A slow burner for me. It definitely took me a while to get into the storyline. It picked up nearer the end. A good twist that I hadn't seen coming but it had taken so long to pique my interest.

First off thank you NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the arc of the cleaner I fully enjoyed it loved the plot lies and secrets in it and fast paced and twist at the end and enjoyed the characters in the book 4 star read for me

Thanks to net galley for an advanced copy of this book.

The cleaner, a quiet in the shadows figure. Able to move around and not be seen!

The first 85% of this book plodded along and then the twist! I didn’t see it coming, but so much made sense at that point!

This was a slow read for me. I felt we didn’t know enough about the back story for it to keep me interested. It was like a slow drip feed of back story mixed in with the present day. Towards the end it did speed up with a good twist but I’d struggled to enjoy it to that point so it was a bit too late for me to say I enjoyed this book.

I’m used to a faster paced book so this just wasn’t the right book for me. Anyone who likes a slow and steady story with a twist would find this a good read, it just wasn’t right for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Good book! Liked the characters, good depth to them. Enjoy the length of this book, and the story. Would read more by this author.

Tipped as the most addictive page turning thriller for 2025, I was eager to read The Cleaner. Thriller’s are one of my favourite genres but for me this book just didn’t live up to the hype. The plot was slow going and the chapters overly long. I’m sure others will love this but it wasn’t for me. I would rate it 2.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK and the author for the chance to review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.

A planned accident and Esmie gains a job as a cleaner. To the three families she cleans for Esmie is invisible. And the T’s on, because she’s not in it for the money, she wants their secrets. To find out who is responsible for her brothers return home.

Such a good read. I enjoyed the dribs and drabs that we hear the past. Really teased out the story. The spoiled characters are told to perfection as is the sister seeking revenge. A huge twist that I never saw coming and then an ending to perfectly finish! Highly recommend.

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t get into it and had to abandon it before the end.

However, if you enjoy a thriller, I’d recommend you give this one a try as I sometimes can’t concentrate so it might just be me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers | Bantam for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

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!


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This book was described as a tense thriller. Unfortunately I didn't find it to be particularly tense or thrilling. The plot was intricate, and extremely well planned out and written, there are lots of twists and turns, and the ending was a surprise I didn't expect.
The characters were not particularly likeable, and I didn't really engage with any of them enough to really care what happened to them. I did finish the book, the ending was unexpected, but sorry, I didn't enjoy reading it.

Great book with plenty of twists and turns and a surprise ending. You will not be disappointed. Fans of Shari Lapena will love this one.

This book was brilliant, I could not put it down and read it in one sitting, the twists and turn, you think you know what is going to happen and then you read you were wrong, yet another twist is added and you don't know how the story is going to end. Superbly written and I would definitely recommend

I loved this! I feel bad for everyone who has to wait until 2025!!

The characters, you don’t like most of them, which is unusual to not really like anyone! But the story is great, twists and turns. Misdirections everywhere!

The setting is beautiful!

Esmie travels to England to find out what happened to her lover Nico. As she poses as cleaner on the estate that her loved one died in, She begins her investigation into what happened. Will she be content with the results? The cleaner is a wonderful thriller to enjoy. The Spiderweb of lies that gets cleaned by the cleaner, It will keep you guessing throughout. An enjoyable must-read thriller!

I was quite disappointed with this book.
I was expecting a tense, gripping thriller. Unfortunately for me it didn't deliver.
I found it a bit repetitive.
When the cleaner is in the house looking for evidence, she is doing it when the owners are in. I was just waiting for her to be caught.
It just didn't add up.
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House uk for the ARC in return for an honest review.

The Cleaner by Mary Watson

A really good book . You have to trust that your cleaner is not there to riffle around your bits & bobs or to find out the stuff you would prefer to keep hidden. She has a reason for that though , it's just not for the reason they are expecting.
Enjoyed it.

Im this revenge thriller, Esmie sets herself up as a cleaner for three wealthy households in an exclusive Irish cul-de-sac near the woods.
It started well, and intriguingly, but I found neither the plot nor the characters engaging. I couldn't' empathise with any of them, least of all the narrator, and struggled to finish.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an advance reader copy of this debut novel.

The Cleaner is a clever and addictive revenge story. We follow Esmie who poses as a cleaner to uncover the truth about her brother’s death in Ireland. As she infiltrates the homes of the people who knew him, she soon learns that everyone is hiding secrets and she will stop at nothing to uncover the truth, even if that means destroying everything and everyone in her path.

I could not put this one down, it had me consumed with what was really going on. Was I being told the truth or was more going on then meets the eye. If you love domestic thrillers then this one needs to be on your radar in 2025!!

Esmie, the narrator is described several times as having a 'cold, black heart.' This phrase describes the book for me. She has come to Ireland to seek revenge for her brother Nico who seems to have fallen in love with one of three women. Isabelle, Ceanna or Amber. As a result he has lost his scholarship and been sent home in disgrace.

What I liked about this book: Not much, I'm afraid. .It livened up a little towards the end,

What I didn't like about it: The characters didn't appeal. Each and every one of them was horrible, whether it was Esmie with her whining about her brother, or the three women, rich and self obsessed ignoring the cleaner, or Linc and his creepy obsession with a dead poet. Not one of them was sympathetic. The plot was somewhat ludicrous with an unlikely twist near the end.

I just didn't enjoy this book at all. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC,

This is a powerful and intriguing novel, which really does keep the reader guessing until the very end. Esme is determined to find out who was her brother, Nico’s, lover. Three women are possible candidates, Amer, Isabelle and Ceanne, so she conspires to obtain a job as a cleaner for the three neighbours in the hope that she will discover the identity of the mystery woman and avenge Nico. However, searching for clues is not as easy as she had hoped. Despite this, she does draw her own conclusions from the evidence uncovered and plots her revenge. The reader is given glimpses of Nico’s past and his relationship with both his sister and his fiancée, Simone. Clearly, there is no love lost between Simone and Nico’s sister, Esmerelda. A further complication is Esme’s similarity to a dead poet, Eden, with whom Linc, Amber’s husband, is obsessed. There are so many themes and sub plots within the novel, which keep the reader’s attention until the closing sentences. A well written and skilfully constructed novel.