Excellent page turner that had me hooked from the start. Loved how the story developed with plenty of plot twists along the way.. looking forward to follow up titles by this author

Publication date: August 23rd, 2024
Page number: 266
Audio length: -
Narrator: -
Genre: domestic thriller
POV: June
Setting: boutique hotel and flashbacks

This is a good of murders, mystery, secrets, and June finding herself.

It is fast paced. With constant twists and turns. Definitely picks up as the book goes along. Lots of moving parts whose storylines were difficult to keep track of at points.

Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced audio copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

I could not get into this after several tries and finally DNF at 25%. Disliked all the (many) characters and couldn't figure out the time frame. Was it past? Was it present? The whole thing was very confusing to me.

The Hotel Maid was such a great quick read! A great psychological thriller. Although a little predictable.
Loved how June & Mias stories came together.
Check the trigger warnings as it does contain context of self-harm and suicide.

Thank you to Storm Publishing, Netgalley and Michelle Dunne for an ARC copy. All opinions are my own.

Wow…this book took me by surprise with its twists and turns and it was a great read! It started off relatively easy going with June, who was a very conscientious, hard working member of staff in a hotel. However, as her character develops and we get to know more about her life, we begin to realise that there is more to June than meets the eye. This dark, psychological novel explores some flawed characters and will keep you gripped throughout.

This is an interesting thriller that left me with a sense of unease throughout the reading experience. The dual narratives wove together well and although I wasn’t surprised by the big reveal, I nevertheless enjoyed the story. It wasn’t the fastest read for me, probably because I didn’t feel that engaged with the (generally) unlikeable characters, and personally would have found the book stronger if it had been written in the first person. It’s worth noting that The Hotel Maid is a darker story than the blurb suggests, particularly regarding the sections about self-harm and suicide.

The premise isn’t new (but then what is today?) so the book may appeal more to newer readers of the thriller genre. Overall, I enjoyed it, and that tense, unsettling feeling has remained with me. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to Michelle Dunne, Storm Publishing and Netgalley for my advance copy.

It takes a lot for me to be shocked by a thriller, and in the case of The Hotel Maid, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. This is a great short read for anyone interested in hotel themed thrillers, spoiler alert, no one in this story seems like a genuinely nice person, even the main character is suitably flawed.

Definite trigger warnings required for self harm and suicidal themes needed

My only downside is that chance meetings happened to be just a tiny bit too coincidental but the author did have a go at explaining them in a way that could be believable.

Superbly written and very entertaining, read in a few short hours!

I enjoyed this twisty novel. At the start, you are given a little bit of information about June and Mia, and as the story unfolds the link emerges. The portrayal of the invisible maid was done well, and the way June exploited that. There are a lot of people pretending to be something else and some hidden secrets. I thoroughly approved of the ending, where certain characters got their just desserts. I certainly would be interested in reading more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC to freely review.

What a fantastic book

I was totally hooked thank you for the opportunity to review I couldn't put it down

Michelle Dunne’s “The Hotel Maid” was a captivating psychological thriller that kept me hooked from the first page. The story follows June Calloway, a maid at Cedarwood Manor, who discovers a murdered woman in a guest room. On the same day, a ten-year-old girl goes missing, and June receives a mysterious note hinting that someone knows her secrets.

The author unfolds the narrative so smoothly using multiple perspectives. The story started to get a bit confusing towards the middle when more characters began to get involved, but it added to the depth and complexity of the story. I never knew who to trust!

The book’s setting in the luxurious hotel is vividly described, and June’s character is super compelling.

Overall, “The Hotel Maid” makes you slightly wary about hotels and their staff, but this book is a must-read if you’re a fan of unexpected twists!
Thanks for the advanced copy, NetGalley!

"Each morning, I arrive at the luxury Cedarwood Manor hotel, put on my crisp maid’s uniform and clean the rooms. I take great care in my work as I slip from one floor to the other. Most guests barely know my name. I’m invisible to them. That’s ok. I prefer people didn’t know my secrets."

The first two lines above relay the overall mystery in the plot of 'The Hotel Maid' by new-to-me author Michelle Dunne. Narrated in the third person and told in dual perspectives, we follow young maid June, as she navigates life as a maid in the fancy Cedarwood Manor, a getaway for the rich. As "the help" June is frequently looked over and even ignored. People sometimes even tell her their secrets. While this may bother most people, she prefers this as she has secrets of her own she wishes to keep. Our second narrator comes in the form of young Mia, who is living a sad life of her own. Twists and turns keep readers guessing, as we wait to find out if either of these characters will have a happy ending.

I must admit that this book started a bit slowly for me; I struggled a bit during the first 20% or so and had to keep reminding myself to come back to it. However, once we began getting more of Mia's chapters, it picked up and I was fully on board right up to the end! Something I really liked was Dunne's writing style as it made the plot easy to follow. At times, having more than one narrator can muddle storylines but Dunne was easily able to overcome this with her clear and precise language.

I will admit I figured out the big "twist" pretty easily, which took away a little bit of the enjoyment for me; however, I kept reading and was happy that I did.

In the end, I give 'The Hotel Maid' a 4-star rating as overall I enjoyed it, having one or two minor issues. I recommend the book if you are looking for a quick and easy mystery to sink your teeth into!

*A great many thanks to Storm Publishing, Michelle Dunne, and NetGalley for this ARC. It is important to note that I was not committed to providing a positive review; all opinions are undoubtedly my own.*

The Hotel Maid was fantastic! It was much darker in some parts than I expected but the constant plot twists kept me in my toes throughout the entire book.

The Hotel Maid Michelle Dunne


5 stars
What a story!
I was intrigued by the title of this book and had a feeling that it would be about an unobtrusive maid walking in a posh hotel and being overlooked by everyone. June is such a person, she has been working at The Cedarwood Mara Hotel for 6 years quietly going about her business and making sure that she does a brilliant job. Various guests come and go but there is one in particular, Mrs Erica Kelly who is particularly obnoxious and rude to everyone but especially June.

The story switches to Mrs Kelly’s home life where she lives with her husband and his son and an adopted daughter, Mia who is only 10 years old but is treated as a maid herself, doing all of the cooking and cleaning whilst being told that her mother gave her away and never wanted to see her.

As the book progresses we find out more about both June and Mia’s lives and how slowly they intertwine. I did work out the main twist in this book but I never saw what was coming when the two threads collided and I was completely shocked. I read this book in two days I was so invested in the story and what was going to happen. I loved all the descriptions of the various characters and felt like they were real people. There were some quite upsetting descriptions of the treatment meted out to some of the characters which could disturb some readers but I thought this book was brilliant and will be looking for any further books by this author.


Karen Deborah
Reviewer for Net galley

I found this book to be quite challenging to get through. While it did keep me engaged and guessing, it was predictable and not difficult to guess who Mia/June was. Despite having an interesting premise and a unique plot, I must admit that I wasn't particularly impressed by it. Right from the start, there were a lot of characters introduced, which made it confusing to keep track of who was who just after a few chapters. The writing was well done, and there was great character development, but in my opinion, there wasn't enough suspense to classify it as a thriller.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for the eARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for my eARC of this book - my review does not contain spoilers.

This story was MUCH darker than I expected and the different perspectives that it is told from were effective and very well written, adding to the dark conclusion that the tale builds to. The child perspective, in particular, is told so well and with such accuracy. I also thought that Dunne's use of imagery and inference were perfect - not telling you but showing you, allowing you to discover as you read and making sense of things for yourself.

What I DID expect in this book was for a maid to discover things about people in a hotel (based on the front cover) and what I DIDN'T expect what the layers that the intertwined stories would take on! Wow! I was impressed. There were twists and turns a plenty!

I have rated this four stars as I did get confused a couple of times and I also thought that this book should come with trigger warnings for some of its content...if they were there, I missed them.

However, overall I recommend it. I enjoyed it and got WAY more than I thought I was getting in reading it. I read this novel quickly because I was invested in knowing what would happen/what had happened (to make things tie together). Plus, this is one of those books that makes you think and will stay with you...

Plot twists that kept me reading. A very interesting book told in different povs that brings the story together in the end.

June is invisible as an hotel maid but has her secrets. She observes, she notes, she keeps tidbits to herself. And then the notes begin. Will her secrets come out???

Great fast read. Try it!

Oh my word what a tangled web we weave. Based around a maids tale of her job in Cedarwood Manor Hotel and the awful woman who comes to stay at a moments notice and thinks she owns the place. In fact she wants to buy it ! But nobody notices the ‘invisible’ maid who quietly goes about her business. But her secrets start to come out and she has to resort to unimaginable things to keep her identity unknown. It’s amazing

This story was so good - so many twists and turns! revenge is sweet and that poor girl certainly got hers - a real page turner! one thing id love to know - who was leaving the notes??

The Hotel Maid is a psychological thriller told from two view points. It tells the story of June, a maid at a luxury hotel. June has secrets of her own, so she enjoys her job because while she is invisible to the guests, she overhears their conversations. It also tells the story of ten year old Mia. Mia is told she is not smart and is not allowed to leave the house but must cook and clean it. There are numerous twists and turns before these characters’ connections are revealed. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to others.

I ended up being more invested in this book than I initially thought it would. The author's writing and vivid descriptions made the scenes come alive in my head. While it did have some twists and turns, it lacked the intense suspense I look for in mystery/thriller books. However, the complex characters and the alternating point of view kept me engaged. Although it started too slow for my liking, I got more invested when it reached the climax. It is lacking in the suspense department. Despite the amount of mystery/thriller books I have read, this book still kept me guessing. Even though I find it a bit predictable, I still enjoyed piecing it all together. There were a few inconsistencies in the story that I noticed, but overall, it was a quick and enjoyable read.

To avoid spoilers, I will keep this review short. I would not say it is a groundbreaking work, but I would still recommend this book to people who would like to read quick mystery/thriller books. I would happily check out other books from Michelle Dunne! Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing for allowing me to read this in advance.

Link to Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6633979259
Also posted on my Instagram story.