The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 329

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

“Welcome to the family,” Nina Winchester says as I shake her elegant, manicured hand. I smile politely, gazing around the marble hallway. Working here is my last chance to start fresh. I can pretend to be whoever I like. But I’ll soon learn that the Winchesters’ secrets are far more dangerous than my own…

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor.

I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect husband.

I only try on one of Nina’s pristine white dresses once. Just to see what it’s like. But she soon finds out… and by the time I realize my attic bedroom door only locks from the outside, it’s far too late.

But I reassure myself: the Winchesters don’t know who I really am.

They don’t know what I’m capable of…



My Review

I feel like I am the last one to the party and everyone and their granny has read this book. Millie didn't think for a second she would actually land the job as live in nanny et al for the Winchesters, the house is dripping money/class and Millie is living in her car with all kinds of baggage following her around. Get the job she does and she is determined to keep it, even if the wife blows hot and cold and seems off the scale at times. Seriously the more you read the more unhinged you see just how bad the wife is. Her kid is a brat and her husband is not only attractive but super nice and Millie can't help but find herself wondering how his wife bagged him and just how nice he is. Millie find that not is all it seems in the Winchester house but then nor is Millie dun dun duuuuuuuuun.

I read this in under a day, like maybe 7 or 8 hours, had to stop for food and an appointment but immediately picked it back up. The majority of the book we hear from Millie and maybe the last quarter we hear from the perspective of Nina (the wife).

It is shocking - an absolute page turner, normally I give themes in our reviews but to do so would give spoilers this time so apologies I cannot. If you are triggered by certain topics I would maybe check out some other reviews to prepare yourself.

I couldn't predict where it was going and felt the rug pulled a few times which is always a good thing in a book, for sure. 4.5/5 this was my first dance with McFadden and I have just bought book two!

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Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons

Twisted Lies by Angela Marsons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 410

Publisher - Bookouture

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Time taken to read - 6 hours I think it was

Pages - ?

Publisher - Hachette books audio

Source - Audible

Blurb from Goodreads

Her stomach lurches as she sits in the windowless room. He throws her phone to the ground, grinds it against the floor with the heel of his shoe and brings his face closer to hers. There was no turning back now, her life as she knew it was gone.

When the lifeless body of a man is found on an industrial estate, Detective Kim Stone arrives on the scene and discovers he’s been tortured in the worst way imaginable.

But as she breaks the devastating news to the victim’s wife, Diane Phipps, Kim can’t help feeling that something isn’t quite right about the woman's reaction.

Twenty-four hours later, the victim’s family disappears into thin air.

Then a second body is found staked to the ground in a local nature reserve.

Desperate to crack the case open quickly, Kim and her team unravel a vital clue – a fiercely guarded secret that links both victims and could cost even more lives.

A secret that some police officers are also protecting.

Faced with deceit from those she should be able to trust, family members who won’t talk, and local reporter, Tracy Frost, opening a can of worms on the case of a woman murdered by her husband a year ago – Kim is in deep water like never before.

Kim must find the motive if she is to find the killer who is systematically targeting and torturing his victims. But can she unlock the shocking truth and stop him before he strikes again?




My Review

I love the Kim Stone books, this is the fourteenth in the series and I am loving them as much now as when I started. Stone is in the thick of a murder investigation, with the team, called to a new body/site however this time she has a tagalong she would rather have papped at the office. Arriving at the scene throws them all in a spin for the horror of what has been done to the victim. Not before long another body is found, horrifically murdered - a different style from the first and the family of victim one has vanished. As the team try to investigate they find themselves obstructed and dealing with other agencies. All Stone wants to do is her job and people keep getting in her way.

We see Frost (the nightmare reporter) a good bit in this one and we see a different side to her. She gets wrapped up in a case, a guy accused of killing his mrs but he has money, publicity and Frost soon finds anyone digging into his past or unfavourable publicity runs the risk of injury/accidents.

The book flips between Frost and Stone's investigations, guys the killings are really brutal. One I was so glad I had finished my lunch before picking the book up and that doesn't happen to me often, I love horror etc so have a strong stomach but ooft, brutal. Stone for me is such a great character, despite being reserved, even cold at times, she is such a "good guy" and does the right thing even if she would rather patch it. I LOVE her relationship with her dog and the way she is with her team. A busy book, murders, team work, elements of domestic abuse, murder, graphic mutilations to bodies and as usual bits and bobs within the team. 4/5 for me this time, there is a prequel type book where it goes back before book one, I apparently bought it ages ago so need to dig it out. I really enjoy stepping into their world and seeing what is coming next for the squad!

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The Optician's Wife by Betsy Reavley

The Optician's Wife by Betsy Reavley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - < 1 day

Pages - 225

Publisher - Bloodhound Books

Blurb from Goodreads

Can you ever really know someone?

When Deborah, an unpopular seventeen-year-old, meets the charming and handsome Larry, he sweeps her off her feet. The trouble is Larry has a secret.

Then a series of grisly murders cast a shadow over everything.

As Deborah’s world starts to fall apart she begins to suspect the man she loves of a terrible betrayal. And to keep their marriage alive, sacrifices must be made.

A compelling, psychological thriller that unpicks what goes on behind closed doors and reminds us that sometimes the worst crimes can take place closer to home than you think.

The Optician's Wife is a powerful psychological thriller by the best-selling author of Carrion, The Quiet Ones and Beneath The Watery Moon. If you are a fan of authors like Angela Marsons, Kathryn Croft, Helen Durrant, Barbara Vine or Rachel Abbott you will be gripped by this brilliant and bracing psychological thriller.



My Review

Hello and welcome to one of the weirdest relationships you have come across. Deborah is a plain, quiet, an outcast at seventeen when she meets Larry. Larry is beautiful, charismatic, confident and really sees Deborah. As they start dating and things look up for Deborah, a killer strikes within their community. Is it a coincidence Larry and a killer show up? Is Deborah safe and how far would you go for your partner?

This is a great wee read, we get small passages from the killer , insights into the killers mind and happenings but leading the reader no further forward to the identity. As well as a murderer we get to look at the relationship dynamics. Deborah becomes Dee, who she is completely changes for her handsome new boyfriend. A transformation that readers will find uncomfortable in places, controlling, manipulative we see Larry taking over and shaping who he wants Dee to be and how it impacts on her as a person.

Quick to get started, really short chapters which I do love in a book, sex, murder, violence and quite graphic in parts. A book that draws the reader in and when you think you have a handle on what is going on turns about, keeping you on your toes. This is my first read by this author, it won't be my last, 4/5 for me this time, if you have read Reavley you really need to get acquainted!

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