The characters and their stories were interesting. The plot developed kind of slowly but the news of the death helped move things along. We go backwards to learn the relationships between the families and mothers. But I was rather bored. And the end was anticlimactic. But I did enjoy that everyone was different- the men were all unique and had their own motivations and values. But in general it wasn’t a very memorable story.

Tame and overly repetitive, this novel really didn’t engage me in the slightest. The characters are stereotypical caricatures with little to no nuances and the “action” is too slow to make up for the flat characterization. The ending was the most interesting part so perhaps this would have been more successful as a succinct short story as opposed to a novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Ciara is a social media influencer with plenty of followers, who are always at the ready to tell her how great she is. Her children always appear well-dressed, polite, and happy to do whatever their mother tells them to do.

Mishti is the mother of Ciara's daughter's best friend. For reasons unknow, Ciara has taken Mishti under her wing. While Mishti expected to be a loner after her arranged marriage and move from India to Ireland, Ciara has made Mishti her closest confidante. Playing along makes Mishti's life seem great, but is it worth it?

Lauren is living with her partner and raising her three children in the home where she spent the happiest moments of her youth with her grandmother. She thought adulthood would temper some of the bullying she experienced as a child, but somehow she still isn't the one people want for a friend.

The story of the mothers in this neighborhood was interesting and hit the stereotypes of women and mothers around the world. The book was amusing, and the ending brought a unique culmination to the story and the relationships. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it to those who like dramas and gossipy stories about women and mothers.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

This felt very Desperate Housewives to me. Wasn’t truly a thriller at all. Just didn’t like any of the characters (despised a few) and couldn’t connect with the story. A miss for me.

I found this book long & boring. I couldn’t connect with the characters or storyline after trying multiple times. I would not recommend this book to others

I just could not get into this book. The characters are truly horrendous. I don’t have to love or root for characters, but I need to find the storyline interesting. I got about 30% or so into this book and I was so bored, and it took me almost a month to get that far in. I couldn’t make myself care, and life is too short to read something you are vibing with. I cannot recommend this one.

Bottom Line: Pass

**I received a copy of Dirty Laundry from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review, all opinions are of my own.**

Ciara is a perfect wife, perfect mother, and perfect friend. Or so you think. She has it all including being a well know influencer but behind the scenes things are less than good. Ciara friends Misha and her daughter who becomes friends with Ciara daughter. Through this Ciara finds out a little more about the cold and aloof Misha and her marriage. Through turmoil. stress, backlash and more we really see who Ciara truly is and what those around her really think.

I did not like this book personally. I thought it was too long and at times quite boring. This could be due to that fact that I do not enjoy the meaningless drama and issues that are discussed in the book. It was a lot of things being talked about like marriages, friendships breaking and stupid drama. When I read the description it sounded more murder mystery but it was not that. The beginning kept me interested but once they started talking about everything leading up to the incident I got bored. And the ending was just the book done. There was no suspicion and no issues and no police. Just bam done. I wouldnt read or recommend personally but if you are into the mom and marriage drama then maybe it would be for you.

Ciara Dunphy is the most popular mom in her small Irish village. She has an online following and an inner circle that the other moms can only dream of joining. When Mishti Guha, mom of a young daughter and discontent in her arranged marriage, moves from Calcutta to Ireland, Ciara welcomes her into the fold for her differences.

Lauren Doyle, on the other hand, is not celebrated for her differences. In fact, her earth mama ways make her the butt of the joke and alienate her and her free-spirited children from the popular crowd in the neighborhood.

When Mishti and Lauren strike up an unlikely friendship, everything changes. And then Ciara is murdered.

Everyone has something to gain from the influencer's death... so who did it?

Dirty laundry is aired, revealing that everyone in the neighborhood has secrets. I loved this "Instagram is not reality" with a thriller twist that kept me guessing until the end!

Ciara is a popular influencer who determines the acceptable social standards of her Irish village. Lauren is the "lifer" of the village and has never influenced anyone to do anything accept avoid her like the plague. As Ciara's mean-girl antics ramp up with affairs, snarky social media posts, and taking advantage of her followers, she is patently unaware that her tenure as queen bee is rapidly coming to a quick, shocking end.

Great book of lots of domestic suspense and not a clear "whodunit" until the very end. It's always satisfying to see karma work out how it is supposed to..... Grab this one if you need a good one to curl up with and escape for awhile.

Ohhh I was sooo addicted to this book! Loved all the twists and action that kept its hold on me. I love a good unreliable character, that keeps you on your toes.

I wanted to love this book.... I wanted to and I tried to force myself to plod through it but.... I just couldn't. Instead of rooting for the ladies, I just wanted to slap them and tell them to just get out of these relationships. So hopefully they did, but I'll never know because I just couldn't finish the book....

I was lucky to receive an advance copy of Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I was excited to read Disha's debut book and I will say she knows how to kick off her book with a bang! This book has all the suspense that makes a psychological thriller fantastic. My heart was racing as I flipped through the pages as fast as I could. I loved this book and can't wait to read more by this author. Great job!

3.75 stars rounded up! I really enjoyed this mystery from author Disha Bose. She is originally from India and now resides in Ireland. I enjoyed how she brought aspects of being a woman in India into the story with the character of Mishti. It gave this neighborhood thriller some depth and made it a little different from the usual thriller filled with a neighborhood of suspects. Ciara is the beautiful queen bee of the block, ruling over the women like it is still HS. She has a perfect life...on social media. As we know, appearances can be deceiving. Lauren and Mishti are the oddballs odd in the neighborhood, both different from the other women, each in their own way. Ciara turns up dead- who did it and why? This was a fun and fast read.

I loved this book. Disha Bose is able to capture what so many parents, and in particular, mothers, are thinking even as they try to convey a happy life, happy wife, happy mother outlook to friends and family. The inner dialogue is raw, real, and at times, sarcastic and funny, which made it all the more genuine.

2⭐
Genre ~ domestic neighborhood drama
Setting ~ Ireland
Publication date ~ April 4, 2023
Page Count ~291 (39 chapters p+e)
Audio length ~ 8 hours 39 minutes
Narrator ~ Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan
POV ~ multiple 3rd
Featuring ~ debut, 2 parts ~ then & now, dated chapters, infidelity, references to suicide, slow burn, verbal abuse

Mishti, Lauren & Ciara are our main characters and I did not like or care about what happened to any of them, not a one. That goes for the husbands, too.

Mishti is in arranged marriage with Parth. Lauren is our bohemian mom and girlfriend to Sean. Ciara, our social media influencer (blah), is married to Gerry and is dead and we don't know why or whodunit until the end. I liked the mystery involving this, but not the why.

I liked that these mom's each bring something different to the friendship circle, so that was nice that they each have their own personality, but that's not to say they have a great one.

Overall, this was very slow moving for me with a lot of character development and full of drama. I was not a fan of the ending either. Really Lauren??

Side note ~ the cover looks cool.

A glimpse into three suburban couples homes and lives. They all lead what looks like picture perfect lives, until someone winds up dead and all the Dirty Laundry starts getting aired. This book was so fun! Completely unputdownable and full of twisty turns!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.
A great domestic neighborhood thriller that follows 3 couples in a small village. Each have their own "dirty laundry" but also secrets that intertwine with each other. The first page of the book lets you know that someone has died but then fills in the backstory keeping you guessing to the end of who did it.

This didn't meet expectations, unfortunately. There is promise, however, when one recognizes this is a debut offering. If/when the author writes another, I'll still give it a try.

Dirty Laundry was okay, not as good as I had hoped. The circumstances of Ciara’s death were somewhat surprising and some of the characters had good “dirty laundry”. However, most of the characters came across as sad and pathetic. There were multiple times where I wished the story would move forward faster.