This is a slow burn psychological thriller about 2 sisters; one who is self absorbed, beautiful, single, and snarky and the other responsible sister trying to do it all; take care of her family, hold down a job, support her writer husband, and help her aging parents. Enter Mary Poppins evil sister! This is a compelling story, not entirely original, but this author’s writing is highly engaging. Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing Group and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on August 16, 2022.

WOW! Check your blood pressure! My blood boiled over this housekeeper! Another great book by Joy! Lots of suspense, secrets that kept me hungry for more. The ending was great! Perfect for this story. Thank you for this advanced copy!

Nothing is better than a new Joy Fielding book! Jodi hires a housekeeper/ care giver to help her elderly parents out. Jodi’s mom is suffering from Parkinson’s and her father could use the help. Enter Elyse, who seems to be the perfect fit. Elyse has experience and is able to start right away. But Jodi doesn’t know that her perfect find for the job is anything but. With a sister who isn’t overly interested in her parents well being and a husband who is extremely self centered, Jodi must try and find a way out of the mess she finds herself in. Extremely fast paced and impossible to put down.

An excellent book about a woman whose father needs help taking care of his ailing wife. Elyse Woodley appears to be the perfect candidate and her references support that. Jodi quickly hires her and sighs that she will have more time to concentrate on her career and her family. Soon, things begin to feel awkward. Before she knows it, she is being shut out and is unable to reach either her mother or father. The housekeeper is taking over their lives.

The story is intense and intriguing. Situations prevent the Jodi from exercising the control she wishes she had again. The characters are strong and but for things preventing her from reaching her parents, she would get rid of the housekeeper. The characters are complex which holds the readers enthralled. The way Joy Fielding weaves the plot and subplots together make the story suspenseful throughout. Another great book from a formidable author.


I received an ARC from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

Jodi Bishop has a lot on her plate. She is the primary breadwinner of her family while her husband, Harrison, is a struggling writer that has been trying to recreate the success of his first book for the last 10 years. Jodi also has 2 young kids and aging parents that she helps with. Although she has an older sister, she is no help at all. After finally convincing her dad to hire a housekeeper to help around the house and caring for her mother, Audrey who has Parkinson’s, she finds Elyse. Elyse comes in and takes charge, even being able to handle Jodi’s authoritative father, Vic. Finally things are settling and Jodi feels relieved until suddenly Elyse has taken over the household and Audrey’s condition worsens. What is Elyse’s endgame and how far will she go to get what she wants?

I just loved this book and Joy Fielding’s writing. She leaves out all the fluff and unnecessary long wording and gets to the good stuff quickly which made this a quick read for me. I felt bad for Jodi as she was getting gaslighted left and right and just took it but I was glad to see her character develop and find her voice. This book had a lot of examples of toxic family relationships that I think people will unfortunately relate to. If you like domestic thrillers/suspense you will definitely devour this book.

"In the end, I have only myself to blame. I’m the one who let her in."

I believe this would be classified as a domestic thriller. The book is told from the perspective of Jodi, the younger of two daughters, who is in search of a housekeeper to help with her failing mother's health and keep the house going for her aging father, who refuses he needs help. That changes when Elyse Woodley enters. She's warm and friendly, has great references from previous families who employed her, and she's a great cook and baker.

CHARACTERS:
From the beginning, you'll be very skeptical of Elyse's niceness, despise Jodi's husband's ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE gaslighting, and be annoyed with Tracy (Jodi's sister) and her spoiled brat 'tude. You’ll also really want to shake Jodi at times.
In the end, you’ll still despise Jodi’s husband but you’ll LOVE Tracy and applaud Jodi!

PLOT:
OH MY GOSH at the twists in this novel. It’s very rare that I’m completely caught off guard by a twist but this one… WHEW!

This is my second Joy Fielding novel and it hit all the right spots that I expect in a thriller, just like the first book of hers that I read last year. I will definitely be reading more of this author's backlist (she mentions in the acknowledgments of this book that it's her 30TH!!).

I took off one star because it was a bit slower of a start than I want in a thriller/suspense but once it picked up, I was hooked.

This was pretty good. The plot was just a little predictable, but overall I enjoyed this.
With her mother battling Parkinson Disease she needed some extra help. However, when Jodi hired Elyse as a live in housekeeper she had no clue what she was in for.
Jodi originally thought Elyse was a Godsend. Soon she will start to question every thing. Was hiring her a blessing or not? Who exactly is this woman she welcomed into her parents home?
There was one plot twist that did throw me for a loop. Order this to find out what happens.
(Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. )

It's been many years since I read a book by Joy Fielding and after reading The Housekeeper I have no idea why I haven't read more! Even though most of the twist I did see coming I really enjoyed this book. The story and the writing are so engaging that it was really hard to stop reading. The pages just seemed to turn themselves. I will definitely be diving into more Joy Fielding books real soon and I highly recommend The Housekeeper!

Thank you to Random House - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Housekeeper by Joy Fielding is a domestic thriller about a seemingly ordinary situation. The story revolves around Jodi, a successful real estate agent who is the breadwinner for her family. Her husband was once a successful author but has been running out of ideas of late, meaning that he doesn't make much. In order to take the strain off of herself, Jodi interviews a few successful housekeepers and ultimately settles on Elyse. Elyse seems perfect in every way. But is she too perfect? Is it all a facade?

Here is a foreboding excerpt from Chapter 1:

"It's my fault.
I'm the one who first brought up the idea, who championed it, who set the ball rolling, and who ultimately insisted on hiring her. My father was adamantly opposed to the idea, my mother ambivalent at best, my sister as indifferent as always. Only my husband, Harrison, thought it was a good idea, and only because he hoped it would take some of the strain off me.
"You do too much," he was always saying. Followed by "There are things you can control and things you can't. You can't be all things to all people. Concentrate on our family. Let the rest go.""

Overall, The Housekeeper is a new domestic thriller that will appeal to fans of Ruth Ware or Sophie Hannah. One highlight of this book is how the author included light moments of humor with the tension. I love thrillers that blend comedy with tension. It's not easy to do. I did take off 1 star, because the narrator telling the story from the future takes us out of the story and takes away some of the tension. I took off another star, because there weren't a lot of exciting or thrilling moments in the story. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of domestic thrillers, you can check out this book when it comes out in August!

Thank you Net Galley for an electronic copy of this book and a chance to read it early. All opinions are my own.

3.5 rounded up. I have long enjoyed Joy Fielding books. She does a great job of creating suspense. This book is one of those where you know what happens, but you keep reading to see how it gets there. Parts of it were maddening bc you want to take Jodi and just shake her out of the gaslighting and emotional abuse, but it’s a good story with a few twists that I really didn’t see coming. Even though the story has been done before, it’s Fielding’s writing and those twists that had me rounding this one up to 4 stars.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy.

I liked the straightforward writing style and short chapters. Most of the characters besides Jodi are terrible. I found the twists to be predictable but it was still a quick and entertaining read.

Absolutely loved this book. It sucked me in from the getgo and had me guessing all the way to the end. Did not want it to end at all.

Wow this was somewhat of a predictable thriller, I enjoyed it. It was my first book by Joy Fielding. Basically, I felt like I knew what was going to happen after the first couple of chapters, so it wasn’t that intense of a read for me. But I enjoyed the writing style, and will definitely seek out more of the author’s books.

This book was a super fast and easy read - it had entertaining characters, a decent amount of suspense and the writing was great. Unfortunately, it was very formulaic, predictable and not dramatic enough for my taste.

The premise is the usual setup: woman hires housekeeper for her ailing parents, housekeeper seems perfect at first, then things quickly take a turn for the worse. It’s the same story you’ve probably read before, either in headlines or other books. It was executed very well, but I was hoping for something a bit different.

If you’re looking for a quick, mindless thriller, then this is your book. Like I said, it was quite entertaining, but nothing special. 3.5 stars for great writing in a good story with an overdone plot and mediocre ending.

(Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Joy Fielding, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

I was very confused in the beginning but after few chapters I started to understand. The ending was amazing. I would have never seen it coming. I would give it 4 our of 5 stars.

Jodi has hired the perfect housekeeper for her aging parents. Elyse is helpful, devoted, and came with impeccable referrals. After Elyse gets settled, things change in the house and Jodi wonders if she made a mistake.

Joy Fielding’s last book, Cul-de-Sac was one of my favorites last year and this one may be a favorite this year! It was so entertaining and I could not put it down! I love stories where things are spiraling quickly and you know it’s only going to get worse. I couldn’t wait for a revenge moment, which I hoped would come! You’ll hope so too because you’ll be very involved in the plot.

“In the end, I have only myself to blame. I’m the one who let her in.”

The Housekeeper comes out 8/16.

What a page-turner this book is!!! This is one of those books that grabs you from the first page right until the very last page. The story takes place in Toronto where Jodi is a real estate agent and her husband Harrison is an "author" who has had one published book years ago and has been working on his second book for the past number of years. Jodi's mother Audrey is in the late stages of Parkinson Disease and her elderly father is having a hard time caring for her. Jodi interviews several candidates for the job and they hire Elyse Woodley, a young 60-ish woman who seems too good to be true and has impeccable references. Lots of events take place in this book which makes it impossible to put down. The characters are all pretty much unlikeable, including Jodi!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House/Ballentine for the ARC of this book that was so good and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a great thriller that moves right along.

Well well well. Alright Ms., Fielding, I see you. So I love a good maid or housekeeper story. Its always juicy and a good time honestly. This was no exception. This was stunning to say the least. I thought the authors writing style was great. Even though it was predictable to me I feel like some people wouldn't think it was.

My first book I read by Joy Fielding was See Jane Run. What a first read by this author. Needless to say, any book she writes I read. Awesome author. The Housekeeper was another great novel. Read it in one day. Had to know how it ended., So if you read the blurb, you basically know that Jodi, one of the two sisters feels with their father turning 8o, still in good shape has been caring for their mother for years as she has been riddled for years with Parkinson’s. The woman she hires seems to good to be true. Remember those words. It becomes quite evident that hiring this women was a bad move seeing what her true motives are. There are some major twists towards the end of the book. And their father is very wealthy and within four months there mother is dead, being told she fell down the stairs. No spoilers here but the two daughters feel that they are on the losing end in this situation. This is another must read by Joy Fielding. Outstanding. A true domestic thriller. I received this ARC from net galley and the publisher for an honest review. A must read if you are a lover of domestic or psychological thrillers.

Jodi has been marginalized her entire life. First by her parents; she isn't slim enough, stylish enough, talented enough, etc. Then by her husband's insecure ego. "You only care about your needs, you makes the decisions because you makes more money than me." She just goes along trying not to ruffle feathers, but being passive is taking a toll.
Now Jodi's parents are older and her mother is bed ridden. She worries about them because she is also, the responsible one. She finds a solution to at least one of her problems. A housekeeper who will be willing to live in with her parents and help with her Mother's care.
Elyse seems too good to be true. Her father actually seems to like Elyse too. Elyse has glowing references from prior, similar jobs and for once in her life, Jodi feels like some one actually sees her. Even as her marriage is fraying at the seams.
This is an exciting family drama thriller and once I started reading, I finished in one day. This is my second read of Joy Fielding. This is Joy Fielding's 30th novel, so I will have plenty more to go to next.
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House/Ballantine for the opportunity to read this suspenseful e-ARC