Catherine (alternativelytitledbooks) - still catching up!'s Reviews > The Housekeeper

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House-Ballantine, and Joy Fielding for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 8.16!**

Like the world's most famous nanny, she's practically perfect in every way...that is, if Mary Poppins were:

*older
*greyer
and
*had a devious streak...or perhaps even a deadly one!

Jodi has had to work twice as hard in life, just to be noticed in her own family. Golden child sister Tracy is quite LITERALLY golden...blonde, slender, and beautiful, and the apple of her parents' eyes. Jodi has tried to make a name for herself in her own way, fighting and clawing her way to success in the real estate world, working for her wealthy father Vic's company. She has a writer husband Harrison, on a mission to write the Next Great American Novel, and two adorable kids to boot.

All is not well, however...Jodi's mom Audrey has been suffering with Parkinson's for ten years and her husband is growing weary of being her primary caretaker. When slim, trim, and fashionable Elyse shows up to interview for a housekeeper position in Vic's home, Jodi feels an overwhelming sense of calm and relief: THIS woman is the answer to her prayers and will keep the family running. And from jump, she settles smoothly into the family, even helping with the grandchildren and ticking off every box.

...Until Jodi notices her mother's blouse in Elyse's closet and her Cartier watch dangling from Elyse's wrist. Is there more to this 'charming widow than meets the eye...and is this PERFECT stranger more of a...perfect stranger? Can Jodi and sister Tracy protect their father, their mother, and themselves before Elyse 'cleans house'...for good?

Joy Fielding is one of those authors I've been meaning to get to for ages, and the creepy cover (which gave me Bates Motel vibes!) and the synopsis drew me in and got me excited to pick this particular book up. I'm happy to say that this was a solid, quick, and fun domestic suspense book, and was JUST the sort of read I needed!

Fielding drew me in right away with her character development (FABULOUS), her sharp, snappy writing, and one of my favorite elements in thrillers or suspense: short chapters that WORK and make you think "Eh, I can read a few more, why not?"...and then by the time you look up, you realize you've blown through 5 or 6 of them! It's so rare I finish a book in a few days lately, but this was an EASY read. And yep, just like that easy Sunday morning the Commodores sang about, this book doesn't try too hard, doesn't reinvent the wheel...and doesn't NEED to do any of that. It's absolutely PERFECT beach reading, which is not what I suspected going in, but I was pleasantly surprised to not have to sift through an overwrought plot, suspend my disbelief too much, or groan my way through an ending.

There's also an extra DELIGHTFULLY devious little twist thrown in towards the end, like the perfect dessert you didn't know you needed (but are THOROUGHLY going to enjoy anyway, thank you!) 🎂

The plot of this book may not be new, but Fieldng uses just enough of her own personal flair and crafty writing to make it FEEL new. And best of all?

No spoonful of sugar required!

😉

4 stars