the time of the event and the weeks after when she's house sitting. This is handled very well and it flits back and forth very smoothly. We also get the viewpoint of Carole, his mother, who gives us a completely different perspective of the goings-ons. There is also a few chapters from the viewpoint of this Marina (I won't go into who that is), who is a great contrast to everyone else. So that's three viewpoints in total and that's a good amount. There's not so many that you get confused, but it's enough for us to get our teeth into.

There was a substory regarding Marina which I wasn't as keen on, but it did help give an extra layer to the character.

It is mostly set in the now, in the 'after' of the event, but there are flashbacks from before the event, just before the event, the moment of, and just after, and it all works seamlessly.

I thought it was an interesting look at the differences between the haves and the have-nots, whether money is the most important thing, or whether family is, whether money can buy you anything, and when it becomes a curse, the differences between the bosses and the staff, those seemed to be lesser than others.

It's a relatively short book, at less than 300 pages. This helps with the thrill of it. It's not a very fast book, nor is it too slow; a lot is character creation, setting creation, building upon what's happened, getting under the skin of everyone an beneath the layers of the story, rather than action, which leaves you on edge and eager to find out what happens but desperate not to finish it too soon.

I will contradict what I said above slightly in that it is slow to begin with, but in a good way. It gives you time to get t know everyone and settle in, and then the last...quarter I'd say is very full-on. Again, not of action, but of dialogue, of conversation, of memories. It's a fascinating way of reaching the conclusion in a natural but explosive way.

For a book that is mostly set in just one house, this had the potential to be a bit insular and repetitive, but if anything, it adds to the claustrophobia of the situation, meaning you have no choice but to focus on the people and what they're saying and what they're doing, rather than being distracted by everything else going on.

It's riveting and addictive and all consuming, full of twists and turns, surprises and shocks (some that was more guessable than others, but that didn't impact the effectiveness of them). She's created a group of fantastically written characters, if not all likeable. It's full of truths and lies, secrets and promises kept and broken.

Did I prefer Her over this one? Ever so slightly, a smidgen, barely noticeable. I can't tell you exactly why, it's just a feeling. But this is no less fabulous and has definitely cemented Mira as a very talented thriller writer. She has no worries about the second novel curse, and I'm definitely excited about what else she produces.