Two families, different timelines and a shocking murder house.

I had hoped this would be just a bit more haunted house-ish but it was more of a family drama. The families were interesting to get to know and I liked the way the different timelines and family POV did flush out the story. I did this as an audiobook and I thought the narrator was entertaining and great to listen to. The story was a bit slow to unfold but the end was shocking and one I hadn't fully guessed. A fast, interesting read.

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

This quickly became one of my favorite reads. I loved the complexity of the plot line along with the characters.

I don't know what to say xpectw hen I picked up this book because Eliza is a new author to me but I devoured this book within a couple of days.

This is my first book by this author, but it will not be my last! I love a dark, complex, psychological tale, and this book checks all of the boxes. I’m looking forward to my next Eliza Maxwell read!

This book was a pleasant surprise. I’ve never heard of this author before, but I’m now interested to read more.

The plot of this book primarily comes from two POVs: Tessa, a thirty-something documentarian who is estranged from her twin sister, and Dierdre, an elderly woman currently serving with her sister Kitty as caretaker of an abandoned estate with a bloody history. In the wake of personal tragedy, Tessa seeks refuge at the estate and starts to look into its secrets.

This book has a lot going on. For the most part, I think it works well. The pacing was really well-executed. I inhaled this book and never wanted to put it down.

The dual POVs worked for the most part, but at times the plot seemed a little overly-complicated. I tried describing this book to my sister and my husband and both seemed like they needed to take notes to track the details. However, the way that this book was written did make it easy enough to follow for me as the reader.

The one thing that didn’t quite land was Deirdre’s POV. She frequently recalls details from her childhood - which we are told is the 1940s or 1950s. The descriptions of the estate and the characters from those portions of the book seemed more historical, though, like perhaps they belonged at the turn of the century. I would have love a little more period-specific details worked into Dierdre’s POV to bring those chapters to life more vividly.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. It was the right amount of thriller for me and introduced me to a new author. Check it out on Kindle Unlimited!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher!

An entertaining read full of family secrets and a wonderfully atmospheric setting.

My only complaint is that the author tries to do a lot in this book and I'm not quite sure that she succeeds because some of the plot lines almost seem like an afterthought. That being said, I look forward to the author's next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing a digital copy in return for an honest, unbiased review.

I loved this book, reading it was a twist detail but it was a lot of fun to get through the plot and get to the ending to see what was actually happening. I love the cover art for this book it has a very eerie feel and I think it works perfectly for the story. This is a very intriguing suspenseful tale about secrets and how sometimes things are not what they seem, making this a very suspenseful and interesting book to read. I’m curious to see what else the author does in the future.

Tessa Shepherd, documentary filmmaker seems to be handling success fairly well even if her family life is a mess. Her recent true crime documentary helped an innocent man finally find justice and it has spurred other fantastic projects. But within six months a new nightmare begins and reports begin to surface that possibly Tessa has actually unleashed a monster back into society.

The Caretakers is the story of two pairs of sisters. We have Tessa and Margot in the present day, and aged sisters, Dierdre and Kitty. Initially, we are unable to see how the two pairs of sisters are related, because they seem to have nothing in common. The connection between the two pairs of sisters is not immediately apparent.


Filmmaker Tessa Shepherd’s documentary about the unlawful incarceration of Oliver Barlow, convicted for the murder of a young Gwen Morley and serving his sentence for the last 14 years, wins him an acquittal and release. The film itself launched Tessa’s career into stardom, of sorts.
Now it seems, he has raped and killed again and Tessa is being hounded by the press and the victim’s father, who was the investigating cop in the Morley case, for being instrumental in the release of a killer. The news fills Tessa with guilt.
Meanwhile, the sudden death of her mother forces her to seek reconciliation with her estranged twin sister, Margot. The sisters inherit their mother’s home, Fallbrook, and come to know of the deadly secrets it hides within its walls. Decades ago, the family had been slaughtered. The piano teacher was convicted of the crime, but he may have been innocent. Since then, the house has been abandoned; only two elderly sisters, Dierdre and Kitty, stay behind as caretakers.
In the present time, there is some drama and history between Tessa and Margot in the past, which has led to their estrangement.



All these threads have to be tied together and how well they are tied together is what will give us satisfaction as readers. Unfortunately, all the threads, though tied up well, do not give equal satisfaction. The estrangement between Tessa and Margot was the weakest storyline.

The love and the fraught relationship between Tessa and Margot was the plot thread that interested me the least. The drama was unconvincing; nothing that couldn’t have been resolved by the two of them sitting together and talking. But the author let it get out of hand and it ended up taking too much space. The storyline involving the two elderly sisters and the one involving Oliver Barlow had far more potential, and it would have been better if the author had focused on just these two.

The book is written in alternating timelines from the 3rd person perspectives of Dierdre, Kitty and Tessa. The past that emerged from Kitty’s ghostly recollections was far more promising.

There’s an air of mystery and ghostliness particularly in the story relating to Fallbrook, and I really enjoyed those parts. I also loved the descriptions of the house and the ending to the Fallbrook storyline.

In Chapter 18, which offers a deeper introduction to Fallbrook, we read some of the most exquisite prose in the book. A house dies a slow death without a family to fill it.

Elsewhere, Hatred grows best in a place where love dies.

I would definitely read another book by this author.

A fast-paced thriller with intriguing characters and a satisfying ending. Eliza Maxwell is an author to watch.

I love a family drama full of tension, suspense and angst and this hit the nail on the head. The setting mirrored the action and kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish.

Secrets buried and dug up are woven deep within this novel. It was an enjoyable, quick read, which held my attention! I'd recommend! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my review copy.

This haunting story centers on Tessa and Margot, two estranged twin sisters who have suffered for years due to a misunderstanding. Tessa, a documentary filmmaker, helps free an innocent (in her opinion) man from prison. Once he's released, he kills again. Wracked with guilt, along with grief from her mother's sudden passing and the sadness from the estrangement of her sister, she escapes to Fallbrook, a creepy, dilapidated mansion she inherits from her mother. Two elderly caretakers add to the mystery and history of the mansion.
This was not my normal genre with more of a historical fiction feel, but I loved it! The author did a wonderful job with descriptions, making me feel like I was there every step of the way.
Thanks to Eliza Maxwell, Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

#TheCaretakers #NetGalley

This book is for the most part about two pairs of sisters: Tessa and Margot Shepard, and Deirdre and Kitty Donnelly. The story pulled me in initially after Tessa, a filmmaker, makes a film about a man, Oliver, who was wrongly convicted of murder, and spent over a decade in prison due to police mishandling of the case. Her film resulted in the man getting released from prison. A police chief, DI Winters, has always believed he put away the right man. Eighteen months later, Oliver tapes a video stating he has kidnapped and killed the DI's daughter Valerie Winters. This leaves Tessa questioning whether Oliver really was wrongly convicted, our did her film result in setting a murderer free?

The reader is also introduced to elderly sisters Deirdre And Kitty, the caretakers of Fallbrook estate. I initially wondered how they fit into the story. Then, Tessa's and Margot's mother dies and editing the reading of the will we find out that their mother owns Fallbrook estate. At this point what began slowly starts picking up. How do these pairs of sisters stories relate? You will have to read it for yourself!

I liked this book and found that it flowed nicely, however I questioned whether I was going to like it or not. My patience really payed off nicely in the end. Most of my questions were answered! I thought I had figured things out at several points in the book, but I was pleasantly surprised when I didn't!

I would recommend this book to fiction and mystery readers! I would like to thank the publisher for an ARC of this novel!

This book was really good! My mouth was dropped at the end. not what I expected at all! Very well written I read it in only a few hours. I loved it!
#TheCaretakers #NetGalley

Too surface level. There were so many different subplots that the author couldn’t really dive into any one of them. I wanted this to be about the family at Falwell and the murders that happened but it just wasn’t really.

This thriller started out fast-paced but quickly loses steam. The story spins out in too many different directions and there are too many sub-plots to keep track of. An old house, squabbling sisters, a man wrongly accused of murder who is released and then actually commits a murder, ancient caretakers with secrets of their own .... just too much going on. Although I finished it, by the end of the story unfortunately I was not all that interested in what ultimately happens. This book just didn't do it for me.

I've not read any of Eliza Maxwell's book before so I went into this with an open mind and looking forward to a good thriller. I was not disappointed.
Tessa Shepard retreats to an estate left to her by her mother when her life starts falling down around her. But the inheritance isn't all it seems. The plot weaves two stories cleverly, Chilling and well written story of love and loss and mistakes.
Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC read.
Five stars!!

Full review appears exclusively print in Fangoria magazine. PDFs of said review were sent directly to the publisher and/or author.

A book that wields a tale mixing past and present - this book turned out being a quick and satisfying read.

Toward the end the characters and their motives jumble momentarily and prevent me from giving this five stars.

Isolated estates, tense family relationships and true crime documentaries. Nothing could be more perfect. I also adored the cover of The Caretakers which looks exactly like a still from one of Tessa Shepherd's films. Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

True crime documentaries have seen a major surge in popularity over the last few years, starting with Netflix's bombshell Making a Murderer in 2015. Many of these documentaries are thrilling, shocking and emotive, meant to take their audience on a journey to a very specific point. In some cases it is to prove innocence, in others to put the system itself on trial. For all of them, however, there is a clear narrative arc that has to end somewhere. Often you can't help but wonder what comes next. What about the rest of these people's lives. Are they happy now or have the years in prison or on trial been too much? What about the families of the victims? Are they happy now that someone is behind bars or, in the days after, does it begin to feel like less of a victory? As the popularity of these types of films has grown, so have think pieces on their benefits and downsides. An audience is easy to excite but will also drop its latest hero as soon as a new one comes along. What does this mean for those whose lives have been laid bare? It's a very interesting choice by Eliza Maxwell to make this a part of her novel and although she can't provide all the answers, it might allow true crime fans a chance to think it over themselves.

Tessa Shepherd has helped free an innocent man, Oliver. She is riding the waves of success, even if her family life is still messy and anxiety waits for her around every corner. That is until Oliver seemingly goes on a violent rampage, implicating her, and her mother unexpectedly dies. Now she has to not only face her twin sister, but also confront the interest of the media and police and her own family's past. It's a lot for one woman to shoulder but as she begins to unravel she also begins to discover the truth. I found Tessa to be a great protagonist. Her eye for a story, for a way to frame a scene, adds a lovely, meta-esque layer to The Caretakers that makes us consider how we look at things. Although The Caretakers is fast-paced, Maxwell takes the time to let the story's emotional beats resonate with the reader. Most fascinating was the relationship between Tessa and her sister, Margot, as well as the two sisters who act as caretakers, which is captured in glances, gestures and the venomous language only two sisters can unleash on each other.

This is my first book by Eliza Maxwell but I was completely engrossed in The Caretakers. I read it within an evening, fully aware I had work in the morning but unwilling to stop reading. Maxwell brings both Suspense and a sense of Magical Realism to her novel, which intertwine beautifully. The descriptions of Fallbrook, the crumbling estate with a secret, were stunning and allow both the reader and Tessa a little escape from the stress of the outside world. Maxwell also approaches both Oliver's case and Tessa's mental health with the right care and awareness, thereby avoiding a sense of sensationalism or exploitation of such personal topics. The twists and turns come fast in the last quarter of The Caretakers, making for a thrilling finale which feels earned. I saw some of them coming while others felt like a surprise. Maxwell ends her novel with a note of unease, which I myself very much enjoyed. Although books, like true crime documentaries, do come to an end, that doesn't always mean the whole story has been told.

I blazed right through The Caretakers and still find myself thinking about Fallbrook and its lushes woods and dark history. Maxwell has written a fast-paced, thrilling suspense novel perfect for fans of true crime and those with a love for Magical Realism.