Following Esmie’s journey to Ireland as she digs for answers about her brother’s tragic state was utterly gripping. Impossible to put down. Highly recommend for anyone who loves a thriller with real emotional depth! Thank you for the ARC

A twisty book, with mysterious and nefarious undertones, with an unexpected ending. Full of unreliable narrators and various side stories which distracted from the main plot, for me at least.

The ending was good but I struggled with the pacing leaning towards meandering and lengthy rather than suspenseful.

After a tragic event Esmie leaves her country to come to Ireland and get some answers.

This was definitely a slow burner, it seemed very long or it just took me a long time to read it! It took me a while to get into it but once I did I enjoyed the story. And for once I didn't guess the twist! (Which I thought was a good one.)

They know pretty much everything about you and you don’t even know it !

Well written, perhaps a bit weak at the end but enjoyable nonetheless

This was a compelling read with a lot of twists and turns to keep up with, along with the abundance of characters! A slow burn but worth the read for the shock of the last quarter of the book.

I was so looking forward to reading this book but sadly it just was not for me. The characters were all unlikeable and the pace so slow I just gave up.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A great little thriller that goes backwards and forwards in time line !! Loved the slow burn storyline and felt it all finished well ! A good thriller

A slow burn thriller that builds tension and suspense throughout.
4 stars- Could not put it down wanted to know what was happening so I was flying through the pages!!

Esmie has travelled far to try and find out what happened to her beloved brother so she poses as a cleaner and integrates herself into the connected families. This is an interesting story with good characters and it did keep me guessing. I do however feel it was slightly long and perhaps did not need to be quite so. It’s an entertaining read nonetheless.

Esmie is hired as a cleaner for a family, but she is there to uncover their secrets what really happened to her brother when he was over studying. Who was the mystery woman that he fell in love with?
The story goes back and forward to the happy times with Nico before he went to study and to the present day.
I couldn't really get into this story and I found the characters very annoying throughout the book Overall rating 2 1/2 stars

Fantastic story, really enjoyable and fast paced read full of twists and turns, would highly recommend, thank you for the adnavded copy.

I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me. From the start, I struggled to connect with the characters and often found myself confusing them throughout the story. The only character I truly liked was Esme.

The pacing felt slow, making it difficult to stay engaged. Instead of feeling compelled to keep reading, I pushed through just to avoid DNFing.

If you enjoy slow-burning psychological thrillers, this might be for you—but sadly, it just wasn’t for me.

Thanks to Random House UK and Netgalley UK for ARC.
We know from the outset that young cleaner Esmie had depths hidden from the small tight knit Woodlands estate in which she cleans. It's clear to the reader that she has engineered the job so that she can find out more about the residents for her own purposes. Turns out they have more secrets than she bargained for and she is quickly drawn into a dark forest indeed.
This is well crafted by an established YA novelist. For my taste it was a little too twisty and gothic, but I think many people will love spending time in this small part of Ireland.

A twisty book, with sinister undertones, an unexpected ending, and full of unreliable narrators.

Told across dual timelines, we follow Nico, Esmie and Simone as they grow up, and the aftermath of Nico's fateful time studying away from home.

With Nico ill in hospital, Essie follows his tracks to Ireland, trying to work out why his university funding had been withdrawn and he was forced to leave his course. Someone had betrayed him and she wants to find out who.

She manages to get herself a job cleaning for the small group of houses in the gated community where he had been lodging, giving her ample access to roam the houses looking for clues. In doing so she uncovers much more than she expected. Everyone seems to be hiding secrets from each other, and she is determined to use this to her advantage.

Not a comfortable read, with unreliable narrators, unlikeable characters, and various side stories. The ending is good but I struggled with the pacing leaning towards meandering rather than suspenseful.

A bit of a slow start but developed into a gripping storyline. Well written. Interesting plot cantering around a miked up family and equally mixed-up protagonist. Different ending to that expected. I would recommend this as a god read.

Good story, gripping. good twists with the main character that I never expected. Kept me reading. Look foward to hearing more from Mary Watson

Thanks to NetGalley, publishers and author for an ARC of The Cleaner.

True rating 3.5 stars.
A good book with a good storyline.. I did want to enjoy it more, it is a great promise for a book, but something just didn't fully click with me to give more stars.
Recommend reading

This is a gripping thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish
The plot is filled with unexpected twists and turns, the writing is both engaging and suspenseful, with well-developed characters that add depth to the narrative.
The pacing of the novel is perfect, with just the right amount of tension to keep readers hooked without feeling overwhelmed.
Really enjoyable

3.5★s
The Cleaner is the third stand-alone novel by prize-winning South African-born author, Mary Watson. Why is twenty-five-year-old music teacher Esmerelda Theodora Lorenzo, calling herself Esmie, posing as a cleaner on the outskirts of an Irish university town? She has fled trauma, distress and violence in her small South American town, leaving behind a loving mother, an older brother in a coma, and a once-best-friend, now fiancée of her brother.

Almost three years earlier, Nico Lorenzo enthusiastically took up a scholarship to continue his neuroscience studies in Ireland. Six months ago, he returned, a changed person. A love affair gone wrong had seen his funding withdrawn, his dream over. But he is taciturn, won’t explain, and seeks consolation in drugs and alcohol.

Esmie manages to con her way into cleaning for three families at The Woodlands, knowing the cleaner is usually invisible. Her job gives her access to the intimate details of the three families with whom Nico was close while he was here. Her well-honed revenge plan has three stages: find Nico’s lover, learn what she cared about most, and take that away from her.

But as she probes their private lives, she discovers a lot going on behind the scenes in these apparently happy families: an academic obsessed with his wife’s dead aunt; a doctor exerting coercive control over his wife; a woman selling prescription drugs to bored housewives and students; a grieving woman determined, at any cost, to block the disposal of her beloved father’s home; and a wife who dallies with her husband’s students. There’s drugs, theft, extra-marital affairs, and blackmail.

The astute reader will soon guess that Esmie might not be an entirely reliable narrator, and that her mental state is less than stable. Watson uses flashbacks to drip-feed the back story that results in Nico’s coma state. And the reader needs to don their disbelief suspenders for a number of aspects of the plot, including how easily she falls into the job, and how a woman cleaning at least six houses manages to spend so much time snooping. And is the motive for all this really credible…? A slow-burn thriller that drags more than it should.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Random House UK – Transworld.

An interesting read with lots of twists and suspense. Some of it was a bit odd for me, but it was enjoyable.

Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.