Title: The Cleaner
Author: Mary Watson
Pages: 400
Rating: 3/5

Publish date - 16th January 2025

"It's not dust she's looking for.
It's dirt."

Esmie has arrived in Ireland to uncover the truth about what happened to her brother Nico. This was such a twisty turny read. Sub plots. Unlikeable characters. Everything you expect in a mystery thriller. It was a definite page turner. With manipulation, black mail, lies and surprising dark back stories.

I was not expecting the ending, a great plot twist to finish!

You'll love this book if you like
- morally grey main characters
- mystery
- thrillers
- revenge
- twist and turns with sub plots

A very well plotted and clever book. I was totally invested in Esme and raced through this book. Brilliant premise and exceedingly well executed. Totally recommend. I shall be looking forward to reading other books by Mary Watson.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers, Random House for introducing Mary Watson to me via this ARC.

Esmie is working as a cleaner for three well off households in a gated estate in Ireland. In reality Esmie is not a cleaner but is here to find out what happened to her brother Nico whilst he was renting a room in one of the houses, and to seek revenge. The prologue grabbed me from the start and I did enjoy the authors writing style, however, it is quite a slow burn.

Briefly, as a cleaner Essie is mostly invisible so starts hunting for clues as to who did what to him. Was it Lincs and his wife Amber; Isabella and husband Paul or possibly Ceanna? As Esmie unravels secret after secret matters get darker. Who can she trust, if indeed any of them? And who is sending her alarming texts?

Told in dual timelines, the present and the past, which reveals more to the reader about Esmie and Nico and their lives. It is good how some startling information is gradually revealed in the authors descriptive narrative and how things take shocking and enexpected turns. What I thought was really well done was how, as a cleaner, Esmie appears invisible to the wealthy characters - which plays perfectly into her hands. A dark and devious thriller with a good level of suspense. An entertaining read.

Smart, quirky and with echoes of Frieda McFadden this is a devious little read. Worth the investment of time.

I desperately wanted to give this book a good review. I loved the premise and the writing itself was really well done. For me, this book really fell flat on two aspects: the plot and the pacing. The pacing felt really slow in the middle of the book and wasn't very enjoyable to read because from about 16%-50% it didn't feel like much was happening. Once the initial set up was done, it felt like we were living in that world for too long before the plot progressed.

However, I would like to praise certain aspects of this book. Firstly, the opening in the prologue was arguably one of the best prologues I've read in a while. it was written so beautifully and as mentioned, I did really enjoy Watson's writing style. It was just hard to read when the plot wasn't progressing not matter how eloquently she writes. I did love how visceral and detailed the descriptions were, it made this book sit so effortlessly in the thriller category without being unnecessarily gory or feeling one dimensional. One of my personal favourites was 'my eyes ate it all, greedy'. Such a gorgeous description!

I also really appreciated how much attention to detail there was. Perhaps, there was too much attention to detail in parts but I did enjoy the extra detail throughout. For instance, I loved how Linc and Amber's dogs were named 'Edward' and 'Bella' after twilight and this was a way of the reader finding out just how different this couple's personalities were in the subtlety of Amber loving Twilight and Linc frankly being embarrassed by it.

The narrative and suspense was also a strong point of this book. It felt like the suspense was woven in so effortlessly even when arguably not much was going on. I think the sinister and creeping suspense is really a hallmark of a good thriller writer. Also, it felt like a very clever plot device to have the protagonist be a cleaner. It added a layer of intimacy and closeness into her client's lives that felt like sleeping with the enemy, that I'm not sure would've been achieved if she hadn't been cleaning their houses.

There was also a nice variety of themes here, the obvious one being grief. However, saying that, it did feel like Nico was in every scene and this omnipresence that was scattered between every line of every page.

All in all, so much good promise but the pacing and ending to me wasn't satisfying enough to warrant a higher rating.

This is my first read by author Mary Watson and I have to say that I thought it was a great read with well-rounded characters and lots of twists and turns.

We follow cleaner Esmie, works hard and basically invisible apart from the tidiness that she leaves for her clients. But she is not just any ordinary cleaner, oh no Esmie is out for revenge and boy she does a good job of it. We learn about her brother and we get to see why exactly Esmie is out for revenge.

I really enjoyed Esmie as a character and hope she maybe in another novel as I thought she was great.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for this great book. An enjoyable and fast paced read with deception, twists and turns across every page. I enjoyed this book a lot and was captivated by the mystery. A great read.

A book with a killer twist!

Thank you NetGalley and Transworld Digital for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After an accident, Esmie manages to talk herself into work as a cleaner for a temporary position for the gated community, Woodlands. She is there with the sole purpose of finding out what happened to her brother, Nico. She needs to find out why his funding was withdrawn for his degree and why he has returned a broken man. As the cleaner, she has access to everything within their homes and remains relatively unobserved to delve deeply.

Whilst she is investigating, she sees the reality behind the rich veneer of these houses, which includes deceit, failing marriages, obsession, and even crime and mystery. She then realises there is more to uncover then just the questions around Nico.

This is a first adult debut novel by Mary Watson, very gripping and atmospheric. There were a couple of moments of implausibility, but these were few and far between. The book drew you in, dragged you along and included a great twist, which caught me unawares.

Very much recommended. 4 stars from me and looking forward to her next novel.

A good psychological thriller set in The Woodlands in Ireland which tells the story of Esmie the new cleaner who has lots of secrets in her past. Lost a star for a slight drag in the middle but made up with a fiery, twisty ending!

3.5/5

Thank you Bantam for a copy of this!

“It’s not dust she’s looking for. It’s dirt.”

Esmie is trying to be invisible as a cleaner working for three wealthy families in the exclusive Woodlands gated neighbourhood. However, she has another agenda. One of these residents hurt someone she loved and she’s after evidence and revenge.

I thought this was a light easy thriller to read however, I didn’t think it was anything particularly special (sorry)!

I love rich people behaving badly and I loved reading about all their juicy secrets. All the characters are unlikeable but in a fun way and I enjoyed reading about them.

I wasn’t blown away by the twist at the end. It wasn’t original and I’ve seen it done much better in other books.

I would definitely consider reading this author again considering this is only her debut. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

The premise of this book sounded intriguing. Esmie travels to Ireland to find out what happened to her brother Nico. She intentionally inserts herself as a cleaner into the households of several families in a gated community. Esmie is secretly seeking answers, and revenge. Sounds promising? I thought so.

However, there are slow burn plots that hold you, then there are slow burn plots that just fizzle out. For me this book was the latter. I felt no connection to the many characters, even Esmie. Yes, there’s a twist here and a turn there but not enough to hold my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK and Transworld Publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really intrigued by this. The synopsis sounded like something I'd enjoy.
But sadly I found this just didn't work for me. The story felt busy with the side plots going on. That I just didn't really care what was going on.
By the end I was disappointed. The reveal just felt a little weak. The build had me thinking there was something bigger going on.

This book started strongly; it was well paced with an interesting premise and mysterious backstory of the main character. However I felt it was let down by some odd, rambling subplots which became repetitive and just made the book longer than it needed to be. It picked up again at the end with a satisfying twist and loose ends neatly tied.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for an eARC.

The Cleaner by Mary Watson is a novel about family and how complex relationships can be. Esmie is in Ireland looking for the woman who destroyed her brothers life. She takes a job cleaning the houses of 3 families who live in a gated community. She uses the invisibility that comes with being a cleaner to try to find clues as to who was responsible for her brothers circumstances.

There are so many different elements and characters that keep this novel interesting the whole way through.

A masterful tale that weaves suspense and intrigue through a tapestry of well-kept secrets and revenge. Esmie's journey is both compelling and thought-provoking, revealing the unseen layers of society. A truly remarkable read that keeps you hooked till the last page!

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. The publication date is the 16th Jan 2025. This book was phenomenal lots of tension, twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat!
The character Esmie was an interesting one to say the least! I’d recommend this book! LOVE, LOVE, LOOOOOOVVVEEE, LOVED IT!!!… Absolutely stunning!!!…

This was a read that I liked but it didn’t capture me as I expected it to sadly. I think the problem I had was the book was very slow with lots of characters all with their own set of problems and I found it a bit confusing at times. To be honest I have a lot going on at the moment so my lack of concentration is a bit of a problem and so to be fair to the author it’s possible that s why I struggled with the story at times. The writing was good and lots of secrets and suspiciousness throughout made for a cleverly thought out plot with a good twist at the end and that part I did enjoy.
So a good 3 star read that I’m sure others will enjoy reading and I will look out for more from the author in the future.
My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK , Transworld Publishers, Bantam for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

An interesting story which I read in one sitting, I enjoyed the writing and the premise of the story.. there are a few little stories going on at once which I know some people don’t enjoy, but I quite like books like that, would be a good holiday read!

Esmie is in Ireland, working as a cleaner for three rich families who are all connected. Only she isn't here just to clean. She's here to find the truth behind what happened to her beloved Nico when he was there just months earlier. Someone there had ruined him, and she was determined to find out who it was, so she could return the favour.

I felt this one took forever to actually get to any kind of point. There were a several little stories all going at once, some that just felt really pointless. By the time it got to the main events of the story, I was bored and honestly didn't care anymore. I felt like it could have been a lot better if it was a much shorter book with less stories running throughout. Not one of the characters was likable, all childish and immature, most clearly spoilt. It made it really difficult to find any enjoyment whilst reading. The twist at the end, I'd figured out fairly early on, just because it didn't make any sense for the person sending threatening messages to Esmie to be Simone. I was also annoyed by the way Mama Bear protected Simone after everything she had done, especially what happened between her and Nico. And also, the ending just bugged the hell out of me.

Firstly this was such a well-written book, I read it in one go! Secondly the book has fantastic twists and is built very well, a must-read for those who love domestic thrillers. This a story steeped in passion, revenge and the balances between actions and consequences. Thanks to netgalley for an ARC!